Mesar set to begin next chapter in quest to play for Canadiens

BROSSARD, Quebec -- With a season of North American hockey under his belt, Filip Mesar is ready to take one big step closer to his dream of playing in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens.

The 19-year-old forward prospect, selected by the Canadiens with the No. 26 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, had 51 points (17 goals, 34 assists) in 52 games for Kitchener of the Ontario Hockey League last season, his first in North America after arriving from his native Slovakia.

"It was a pretty good experience and I met a lot of new guys," Mesar said during his second development camp with Montreal earlier this month. "I had a really good billet family, so that really helped me."

During the time Mesar was making the adjustment to the smaller North American rink at the junior level, he kept in touch with his close friend, forward Juraj Slafkovsky, who made his NHL debut as an 18-year-old last season after being chosen by Montreal with the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, one of a record three Slovakia-born players taken in the first round, along with defenseman Simon Nemec (No. 2, New Jersey Devils)

"I asked him (Slafkovsky) a lot of questions but he said like, 'You'll see how it's going to be, it's pretty hard but you will see one day,'" Mesar said. "So, hopefully I will see one day, yeah."

Mesar (5-foot-9, 179 pounds) had six points (two goals, four assists) in six games for Slovakia at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship and said he felt he "played way better" in his second half of the season in Kitchener.

"I just couldn't score and couldn't get any points," Mesar said. "I don't know why it was like that but that's hockey, and sometimes you're doing good, sometimes you're doing bad. It was a new experience, a great experience, and now I'm ready for everything."

The next step for Mesar figures to be Laval of the American Hockey League. Canadiens director of player development Rob Ramage believes his season in Kitchener served its purpose well.

"First and foremost, I wasn't too concerned about the numbers," Ramage said. "The whole intention was get him over here, get him acclimated to North America, the small ice surface, the culture. He lived in Kitchener with the billet, we got to see him lots. His team was a strange team. They underachieved (33-29-6, eighth place in the OHL Western Conference) and then knocked off (Seattle Kraken center prospect) Shane Wright in the first round of the playoffs (a four-game sweep of Windsor), a shocker.

"It was a challenging year, a little adversity for him, which isn't a bad thing, but I think just the cultural experience and playing on the North American ice was a real positive for him."

Mesar, who vacationed with friends in Cyprus after the season, is looking forward to having a place of his own this fall and moving ever closer to finding out for himself the answers he sought from Slafkovsky about what it's like to play in the NHL.

"It was kind of an upside-down season," Mesar said. "That's a great experience for me, something new. I didn't have something like that before, but it's a great experience, and now I'm trying to be ready for the next season."