MONTREAL — Juraj Slafkovsky waited and wondered if the Montreal Canadiens would take him with the first pick in the NHL draft.

When the moment came, he didn’t even hear General Manager Kent Hughes call his name. Shock overwhelmed the big, charismatic winger as soon as he heard Hughes say, “From the Slovakian national team.

“I didn’t even listen anymore,” he said. “I was like shaking and I had goosebumps.”

Months after leading Slovakia to its first Olympic gold medal and being named tournament MVP, Slafkovsky made more history by becoming the first player from the country to be taken No. 1. Minutes later, countryman and Beijing Games teammate Simon Nemec went second to the New Jersey Devils.

Slafkovsky and Nemec became the highest-drafted players from Slovakia, 22 years after Marian Gaborik went third to Minnesota in 2000.

There were plenty of speechless folks at Bell Centre for the league’s first in-person draft since 2019 when Shane Wright, long projected to be the top pick in this draft even before the Canadiens won the draft lottery, was not taken in the top three.

The Arizona Coyotes made forward Logan Cooley the highest-drafted player from Pittsburgh when they took him third. Wright’s fall, reminiscent of Seth Jones in 2013 – the last draft with this level of uncertainty about the top pick – ended when the Seattle Kraken took him fourth.

Wright said he’d have a chip on his shoulder and play with “a little more fire” after getting passed over by three teams at the top of the draft.

The Canadiens kept everyone guessing in saying they were considering Slafkovsky, Wright and Cooley before the draft. And after answering that question by choosing the 6-foot-4 winger, Montreal made another splash by completing a trade.

The Canadiens traded defenseman Alexander Romanov to the New York Islanders for the 13th pick and moved that selection and the 66th to the Chicago Blackhawks for young forward Kirby Dach.

It was the second dismantling move made Thursday by the Blackhawks, who also traded high-scoring winger Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators for three picks.

Slafkovsky, who has drawn comparisons to late Hockey Hall of Famer Clark Gillies and plays a bit like a young Jaromir Jagr, said he told the Canadiens on Thursday morning to take him. Confident as that sounded, Slafkovsky acknowledged he didn’t expect it to actually happen.

“It was a really big surprise for me,” Slafkovsky said. “We had meetings but we don’t get to know almost anything from that meeting. I still could just guess when I was waiting for this. But now it’s reality.”

Slafkovsky, who turned 18 in March, is among the most NHL-ready players in the draft after playing against grown men in Finland this past season and impressing at the Olympics with seven goals in seven games. The youngest player in the tournament was the biggest reason Slovakia won an Olympic bronze medal for the first time.

Chuck Fletcher, whose Philadelphia Flyers picked forward Cutter Gauthier fifth, said Wednesday he expected a lot of trades at the draft. Other GMs around the league didn’t want for the draft to begin to start dealing.

The Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche got things started by acquiring goaltender Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers for third- and fifth-round picks in this draft and a third-rounder next year.

Then Chicago sent DeBrincat to Ottawa for the seventh and 39th picks and a third-rounder in 2024.

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