Stu Cowan: Juraj Slafkovsky, Filip Mesar ready to grow with Canadiens

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Juraj Slafkovsky was making his first visit to the Canadiens locker room at the Bell Center after being the first overall pick in the NHL Draft last week when he heard the news.

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With their second pick in the first round (No. 26 overall), the Canadians chose Filip Mesar, a childhood friend of Slafkovsky’s in Slovakia.

Slafkovsky left the locker room and went to find Mesar. When they saw each other, both wearing Canadiens sweaters, Slafkovsky gave Mesar a bear hug and lifted him off the ground.

The two new Canadians then celebrated with fellow Slovakian Simon Nemec, a defenseman who was selected by the New Jersey Devils with the second overall pick.

Three Slovaks selected in the first round, which is an NHL record.

“It was a crazy night for Slovakia and I was very shocked to be drafted from Montreal to Montreal,” Mesar said this week at the Canadiens’ development camp in Brossard. “It was something special and I am very happy to be here and also with my friend it is great. We were very good friends since we were children and we pushed each other year after year and now we are here and maybe that is a good opportunity to be better players and maybe reach the best level”.

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The 5-foot-9, 175-pound Mesar is used to being in the giant shadow of the 6-foot-3, 227-pound Slafkovsky. Growing up in Slovakia, Slafkovsky earned the nickname “Dinosaur” from his friends because he was a head taller than them.

“It will be nice to be with one of my best friends together in Montreal,” Mesar said after being drafted. “It will be easier for me to adapt.”

There was a cool photo on Twitter of Slafkovsky and Mesar together when they played together in the Quebec City pee-wee tournament and also participated in a Canadiens summer camp in 2014 at the Bell Sports Complex.

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Nick Bobrov, the Canadiens’ co-director of amateur scouting, said the decision to pick Mesar had nothing to do with him being a close friend of Slafkovsky’s, but simply because of the way the draft went down.

“We saw him a lot,” Bobrov said of Mesar after the draft. “He’s one of those guys that can skate, make plays and he’s got a really good brain. Relentless. So the fact that we somehow end up with two childhood friends in the same first round is a bit of divine providence and an accident, but this kid is focused. We have done a lot of research on him with Craig Ramsay (Slovakia national team coach) and Tomas Tatar (former Canadian from Slovakia) and people who know this guy.”

Mesar and Slafkovsky did a video interview together for the Canadiens website and it was fun to watch them joke around with each other while getting very comfortable in front of the camera. They debated who could eat more.

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“I think me because I don’t see myself as the big guy, but I eat too much,” Mesar said.

“Like more,” Slafkovsky replied.

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Slafkovsky also discussed taking Mesar and Nemec on vacation with him to Turkey before the draft.

“They had never been outside of Slovakia, so I had to take them somewhere to enjoy their vacation,” Slafkovsky said.

“Juraj paid nothing,” Mesar replied.

“He’s lying,” Slafkovsky said.

The two Slovaks are very comfortable together and seem to enjoy being the center of attention, which should help them as they grow up alongside the Canadians. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Slafkovsky starts next season with the Canadiens, while Mesar is more likely to start with AHL’s Laval Rocket or OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, who have his youth rights. The Canadians want both Slovaks to play in North America next season.

Mesar played center as a child, but switched to full-back when he played professionally for the last two seasons with Poprad HK SKP in the Slovak Extraliga. Last season, Mesar went 8-8-16 in 37 games. Bobrov said the Canadiens hope Mesar can play center in the NHL, but he added that “that’s never a guarantee.”

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“Very fast, very skilled, very slippery, very smart,” Bobrov said of Mesar after the draft. “Great performances in the Slovakian professional league, he was in the big national team for half the year in the German Cup and was qualified to be in the world championship, but he hurt his shoulder in the playoffs.”

There are some guys who look like really good hockey players even when they’re standing on their skates. That’s what I noticed about Mesar on the first day of the Canadiens’ development camp as he stood on the blue line, bent over with his cane across his knees waiting to start a drill during the practice session. Once the drills started, and at practice on Wednesday, the last day of camp, I remembered what Bobrov said.

Mesar is really fast, skilled, sneaky and smart.

He’s not a dinosaur, but like his friend, he’s a first-round pick.

It should be fun to watch these two Slovak teenagers grow up alongside the Canadians.

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