The first pick of the 2022 draft, Juraj Slafkovsky, was the special guest on The Raw Knuckles Podcast. He discussed his first year in the NHL as well as his perspective during the last draft.

After a short season of 39 games, the Slovak scored four goals and accumulated six assists, giving him a total of 10 points in 2022-23.

He made a big revelation by admitting he was surprised when he heard his name called first during the draft.

“I wanted to go first overall. I had a meeting with Montreal that morning. So, it was really like ‘maybe, maybe’. […] I wasn’t expecting [to be chosen first overall], but I was hoping for it.” – Juraj Slafkovsky

The Canadiens’ rookie also mentioned that he would have been happy just being drafted, but being the first pick was a shock to him, considering he had only been ranked first once, in a prediction made about a month before this important day.

Here is an excerpt from the podcast:

Credit: HabsolumentFan