The Montreal Canadiens were in the envious position of picking first overall at the 2022 NHL Draft on Thursday night. Of course, we all know now that they took Juraj Slafkovsky with that pick.
The big left winger from Slovakia seemed a bit shocked himself when his name was announced, as many thought Shane Wright would be the first overall choice in the draft. Wright ended up dropping to fourth overall with Logan Cooley taken third and another Slovakian, Simon Nemec going second overall to the New Jersey Devils.
The big night for Slovakia didn’t stop there either. The Canadiens would go on to select Filip Mesar with the 26th overall pick in the first round. That was a pick acquired from the Calgary Flames for Tyler Toffoli.
After being selected 1st overall, Slafkovsky was whisked away by NHL media and Montreal Canadiens staff for interviews and meet and greets and some photo shoots. So, he was quite busy and definitely pre-occupied as the later picks of the first round were announced.
However, Slafkovsky was keeping an eye on things and a camera picked up the moment when the Canadiens made their second choice. Martin Lapointe stepped to the podium and announced that Slovakian winger Filip Mesar was their choice.
Slafkovsky and Mesar are friends and were teammates at various times in their younger years, especially at national tournaments. It was quite clear that Slafkovsky was a fan of the Canadiens pick when he realized his friend was joining him in the Canadiens organization.
Moment, kdy se Juraj Slafkovský dozvěděl, že si @CanadiensMTL na 26. vybrali jeho kamaráda Filipa Mešára.. 🤯 #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/2tAXB2HAd8
— NHL Česko (@NHLcz) July 8, 2022
In what must have already been a whirlwind for the Canadiens first overall pick, the night just became even more special when Mesar was able to join him in the celebration. The two will next suit up at the World Juniors together in August.
Hopefully, for many years in the future, they are also both suiting up and playing in the Canadiens top six as key contributors going forward.
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