Pronin signs with Battalion
The North Bay Battalion has signed winger Arseny Pronin, a second-round pick in the 2025 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft, to an education and development agreement, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Monday.
Pronin, a native of Minsk, Belarus, was the 78th overall selection in the three-round process conducted via the Internet on July 2. The Battalion chose Russian centre Evgeny Dubrovtsev in the first round, 17th overall.
Together with holdover left winger Ihnat Pazii of Ukraine, the two newcomers complete North Bay’s quota of three imports, increased from two for the coming season. All will be at the Battalion’s training camp when it opens Aug. 25 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Arseny to our program,” said Adam Dennis, director of hockey operations.
“He should slot in well with our team, adding a much needed left shot to balance out our forward group. Arseny is a big, strong winger who can play both left and right wing and give our coaches multiple options to roll out the lines.
“We look forward to working with him as he makes the transition to North America.”
Pronin, who measures six-foot-two and 187 pounds, turned 18 on May 16.
In 32 games last season with Loko-76 Yaroslavl of Russia’s Junior Hockey League, or MHL, he scored seven goals and earned as many assists for 14 points with 18 penalty minutes. Pronin played two games with the MHL’s Loko Yaroslavl juniors without a point or penalty.
Right shot Dubrovtsev, a St. Petersburg native who stands almost six feet and weighs 183 pounds, turned 17 on March 18.
In 37 games with SKA Yunior Krasnogorsk of the MHL, he registered eight goals and six assists for 14 points with four PiM. He played nine games with the St. Petersburg U17 team, scoring two goals and adding four assists for six points with four PiM.
With Pazii already on the roster, the Battalion passed on its third-round pick. Pazii has played 101 games over two seasons, scoring 19 goals and earning 25 assists for 44 points with 46 PiM. He turns 19 on Dec. 4.
The 61 CHL teams drafted in inverse order of their league’s overall standings in 2024-25, with the four non-qualifiers for the playoffs holding the OHL’s first four picks in keeping with the weighted lottery conducted before the OHL Priority Selection in April.
