Folks, if there’s a single country that’s had a glow-up in terms of producing high-end National Hockey League prospects in the last decade or so, it’s Slovakia.

They haven’t quite reached a critical mass to the point where they’re dominating tournaments at the junior and senior levels… but they won bronze at the 2022 Olympics and finished fourth at the 2026 Olympics, at a tournament with NHLers involved. Slovakia has very much staked a claim to a prominent position on the world hockey stage.

However, Slovakia hasn’t yet reached a point where they’re dominating the prospect rankings at the NHL Draft. There are usually one or two really promising Slovaks per year – this draft’s pair appear to be centre Tomas Chrenko and defender Adam Goljer. And while the Calgary Flames have selected a few prominent Slovaks in recent years, they’ve only selected seven Slovaks since entering the NHL in 1972.

Here’s a look at these magnificent seven Slovaks.

Before we begin, some incredibly weird history. The first Slovak player selected by an NHL team was Anton Stastny. He was also the second Slovak selected. You see, he was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1978. However, at the time players had to be 20 to be selected and there was still inconsistent biographical information on potential draft choices, even with the creation of the NHL’s Central Scouting Service in 1976. Turns out that Stastny was a few months too young to be drafted, so he went back into the following year’s draft and was selected by the Quebec Nordiques instead.

Anyway, the first Slovak selected by the Flames was 1983 pick Igor Liba, taken in the fifth round. He remained in Europe for awhile, and the Flames traded his rights to the Minnesota North Stars in 1988 for a draft pick used to select Tomas Forslund. (Liba was actually traded three times in 1988, going from Calgary to Minnesota, Minnesota to the NY Rangers, playing 10 games with the Rangers, and then getting traded to Los Angeles, where he played another 27 games.)

In 1992, the Flames selected blueliner Robert Svehla in the fourth round. He never played for the Flames, as he was traded to Florida in 1994 along with Magnus Svensson for a pair of picks.

In 1996, the Flames selected forward Ronald Petrovicky, the younger brother of Robert, who had played portions of four seasons in the NHL before Ronald was drafted. The younger Petrovicky played four seasons in the Flames system, but he was the Valeri Bure to Robert’s Pavel as far as their NHL careers went, spending two seasons with the Flames but not moving the needle significantly. He was claimed by the Rangers in the waiver draft in 2002.

The Flames didn’t select another Slovak player for two decades, but selected OHL import forward Adam Ruzicka in the fourth round in 2017. Ruzicka spent parts of four seasons in the Flames’ pro system, including portions of four seasons on the NHL roster – he showed flashes of strong play, but lacked consistency. He was claimed off waivers by Arizona in 2023, soon after which he had his contract terminated for off-ice conduct.

In 2018, the Flames selected another Slovak, USHL import forward Martin Pospisil. Pospisil is a current Flames player, with the 2025-26 season representing his seventh year in their pro system.

In 2018, the Flames traded into the fourth round to select another Slovak, WHL import forward Milos Roman. Roman was a solid WHLer, but never came to terms with the Flames on a contract.

Finally, in 2023, the Flames selected a Slovak in the first round for the first – and so far, only – time, selecting WHL import forward Samuel Honzek. Like Pospisil, Honzek is a current Flames player, with the 2025-26 season being his second campaign in their pro system.

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