For the Reporter

The Seattle Thunderbirds selected right wing Sami Moilanen from Finland in the first round, 49th overall, of the CHL Import Draft on Tuesday.

“We are excited to add a player with such high end offensive potential,” Thunderbirds general manager Russ Farwell said. “Sami has a great reputation for both work ethic and skill.”

Moilanen played 38 games last season with the Jokerit U-20 team in Finland. He had 21 goals and 14 assists for 35 points with 20 penalty minutes.

Moilanen was a member of the gold medal-winning Finnish team at the U-18 World Championship in April. He played in seven games at the tournament in Grand Forks, N.D., and had an assist. Finland beat Sweden 6-1 in the gold medal game.

Moilanen played for Finland at the 2015 World U-17 Hockey Challenge in November. He appeared in three games and did not register a point.

During the 2014-15 hockey season Moilanen played for the Jokerit U-16, U-18 and U-20 teams. In 37 combined games between the three teams he had 27 goals and 25 assists for 52 points.

Every CHL team is allowed a maximum of two non-North American players on their roster each season. These players must be drafted in the CHL Import Draft held each summer to be eligible to play.

Teams are permitted to select in the Import Draft if they have less than two import players on their current roster. Entering the draft the T-Birds had one Import Player, center Alexander True from Denmark, on the roster.