The Montreal Canadiens (CanadiensMTL) selected winger Juraj Slafkovsky with the first pick in the 2022 NHLDraft, making him the first player from Slovakia to be taken No. 1
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.sending winger Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa SenatorsNHL 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.
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.
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