Portland, Ore. – The Portland Winterhawks Hockey Club is proud to announce the signing of forward Alessandro Domenichelli to a WHL Scholarship & Development Agreement.
Winterhawks President and General Manager Mike Johnston said, “I watched Alessandro play in Switzerland this year and definitely believe he’s ready for the Western Hockey League.”
Portland selected Domenichelli in the second round of the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft. He played three different levels of hockey during the 2024-2025 season. Eighteen games with HC Lugano U17 (12G, 11A), 20 games with HC Lugano U20 (8G, 5A), and ten games with the Switzerland U16 national team (8G, 3A).
Greg Sampson, Assistant to the General Manager and Director of U.S. Scouting, said, “Alessandro has the experience of competing against bigger, older players at the U20 level in Switzerland as a 15-year-old, which will help his transition to the WHL. He’s got a nice combination of power and finesse and is a very driven young man ready to make his mark on the league.”
The Domenichellis visited the Rose City during the 2025 WHL Playoffs and got to experience a postseason game at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Alessandro’s father, Hnat, played in the WHL with the Kamloops Blazers from 1992 to 1996. As a result, even though Domenichelli is from Switzerland, he will not count towards Portland’s three import players in 2025-26.
Domenichelli is the eighth player from the 2009 birth year to sign with the Winterhawks.
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