If at the end of the hockey season the best player or player discovery from all leagues in the world is determined, then Juraj Slafkowski I would definitely be one of the candidates. The 18-year-old striker from Slovakia is having an incredible year, outshining even the most experienced and elite hockey players on the planet. Juraj was born in Kosice and started playing hockey. At the age of 14, he ended up first in Austria, then in the Czech Republic. And a year later he switched to the Finnish TPS system, where his career went uphill. They began to talk about great talent when he appeared in the national team last season, first at the junior world championship, and then at the adult.

In the 2021/22 season, Slafkowski made tangible progress. He made his debut for the senior TPS team. He scored 10 (5+5) points in 31 games of the regular season (played in the second half of the season), and 7 (2+5) points in 18 playoffs. Yuray has strong dimensions (height – 192 cm, weight – 99 kg), uses them skillfully, holds the puck well, sees the clearance and makes a good shot. The real victory came to him in the match for the national team. This year he has already accumulated 24 matches in various tournaments. Games for the junior team, the junior world championship, the Olympic qualifiers, the Olympics and now the adult world championship. It will be selected in the draft in a month and a half. And if six months ago they were only accepted in the top 10, they are now predicting a place in the top three, or rather, the second top after Shane Wright. New Jersey fans (the Devils will pick second) are already starting to understand who the rookie will face this fall. None of the players entering the draft have such experience at the adult level. Only compatriot defender Shimon Nemets can compete with him, but he is still on the team as a young man. Slafkowski gained a completely different status throughout the season.

At the Olympics, the 17-year-old striker became the best sniper of the tournament (7 goals) and was named MVP. Even at the age of 18, no one could score that many goals, Ovechkin can envy the young Slovak. His team won a bronze medal – the first Olympic medals in the history of the Slovak national team. Previously, the best result for the national team was fourth place at the 2010 Games in Vancouver. He started talking more about the masked young star. The Slovak marvel’s profile on EliteProspects was the second most popular profile in the first week of the Olympics (more often only Conor Bedar’s page was visited). Miroslav Šatan, Slovak hockey legend and general manager of the national team, described him as the future NHL star.

A strong performance at the Olympics came largely because no one expected anything from Slafkovsky. Junior got into a cool shape and managed to stand out. But that didn’t mean he would become an NHL star within a year. Kaapo Kakko won the World Cup at the age of 18 and then disappeared with the Rangers.

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Juraj did not stop at his Olympic success and continued to surprise at the World Championships. In Finland, he is currently Slovakia’s top scorer and is among the top 10 top scorers in the world championship. Experts note that in a few months Slovak was added and became a more versatile player than it was in Beijing in February. He has 7 (2+5) points in 6 games. The forward started the tournament from the second line and, towards the end of the group stage, Kaig Ramsey carried him into the top three. Slafkovsky stays on the ice for an average of 20 minutes for the team with the most goals and comes out in the decisive moments of the matches. Slovakia is currently fifth in Group A and will play the last match of the qualifying round tomorrow against Denmark in fourth place. The match will be for the quarterfinals. And Juraj could be a hockey player who will send his team to race for World Cup medals.

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