The first choice in the NHL draft was taken by the Canadians to Juraj Slafkowski

Montreal Canadian Wing Juraj Slafkovsky was selected with the first selection in the NHL Draft on Thursday night, making him the first Slovakian player.

Slafkowski, who plays without NHL players at the Beijing Olympics and has an MVP tournament, was selected at Canadian center Shane Wright, who was considered the frontrunner before Montreal won the lottery.

Instead, the Canadian picked up a 6-foot-4 Slafkowski, overtaking Marion Gaboric as Slovakia’s most drafted player. Gaboric finished third in Ottawa in 2000.

Slafkowski, who has been compared to the late Hockey Hall of Famer Clark Gillies and played a bit like Jaromir Jagger, asked Canadians to pick him up on Thursday morning.

For the first time since 1980, the draft was a choice between Canada’s Slafkowski, Wright and American forward Logan Cooley.

Slafkowski, 18, is one of the most NHL-ready players in the draft after playing against adult men in Finland last season and impressing in the Olympics with seven goals in seven games. The biggest reason Slovakia won an Olympic bronze medal for the first time was because of the youngest athlete in the competition.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bateman opened the draft in French saying “Bon Soir, Montreal”. As fans greeted him, he said: “Thank you for that welcome. It’s normal. “It was the first individual draft for the league in Vancouver since 2019.

The hosts were first selected after the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1985 when they got Wendell Clark. During the roll call, Leafs heard the loudest noise, some in the crowd shouting “’67!” Were shouting. Toronto had won the Stanley Cup last year.

Recent deaths in hockey were also identified before the Canadian clock closed. Batman asked those on the draft floor and on the stand to remain silent for retired defender Brian Marchment, who died Wednesday in Montreal at the age of 53, where he worked as a scout for the San Jose Sharks. Participated in the draft. .

Along with Canadian coach Martin St. Louis, the children of the late Hall of Famer Guy Laflur and Mike Bossi also addressed the crowd, “Wait! Wet! Wet!” Was shocked. With good preparation ahead of his Hall of Fame career, St. Louis joked: “It took me 45 years to get my first draft. It was worth the wait.”

The opposite pressure is now on Slafkowski, who could soon play alongside Canadian forwards Nick Suzuki and Cole Cofield.

Reported by the Associated Press.