Troops sign Dubrovtsev
Evgeny Dubrovtsev, the North Bay Battalion’s first-round pick in the 2025 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft, has signed an education and development agreement, the Ontario Hockey League club announced Tuesday.
Russian centre Dubrovtsev was the 17th overall selection in the three-round process conducted July 2 via the Internet.
With holdover left winger Ihnat Pazii of Ukraine, Dubrovtsev and right winger Arseny Pronin of Belarus, the Battalion’s second-round pick, fill out North Bay’s quota of three imports, increased from two. All are expected to be at training camp, which opens Aug. 25 at Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
“We’re thrilled to get started with Evgeny as he embarks on his journey to North America,” said Adam Dennis, Battalion director of hockey operations.
“He’s a player that we’ve been familiar with for some time, and we expect him to have an impact as soon as he can acclimate to his new surroundings.”
Right shot Dubrovtsev is a St. Petersburg native who measures almost six feet and weighs 183 pounds. He turned 17 on March 18.
In 37 games last season with SKA Yunior Krasnogorsk of the Junior Hockey League, or MHL, he recorded eight goals and six assists for 14 points with four penalty minutes. He played nine games with the St. Petersburg U17 team, scoring two goals and earning four assists for six points with four PiM.
Second-rounder Pronin, a left-shot native of Minsk, has yet to sign with the Troops. Standing six-foot-two and weighing 187 pounds, he turned 18 on May 16.
Pazii, whose place on the Battalion roster saw the club pass on its third-round pick, is a two-year veteran who has 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points with 46 penalty minutes in 101 games. 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 exercising the OHL’s first four picks as per the weighted lottery held before the OHL Priority Selection in April.
