Image Credit: WHL

By Victor Kaisar

Blazers Signing

Blazers sign Latvian goaltender Ivans Kufterins

Jul 17, 2025 | 10:36 AM

KAMLOOPS — The Kamloops Blazers have signed Latvian goaltender Ivans Kufterins to a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement.

A native of Riga, Kufterins was picked by the Blazers in the first round, 13th overall of the 2025 CHL Import Draft.

The six-foot-two netminder posted a 4.17 goals-against average and .891 save percentage in 25 games for HS Riga in the Latvian pro league last season.

“The vast majority of his team’s games were played against the top pro teams, so it’s a team made up of all 2007s with cages playing against 35-year-olds on the other team,” Blazers Head Coach and GM Shaun Clouston told CFJC Today earlier this month.

“I think they won four games, but he was competitive. His body language was good. His energy was great. We watched games where he kept the young team in it the whole way.”

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The 18-year-old Kufterins was also Latvia’s starting goaltender at the 2025 Under-18 World Championships in Texas where he finished with a 1-4-0-0 record in five games.

Kufterins is expected to arrive in Kamloops in late August ahead of Blazers training camp. He’s expected to share the net with fellow 2007-born netminder, Logan Edmonstone who has 35 games of WHL experience over the past two seasons.

“We identified going in that goaltending was probably our need,” Clouston added. “We like [Edmonstone] but we’re going into a year where we lose [Dylan] Ernst. We’ve got some good, young goaltenders in the mix, but just believe we needed the most help there.”