Indeed, there are benefits in practicing against Slovakian teammates in the NHL, including forwards Juraj Slafkovsky of the Montreal Canadiens, Martin Pospisil of the Calgary Flames and defensemen Martin Fehervary of the Washington Capitals, Simon Nemec of the Flames and Erik Cernak of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Gajan will try to reap the benefits of that experience at training camp in September. He would like to end up in Rockford, the Blackhawks’ American Hockey League affiliate; he played one game with Rockford last season, making 36 saves in a 4-2 loss to Chicago, the Carolina Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate, on April 12.
“There are a lot of really nice tools there,” Rockford goaltending coach Matt Smith said. “He’s an excellent skater and he’s pretty athletic, so for me, those are two tools that can really project nicely at the NHL level. So for him, the first year, the biggest thing is about learning and trying to grow each day, as cliche as that sounds. That’s the biggest thing and making sure he’s maturing as a pro, and we’ll see where it goes.”
Gajan was selected to the Slovakia Olympic team after his strong second season at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. After going 7-12-1 with a 3.33 goals-against average, .885 save percentage and one shutout in 21 games in 2024-25, Gajan improved to 19-13-1 with a 2.25 GAA, .908 save percentage and two shutouts in 33 games last season.
“Obviously, it’s an honor for him to be one of the players and goaltenders from his home country,” Minnesota-Duluth goaltending coach Brant Nicklin said. “It was a goal of his and anytime you work toward and certainly based on Year 1, it wasn’t a guarantee that would be the case. With his play and work he earned that opportunity.”
