Slafkovsky, a left wing with TPS in Liiga, Finland's top professional men's league, was chosen No. 1 by the Canadiens in the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre in Montreal on July 7.
"I mean, you watch what he did at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, you watch what he did at the World Championship and with TPS in a league that is more defensive, and he acquitted himself very well," Button said on this season's final episode of the "NHL Draft Class" podcast. "The vast majority of players aren't ready for the NHL. But I would say that Slafkovsky, because of his experiences last year -- and not just playing, but we're talking about having significant success -- that I'd be surprised if he's not in the lineup on opening night for the Montreal Canadiens."
In 31 games with TPS in Liiga this season, Slafkovsky had 10 points (five goals, five assists) and averaged 14:11 of ice time. He had seven points (two goals, five assists) while averaging 15:28 of ice time in 18 Liiga playoff games. Those seven playoff points were the third-most by an under-18 player in Liiga, after Patrik Laine (15 points in 18 games, 2016) and Jesse Puljujarvi (nine points in 10 games, 2016).
He was named the most valuable player at the 2022 Beijing Olympics after scoring a tournament-best seven goals in seven games to help Slovakia earn the bronze medal, its first men's Olympic hockey medal. In the 2022 IIHF World Championship, Slafkovsky had nine points (three goals, six assists) while averaging 20:32 in eight games with Slovakia, which lost 4-2 to eventual champion Finland in the quarterfinals.
Button also offered his advice to right-handed center
Shane Wright
, who fell to the Seattle Kraken at No. 4 in the 2022 draft after being projected as the top choice all season long.
"Here's what I say to players," Button said, "on draft day, you got drafted exactly where you should have been drafted because no team was prepared to draft you before that. So now your choice is to show everybody that they were wrong, that you should have been drafted higher. That's what I would tell Shane Wright. Show everybody that you should have been drafted higher and through your play, you can do that."
"NHL Draft Class" co-hosts Adam Kimelman and Mike G. Morreale also provided their favorite selections of the first and second rounds, and which NHL club they felt had a strong showing at the draft.
The podcast is free, and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms, including iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. It also is available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.
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Listen: New episode of NHL Draft Class
