With their second pick in the first round, the Montreal Canadiens chose another Slovak forward, Filip Mešár. What stands out with Mešár just by looking at his player profile is that he has played professional hockey for two seasons with Poprad already, and while the stats from both years are similar, it is important to remember that Poprad went to the final the first year, and wasn’t as strong in 2021-22, explaining some of the metrics on the stat line.
Montreal jokingly said they’d get a whole country of new fans when selecting Mešár. Some saw it as a sure way to make the top pick, Juraj Slafkovský, comfortable in Montreal.