Buffalo Sabres ninth overall pick Matthew Savoie shakes hands with head coach Don Granato after being selected at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal on Thursday. Photo courtesy of the Buffalo Sabres

MONTREAL — Today was a great day to be a Slovakian.

Prior to this year, Marian Gaborik was the only Slovakian-born player to be selected in the top five of the National Hockey League entry draft when he was picked third in 2000.

That changed on Thursday when Juraj Slafkovsky was selected first overall by the Montreal Canadiens. The fun didn’t stop there as fellow countryman Simon Nemec was taken second overall by the New Jersey Devils to make it two Slovaks taken in the top five, doubling the previous total. Montreal later double-dipped and took Filip Mesar at 26 overall, going all in on what Slovakian hockey had to offer this year.

While Montreal definitely got its guy, Buffalo didn’t do too shabby either as it kept all three of its first-round picks.

With a lot of movement and uncertainty, it wasn’t a guarantee Buffalo would get a chance to take one of the top centers in this year’s draft. But at pick nine the Sabres selected one of the most dynamic players in the draft, Winnipeg Ice center Matthew Savoie.

Savoie is a speedy, dynamic playmaker who dominated the Western Hockey League with 35 goals and 55 assists for 90 points in 65 games. Due to Savoie’s small stature, some speculate he will shift to the wing, but one thing is for certain he will be an offensive weapon Buffalo can add to the pipeline.

Despite the Sabres boasting massive centers on the roster with 6-foot, 7-inch Tage Thompson and 6-3 Dylan Cozens, they hammered home on dynamic skaters under 5-10 and 170 pounds. At 16, Buffalo selected Swedish centerman Noah Ostlund. The speedy Swede is a play-driving center that flies through the neutral zone on transition and he’s a capable play connector, but with the size the worry is always whether the immense talent can translate to the physical NHL game.

At pick 28, Buffalo took the Most Valuable Player of the 2022 U-18 World Championships, Czech center Jiri Kulich. Kulich dominated against his age group at worlds and it caught the eye of Buffalo’s scouting department. The Kulich selection shows a pattern of Buffalo taking top performers from the U-18 World Championships.

The draft continues today for rounds two through seven.

Other notable picks in the first round were Shane Wright falling to Seattle at fourth overall, Jonathan Lekkerimaki went 15th overall to Vancouver, Ivan Miroshnichenko was picked by Washington at 20th overall, Danila Yurov was scooped up by Minnesota at 24th and Brad Lambert landed at 30th with Winnipeg.