As the Plymouth Whalers selected a Swedish right winger with the 41st pick in the Canadian Hockey League’s annual Import Draft on Tuesday, Lewiston Maineiacs’ general manager Roger Shannon let out a small sigh of relief.

He uncrossed his fingers, and submitted, officially, the draft papers with a wry smile across his face. At No. 42, the Maineiacs selected 1993-born Russian goaltender Andrei Makarov, the team’s lone selection in this year’s Import Draft.

It was their only selection, but the Maineiacs believe it was far and away the best selection possible.

“He’s widely considered the best goalie of his age in Russia,” Shannon said. “We had a bit of good luck and a bit of good management to get him. We started the negotiation process first with him, and a credit to the people who look after him, they were loyal and stuck with us.”

Makarov, 17, played last winter for the Russian Under-17 team at the World Junior Under-17 Challenge, where the Russians placed fifth. In four games at the tourney, Makarov had a 3.50 GAA and a .920 save percentage, the third-best save percentage of the 20 that saw time at the tournament.

During the regular season, Makarov played for Lada Togliatti. Statistics from this league were not available Tuesday.

Shannon also said that Lewiston’s track record with goalies being drafted — particularly Slovakian-born Jaroslav Halak — played a big part in Makarov’s decision.

“It didn’t hurt that Halak had the run in the playoffs that he had,” Shannon said. “In fact it helped us. It also helped that there are certain folks within the league who will vouch for us as an organization.”

The addition of Makarov all of a sudden makes the Maineiacs’ goaltending situation a bit crowded. Lewiston added 20-year-old Nicolas Champion in a trade at the draft, 17-year-old Jordan Kennedy and 18-year-old Tyler Piercy are still in the system from last season, and the team also drafted a player Shannon called one of the “top two available goalies in this year’s draft” in Antoine Bibeau.

“We went from being very thin to very deep at that position,” Shannon said. “It does present an issue, particularly with Jordan Kennedy, because he and Andrei are the same age. But, we’ll evaluate the situation when we see everyone together, and we will certainly do our best top make sure that everyone has a place to play, that everyone gets an opportunity.”

Makarov is the Maineiacs’ second European-born goalie (Halak, of course, the other), and is the team’s first Russian-born selection. In the past, Lewiston has selected players from Slovakia, Germany and Sweden, and last year, Czech-born Michal Hlinka arrived via trade.

The Maineiacs have released Hlinka.

Lewiston opens up its training camp the third week of August, and Shannon hinted that there may already be something brewing in terms of another deal.

“Obviously, now, we can’t say anything,” Shannon said, “but you can never rule anything out.”

 Alumni association

 Also on Tuesday, the Maineiacs announced their intentions to create an alumni organization, to continue to connect with its former players, and to keep those former players connected with the team and its fans.

“In less than eight short years since the Maineiacs have been in Lewiston, we have had four first-round NHL draft picks, a Memorial Cup appearance, a President’s Trophy, and have made the playoffs every season,” Lewiston minority owner Paul Spellman said. “A track record like that is almost unheard of in any one of the three Canadian Major Junior Hockey Leagues. We have such a rich and storied history, second to none. We need to keep all the players that have been here over those years, and contributed to the success of the team both on and off the ice, a part of the organization as we move forward.”

Spellman said Tuesday more details will emerge soon.

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