Slafkovský will start for Montreal already in the first match, an overseas expert expects – Sportnet.sk

MONTREAL. Overseas hockey expert Craig Button from TSN TV predicted that Canadian center Shane Wright will be the number one pick in this year’s overseas NHL rookie draft. Finally, it became the Slovak winger Juraj Slafkovský, who was chosen from the first position by the Montreal Canadiens club. According to Button, the 18-year-old from Košice will make his debut in the Canadian-American professional league in the very first game of the “Habs” in the 2022/2023 season.
“You could see that he was able to establish himself very well at the Olympics, at the World Championships and also in the Finnish Liiga, in which he defends more. The vast majority of players in this year’s draft are not ready for the NHL. Slafkovský has a lot of experience from the past season. Not only did he play a lot, but he also achieved significant success. I would be surprised if he was not in the starting lineup of the Montreal Canadiens in the opening game of the season,” said Button in an interview with the official profiliga website.
Button’s assumption that Šimon Nemec will be the highest drafted defenseman this year worked out. He placed him in fifth place in his ranking, but in the end, the New Jersey Devils club chose him from the second position. Wright, who for a long time led almost all pre-draft rankings of scouts, was drafted “up” from the fourth place by the Seattle Kraken team. According to Button, however, he should not be disappointed by this, but should try to convince the experts that they made a mistake.
“I tell the players after the draft that they were picked exactly where they should have been, because none of the teams were ready to draft them earlier. Now it’s up to them to show everyone that it was a mistake and that someone should have picked them earlier . I would say the same to Shane Wright. Let him show everyone with his game that he should have been drafted higher, I think he can do it,” Button thinks.