MONTREAL – If this small number of Canadians fans had known what Kent Hughes would do moments after climbing the Bell Center podium to make Juraj Slafkovsky the first Slovak to be selected first in the NHL Draft general, it’s hard Imagine -you would still have tried to spoil what was supposed to be the most celebrated election of your franchise in 42 years.
But his boos were understandable, and even to be expected.
In a draft marked by a lack of consensus at the top, with a development halted by the pandemic that enveloped the predictability of order, it was ensured that there would be disagreement over who Canadians would use the first selection.
Just two weeks ago, we sent a prank message to the CEO of Montreal: “Just remember you decide what you decide, people will love it and hate it. The best of both worlds, haha.”
Hughes, well aware of his situation, replied, “The 50 percent rule, this is the best you can expect!”
It seemed that more than 50 per cent of the fans in attendance were in love with the choice of Slafkovsky by the Canadians once Hughes announced it.
But there were many others who expressed their displeasure.
For years, these fans had heard incessantly about Shane Wright, a potential franchise center destined for first place overall in this draft since the day he was granted exceptional status to play in the Hockey League. Ontario when he was 15, and they had been years old. He spent the last few months creating expectations that his team would turn to him to fill a gap of decades in this position of need. Slafkovsky, a 218-pound, 218-pound left winger who set fire to the Olympics and World Championships but was far from illuminating Finland’s top league in between, did not fit the role.
As the boy walked down the red carpet entering the building, he could hear Canadians ’fans stretching through the streets booing him.
Hours later, and just 20 minutes after going on stage with that mixed reaction resonating in the arena, Slafkovsky had a message for them.
“I think it’s hockey, it’s his passion and mine,” he began. “And maybe some of them didn’t like it, but I’ll do it all because I’ll play well with this team, and maybe they’ll like it someday.”
It wasn’t long after Slafkovsky left his first press conference that he received the reaction from fans that he should have had all along.
It was only a matter of time to learn that Hughes had changed the 98th draft pick this year and defender Alex Romanov to the New York Islanders for the 13th overall pick, which was then reversed with the 66th to acquire six feet four, 197. -the Kirby Dach free center of the Chicago Blackhawks. Then, all of a sudden, they stopped lamenting a missed opportunity with Wright, who had fallen in the quarterfinals and was picked by the Seattle Kraken after the New Jersey Devils chose defenseman Simon Nemec second and the Arizona Coyotes center Logan Cooley third. When Slafkovsky was escorted through a section of the crowd, while addressing an interview with TVA Sports, those fans exploded.
This time there are no boos; just cheers.
“Be, be. Be. Be,” they chanted.
We’ll see how they finally react to Dach, who was chosen third overall in 2019 and comes out of his entry contract only after scoring 19 goals and 59 points in 152 games. Most often it has seemed far from reaching what was once thought to be an extremely high ceiling.
Fans will like this from a professional Western Conference scout who responded to our request for his opinion on Dach with, “You can complement skillful players and add size in the middle.”
“He’s one of the top nine who can become a top six over time,” the scout added.
Hughes left the field of play after using Montreal’s second national team of the night (26th overall) over another Slovakian – versatile right-back Filip Mesar, who scored eight goals and 16 points in 37 games in his country’s top league last season — and he said the time. With coach Martin St. Louis and a renewed development team will allow Dach to be exactly what his organization (and his followers) want him to be.
“We believe in Kirby Dach,” Hughes said of the 23-year-old.
He also believed in Romanov, who had an exceptional second year with the team and tended to become what any rival would consider a good defense of the top four.
That’s what the 22-year-old will be with the Islanders, and Hughes knows it.
He said negotiating Romanov was “very difficult.”
“We wanted to go up and we had been talking about Kirby Dach for two or three weeks,” Hughes added. “It was clear to Chicago that they wanted draft picks. We did everything we could to get up, as we had a lot of options, but in the end we couldn’t convince anyone to make the change just with the dams and Romanov was a “We are disappointed to lose Romy and wish her the best. Sometimes, to get what you want, you also have to make sacrifices.”
Hughes later said he would not have made that deal if Romanov was a power quarterback and a great offensive catalyst.
For Canadians to have a similar perspective to Arber Xhekaj – and left-backs Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble – made the deal more enjoyable. Especially because Canadians were able to cope with a desire (and an extreme need) for size, speed, and skill at the center with the acquisition of Dach.
Hughes said he got it before choosing Slafkovsky, but Canadians probably went in that direction independently. The size, skill, and character of the player did just that.
Meanwhile, a final meeting with Slafkovsky on the morning of the draft pushed him to the limit.
“What we keep coming back to was Juraj, and we saw him even playing with men in the world, he wants to make a difference and he always wants the record. I asked him what he likes most about playing hockey, and he told me to be on the ice with a 4-3 – when his team leads 4-3 or loses 4-3 – and this is what he showed us as a player ”.
Hughes said the plan is for Slafkovsky to show it in North America next fall.
It’s not hard to imagine him playing alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, a possibility Slafkovsky said was extremely compelling.
“I can play with these two guys, and I think it can be a pretty good line that can give results at the end of the day,” he said. “I think that’s important for Montreal.”
It’s impossible to imagine his followers reacting negatively to this.