“I haven’t seen anything like this in 20 years,” he said on the popular podcast Boris and potato New York Rangers scout and Slovak national team assistant general manager Oto Haščák.

He reacted to the fact that Slovak juniors are attracting much more interest from the world than usual. It’s becoming increasingly realistic that three of them will go to the first round of the NHL Draft, which has never happened before.

The Czechs have known such glory six times, or even greater. But the last time was in 2004, that is 18 years ago, when Rostislav Olesz, Ladislav Šmíd, Marek Schwarz and Lukáš Kašpar qualified for the first round. Since then, the maximum has been two players, which probably won’t change this year either.

Even for Czechia, three reps in the most watched and important round would be an extraordinary event. And what about the Slovaks, who last year “boasted” a hockey player in the fourth round, and in 2008, 2012 and 2016 the draft completely missed them.

The trio, which should shine in July in Montreal, Canada, is made up of winger Slafkovský, defender Šimon Nemec and striker Filip Mešár.

Despite the fact that they are only 18 years old, all of them have already shown themselves in the senior national team of Slovakia, led by Canadian Craig Ramsay.

The 71-year-old coach, who has worked for several NHL clubs, is surprised not to receive more inquiries about the mentioned youngsters from abroad.

“A friend from the NHL called me and now I’m supposed to have a phone call with Vincent Lecavalier, who works for Montreal, but honestly, I expected a lot more. It’s strange,” Ramsay recently told Slovak Sport.

Mešár, who has completed his second year at A Poprad in the Slovak elite league, was unsure of the first round until a few months ago. He still hasn’t, but most rankings see him between tenth and twentieth, which is a significant step up.

The German, who defended Mešár as a Nitra defender, will almost certainly make it past the first round. According to the prevailing opinion, he should even finish high in the top ten and fight with Czech David Jiříček for the top-ranked full-back position.

However, Slovakia’s biggest hope is Slafkovský, a huge, powerful shooting winger who scored seven goals in seven games at the last Beijing Olympics. When he then confirmed his style in Finland’s top competition, where he had previously wrestled, the scouts became even more alert.

For example, a station Sportsnet and Server’s Corey Pronman Athleticism they already see Slafkowski as the No. 2 talent auction behind Canadian center Shane Wright.

In 2000, Marián Gáborík was the top-drafted Slovak, whom Minnesota made a top-three pick. Slafkovský could thus surpass him.

“If Juraj repeats his performance from the Olympics to the World Championships in May or comes close to it, he has a great chance of even being number one in the repechage,” thinks scout Haščák. “I have to say if it was a Canadian, then there’s nothing to say. Or even if it was a Swede or a Finn. But we don’t have such prestige, it has gone down a lot over the years. “

Slafkovský has already caught the eye of Jaromír Jágr, who some compare him to because of his size and perhaps his strength on the puck.

“Excellent player!” Jágr explained to Slovak media. He first noticed it about a year ago, when Czechia played two preseason games against the Slovaks ahead of the World Cup in Latvia.

“I turned on the TV and Slafkovský was playing with the puck near the goal post, where he was very strong,” the Kladno Knights owner continued. “I said to myself, ‘He plays in a style similar to mine. I want him in the team.’ Then I found out he was only 17 so it was clear to me that I had absolutely no chance because he would play in a much better team.”