FEATURE: Gajan Reflects on Whirlwind Season from World Juniors to Draft

Over a year ago, Adam Gajan continually reached out to different coaches from the NCAA to the USHL for a chance to be noticed for his hockey talents.

He never expected that a single phone call would turn his season around after he joined the Slovakian National Team at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Tournament.

“This season was crazy for me. Like a year ago, nobody knew about me, and everything started [to go] so fast,” Gajan said. “After a few games I played I started [to get noticed by] many schools and then so many NHL teams. So, it was a lot and I'm happy that now [that] I can just focus on my season.”

Three weeks before the tournament started, coaches from the national team reached out to the Slovakian netminder and asked him to be the backup goaltender. Although he didn’t expect to play in a game, he looked forward to the opportunity that could possibly put his name out there to coaches and scouts.

After a 5-2 loss to Finland in their first contest of the tournament, the coaching staff made a change to the lineup at morning skate where they told Gajan that he would earn the start against the United States, where he earned his first win.

“Three weeks [prior], I wasn't even on the roster and then I went there, and I wasn't even supposed to play any games,” Gajan said. “I was supposed to be [the backup] and the first game didn't go too well. Then, during the morning skate before the game against USA, the coach told me that I was going in and it was it was crazy for me.”

From there, the 19-year-old goaltender started in every game in the tournament and earned one shutout against Lativa. In his final start of the series, Slovakia fell to Canada with a score of 4-3 in the quarterfinals.

Not only did he catch the attention of some college coaches, but he also caught the eyes of some NHL teams, including the Chicago Blackhawks. With a stellar performance all season long, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson and the hockey operations staff selected Gajan in the second round and made him the first goaltender picked in the 2023 NHL Draft.

“[We went with the] best player available mentality and he was the next player up on our list,” Davidson said on July 5. “We really liked Adam all year, loved his athleticism and ability to play the puck. He’s a big game player, which showed in World Juniors.”

After his stint with Slovakia, Gajan went on to spilt time between the NAHL and the USHL to help achieve his goal of playing for a NCAA team. From there, he committed to play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he’ll play in the 2024-25 season.

For the time being, his plan is to keep playing with the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL where he can continue to earn his start time and work with their goalie coach to build his strength. 

“’Goalies always need more time to prepare, so I think it's better for me to play so many games in USHL than go to college right away,” Gajan said. “Green Bay also has a full-time goalie coach, so I will be working with him every day and I think it will help me a lot.” 

As he reflects on the past season, he thinks of everything he achieved to help get one step closer to his dream as a hockey player.

“It's a great feeling because I was always hoping that I could make it one day and of course, I didn't think that everything would change that fast in a year from not even playing on the national team to now being drafted by the Blackhawks in the second round,” Gajan said.