The NHL’s top rookie goal-scoring defenseman from this past season has struck for his country in the 2022 World Championship. Martin Fehervary got on the board for Slovakia in Group A play as they took down Kazakhstan 4-3.
The young Slovak scored the fourth goal of the game to bring his team level 2-2. They would go on to score two more in quick succession and take home the victory.
Martin Fehervary with a blast.💥 #KAZSVK #IIHFWorlds @Capitals pic.twitter.com/4KXXBNpH0m
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 20, 2022
Fehervary flew over to Finland to play in the tournament after the Capitals were eliminated in Game Six by the Florida Panthers. His first game came on Wednesday in a 5-3 Slovakia loss to Switzerland. Much like his time in DC, he is playing on the de facto first defense pairing.
In Wednesday’s game, Fehervary led all skaters on both teams in ice time by a long shot as he skated just barely under 26 minutes (25:47) and still managed to come out a plus-one even though his team was scored on five times. In Friday’s game, he again led all Slovak defensemen in ice time (20:44) and was only bested overall by future 2022 top draft selection Juraj Slafkovsky (23:14).
This is his third World Championships as he participated previously in both the 2018 and 2019 tournaments. At the 2019 tournament, he was named the “fastest freshman”, reaching a top speed of 37.9 km/h (23.6 mph) on the ice. He beat out other current NHLers Kaapo Kakko, Nico Hischier, Alexandre Texier, and Henri Jokiharju.
Next season in the NHL, Fehervary enters the final year of his entry-level contract, which averages $791,667 per season.
Here are the full highlights of the game via the IIHF:
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