Canadiens take Slafkovsky with top pick

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens selected winger Juraj Slafkovsky with the first pick in the NHL draft Thursday night, making him the first player from Slovakia to be taken No. 1. While Shane Wright was long considered the front-runner to be the top pick, the New Jersey Devils surprisingly selected Slovak defenseman and Slafkovsky Olympic teammate Simon Nemec second. In another surprise, the Arizona Coyotes took Logan Cooley third with Wright slipping to the Seattle Kraken at No. 4. Slafkovsky, who was named MVP at the Beijing Olympics for leading the tournament with seven goals in seven games, started thinking this was possible after meeting the Canadiens at the NHL scouting combine in Buffalo. "I felt they were pretty interested," said Slafkovsky, who was caught off guard when Montreal general manager Kent Hughes announced his name. "When I heard 'from Slovakia' I went, 'Wow!'" Nemec, who along with Slafkovsky are the highest-drafted players from Slovakia 22 years after Marian Gaborik went third to Ottawa in 2000. "I lost the words," Nemec said. "We were kids and when we dream about NHL Draft." The Canadiens weren't done making 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 the Chicago Blackhawks for young forward Kirby Dach. It was the second dismantling move made Thursday by the Blackhawks, who also traded high-scoring winger Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators for three picks. The 6-foot-4 Slafkovsky, who has drawn comparisons to late Hockey Hall of Famer Clark Gillies and plays a bit like a young Jaromir Jagr, said he told the Canadiens on Thursday morning to take him. Slafkovsky, who turned 18 in March, is among the most NHL-ready players in the draft after playing against grown men in Finland this past 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 picked forward Cutter Gauthier fifth, said Wednesday he expected a lot of trades at the draft. Other GMs around the league didn't want for the draft to begin to start dealing. The Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche got things started by acquiring goaltender Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers for a third- and a fifth-round pick in this draft and a third-rounder next year. Then Chicago sent DeBrincat to Ottawa for the seventh and 39th picks and a third-rounder in 2024. The Columbus Blue Jackets held onto two of the top-12 picks, and with those, selected defensemen David Jiricek (No.6) and Denton Mateychuk (No. 12) respectively. Detroit, which had the No.8 pick, took center Marco Kasper. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman opened the draft in French by saying, "Bon soir, Montreal." When fans booed him as is tradition, he said: "Thank you for that welcome. It is a return to normalcy." This was the first in-person draft for the league since 2019 in Vancouver. It's the first time the host team picked first since the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1985 when they got Wendell Clark. The Leafs got the loudest boos during roll call, with some in the crowd chanting, "'67!" in reference to the last year Toronto won the Stanley Cup. Recent deaths in hockey were also recognized before the Canadiens went on the clock. Bettman asked those on the draft floor and in the stands to hold a moment of silence for retired defenseman Bryan Marchment, who died at age 53 Wednesday in Montreal where he was attending the draft as a scout for the San Jose Sharks. 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! Ole! Ole!" Famously undrafted before having a Hall of Fame career, St. Louis joked: "It took me 45 years to finally be at my first draft. It was worth the wait." The opposite pressure now belongs to Slafkovsky, who could soon play alongside top Canadiens forwards Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.