The Montreal Canadiens selected winger Juraj Slafkowski with the first pick in Thursday night’s NHL Entry Draft, making him the first player from Slovakia to be selected No. 1 overall.
While Shane Wright was long considered the favorite for the top pick, the New Jersey Devils surprisingly selected Slovakian defenseman and Slavkovski’s Olympic teammate Simon Nemec second. In another surprise, the Arizona Coyotes took Logan Cooley third, and Wright slipped to the Seattle Kraken at No. 4.
Slafkowski, who was named MVP of the Beijing Olympics for leading the tournament with seven goals in seven games, began to think it was possible after meeting with the Canadiens at the NHL scouting center in Buffalo.
“I felt like they were pretty interested,” said Slafkowski, who was caught off guard when Montreal general manager Kent Hughes announced his name. “When I heard ‘from Slovakia’ I was like ‘Wow!’
WATCH | Habs select Slovakian winger Juraj Slafkovski with pick #1:
The Montreal Canadiens select Juraj Slafkowski with the 1st pick in the NHL Draft
Juraj Slafkovski becomes the first player born in Slovakia to be selected first in the NHL draft.
Nemek, who along with Slafkovski are the most frequently selected players from Slovakia 22 years after Marian Gaborik went third in Ottawa in 2000.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Nemec said. “We were kids when we dreamed of the NHL Draft.”
The Canadiens weren’t ready to make any moves in their first home draft since 2009. They traded defenseman Alexander Romanov to the New York Islanders for the 13th pick and moved that selection and the 66th to Chicago for young forward Kirby Dach.
It was the second dismantling move made Thursday by Chicago, which also traded high-scoring wing Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators for three picks.
The 6-foot-6 Slafkowski, who has been compared to the late Hockey Hall of Famer Clark Gillis and plays a bit like a young Jaromir Jagr, said he told the Canadiens Thursday morning to take him.
Slafkowski, who turned 18 in March, is among the most NHL-ready players in the draft after playing against senior men in Finland last season and impressing at the Olympics with seven goals in seven games. The youngest player in the tournament was the biggest reason Slovakia won an Olympic bronze medal for the first time.
Chuck Fletcher, whose Philadelphia Flyers selected forward Cutter Gauthier fifth, said Wednesday he expects plenty of trades during the draft. Other GMs around the league didn’t wait for the draft to start to get busy.
The Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche kicked things off by drafting goaltender Aleksandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers for the third and fifth picks in this draft and the third round next year. Chicago then sent DeBrincat to Ottawa for the seventh and 39th picks and a third-round pick in 2024.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman opened the draft in French by saying, “Bonsoir, Montreal.” As fans booed him, as is customary, he said: “Thank you for this welcome. It’s back to normal.” It was the league’s first private draft of 2019 in Vancouver.
It is the first time the home team has picked first since the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1985 when they got Wendell Clark. The Leafs received the loudest boos during the roll call, with some in the crowd chanting “’67!” regarding last year Toronto won the Stanley Cup.
Recent hockey deaths were also acknowledged before the Canadians started working the clock. Bettman asked people at the draft and in the stands to observe a moment of silence for retired linebacker Brian Marchment, who died at the age of 53 on Wednesday in Montreal, where he was attending the draft as a scout for the San Jose Sharks.
The children of late Hall of Famers Guy Lafleur and Mike Bossy also addressed the crowd, along with Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, who was serenaded by chants of “Ole! Hey! Ole!” Notoriously undrafted before his Hall of Fame career, St. Louis joked, “It took me 45 years to finally be on my first draft. It was worth the wait.”
The reverse pressure now belongs to Slafkowski, who could soon play alongside Canadiens top forwards Nick Suzuki and Cole Cofield.
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