Juuse Saros reveals he wasn't drafted by a team due to his height

By Abhishek Dilta

Modified Feb 09, 2023 15:13 GMT

Juuse Saros, who plays for the Nashville Predators and is 27 years old, is widely regarded as one of the best goaltenders in the league. Saros was the 99th overall pick for the Predators in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

However, the star goaltender's journey to success has been riddled with ups and downs. Saros is just 5'11'', and his short stature has caused him many difficulties in his quest to make it to the top of the NHL.

Saros recently spoke with Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman of the 32 Thoughts Podcast about his influence in the league, as well as how he has to deal with all of the comments he receives about his height.

"Yeah, every now and then you hear, you hear some messages and stuff like that. I think it’s cool if I got to inspire some of these kids, then you can make it in different ways too. So, now and then I see it."

He also remarked on the criticism directed at his profession and whether it bothered him personally.

"Not like that, obviously I wasn’t never a big value as a young kid…but it never really bothered me…I never really thought about it too much. Obviously, in my draft year, it was a big topic. But I never really thought it too much."

The topic of the discussion then shifted to the number of times Saros was questioned about his small stature. He shared one incident when he was not drafted due to his height.

"Some of them walk in the room, and tell me to take off my shoes. They measure me and stuff like that. There was also a team, which called me and took an x-ray of my bones to see if I can still grow. The result was not growing so they didn’t draft me."

The Nashville Predators are known for producing some of the best goaltenders in the NHL. Saros praised the Predators for their excellent scouting team.

"They did a great job at scouting. I don’t know if they have some former goalie or someone picking stuff like that… but yeah, they have done a really great job."

Saros was then asked about the NHL goalies he grew up watching. He said that one of his favorites was Marc-Andre Fleury.

Juuse Saros had to miss out on two playoff series games for the Nashville Predators

Juuse Saros during Calgary Flames v Nashville Predators match

Juuse Saros had to miss out on two playoff series games for the Nashville Predators against the Colorado Avalanche in 2022. He suffered an ankle injury during a game against the Calgary Flames on April 27. As a result, he was sidelined for eight weeks.

"I couldn’t twist my ankle for eight weeks. I kind of knew there wasn’t really a chance of me playing after the injury.”

Saros has been outstanding for the Nashville Predators so far this season. The 27-year-old has played 38 games and has a 2.78 goals-against average and .919 save percentage.