The first day of the NHL Draft in Montreal exploded with a historic selection of two Slovak players in first and second place.
Juraj Slafkowski (5th from left) was first selected by Montreal in the 2022 draft.
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The Montreal Canadiens, who had the first choice in front of their home audience, initially edged out Juraj Slafkowski as a 17-year-old with seven goals in seven games and a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics for the past few months. There was a stir. Less than three months later, the winger scored nine points in eight appearances for the Slovaks at the World Cup in Finland.
Completing the historic night in Slovakian hockey was defenseman Simon Nemec, who was selected by the New Jersey Devils as second only to Slafkowski.
German “rookie of the year” Moritz Seder’s Detroit Red Wings picked Austrian forward Marco Kasper, who played for Swedish club Rogel BK last season – like Cedar a year earlier – in eighth place.
Top 10 in the 2022 NHL Draft:
1. Montreal Canadiens: Juraj Slafkovsky (forward, Slovakia)
2. New Jersey Devils: Simon Nemec (Defender, Slovakia)
3. Arizona Coyotes: Logan Cooley (Forward, USA)
4. Seattle Kraken: Shane Wright (Forward, Canada)
5. Philadelphia Flyers: Cutter Gauthier (Forward, USA)
6. Columbus Blue Jackets: David Jirisek (Defender, Czech Republic)
7. Chicago Blackhawks: Kevin Korchinsky (Defender, Canada)
8. Detroit Red Wings: Marco Casper (forward, Austria)
9. Buffalo Sabers: Matthew Savoie (forward, Canada)
10. Anaheim Ducks: Pavel Mintyukov (Defender, Russia)
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