Juraj Slafkovsky had several reasons to smile on Thursday. One of them: he and one of his best friends are now teammates.
Updated at 12:45 a.m.
This friend is Filip Mesar, the other first-round choice of CH in this repechage. The Habs claimed this striker at 26e rank.
This year, the two Slovak accomplices even took a vacation in Turkey together. “We’ve known each other since we were kids,” Mesar said. It’s amazing to experience that with him. It’s really crazy to be with one of my best friends. Adaptation will be easier. »
After his press briefing, the two new CH hopefuls met in a corridor of the Bell Center. Their handshake was practically a rehash of the one between Carl Weathers and Arnold in predatorless obscene language.
Slafkovsky was delighted. “He is underrated. He will be very good,” he said of Mesar.
Kent Hughes meanwhile indicated that the team was well aware of this friendship. “But it had no impact on our decision. It has nothing to do. We chose him because he was the best player available, but friendship is a nice bonus. »
In North America ?
Mesar describes himself as a “talented, fast, but [qui doit] to improve [s]on physical play and in the defensive zone. He was a center for a long time, but has mostly played on the wing for the past two years, and that’s where he sees himself playing in the pros.
Unlike Slafkovsky, who left to play at a higher level, Mesar spent the last season with HK Poprad in Slovakia, scoring eight goals and eight assists in 37 games. But it looks like the experiment is coming to an end, as he revealed North America, Finland and Sweden as his main options for next season.
If he plays Canadian junior hockey, he will have to report to the Kitchener Rangers, who own his rights, who drafted him eighth overall in the 2021 European Draft.
Great Slovak Day
The others who smiled were the Slovak journalists who are in Montreal to cover this draft!
It is that Slovakia literally had a historic day, with the selections of Slafkovsky in the first row and defender Simon Nemec, by the Devils, in second. It is therefore three players from this country who were claimed in the first round.
Before Slafkovsky and Nemec, Marian Gaborik was the earliest Slovak draft (third overall, by the Wild, in 2000).
“It’s a great day for Slovakia today! “, launched Mesar. The word is weak.