SAGINAW, MI - Albert Michnac told himself not to get mad.
Sometimes Michnac doesn't listen to himself.
Michnac will play his first game as a Saginaw Spirit at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday when the team opens the 2018-19 season against Sault Ste. Marie at the Dow Event Center.
He will play with a Spirit emblem on his chest and an NHL chip on his shoulder.
After scoring 39 points for Guelph in the 2016-17 season, Michnac was eligible for the NHL draft and was not taken ... as expected.
But he scored 60 points for Mississauga in the 2017-18 season and heard from some NHL draft-watchers that he could hear his name as early as the fifth round.
Michnac was at home with his father in the Czech Republic, waiting to hear his name called. When it wasn't, he and his dad went to the neighborhood rink for a "beer-league" skate.
"I told myself before the draft that I wasn't going to be mad if I didn't see my name," Michnac said. "But I have to admit that I was mad. I just left with my dad to go to play some beer-league hockey that night.
"I was pretty mad, but I just worked harder for this season to prove to people they should have taken me."
Even though he wasn't drafted, Michnac was invited to the Arizona Coyotes prospect camp.
"It was very fast," Michnac said. "But I liked it. Their coaches said that they liked what I did, that I have good hockey skills that not all players have. They're going to watch what I do this season."
He expects to have a big year, playing for his third team in as many Ontario Hockey League seasons, a situation created by the OHL's roster rules concerning import players and overage players.
The OHL allows teams two import players and three overage players, and Michnac fills both spots on the roster.
He was drafted by Guelph, scoring 15 goals with 24 assists in his first season in the OHL. But when Guelph drafted Russian Alexey Toropchenko, it gave the Storm three import players in Michnac, Toropchenko and Dmitri Samorukov.
The Storm released Michnac, keeping Toropchenko and Samorukov. The St. Louis Blues took Toropchenko in the fourth round of the 2017 draft, with the Edmonton Oilers taking Samorukov in the third round of the 2017 draft.
Michnac went back into the import draft, and Mississauga took him for the 2017-18 season. He answered with a 60-point season. But he once again got caught in a roster squeeze, and Saginaw was able to trade a conditional 15th-round pick in 2019.
"I had heard rumors and my agent told me that I would probably be traded or released, so we looked at options like playing in a pro league back home (in the Czech Republic)," Michnac said. "But when I got traded to Saginaw, I talked to my agent and we both knew they were going to have a good team and it was a good place to play, so I'm happy to be here."
Michnac, 19, shares the same agent as another Czech, Filip Hronek, who played for the Saginaw Spirit and is one of the top Detroit Red Wings prospects.
"The OHL roster rules kind of force your hand a little," Saginaw coach Troy Smith said. "Albert is in a unique situation in that he is both an overage player and an import player."
The Spirit had room on their roster for both an overage player and an import player.
"There aren't many teams in the league that have the roster spot for both an import and overager," Smith said. "We were fortunate. He's a proven scorer in the league and someone who's played a lot of games.
"We have a young group of forwards, so he gives us that veteran presence in that group."
Michnac scored two goals and two assists in the preseason, helping lead the Spirit to a 5-0 record.
Michnac is one of several Saginaw Spirit players who have returned from NHL training camps in time for the season opener.
Cole Coskey (Buffalo), Maxime Grondin (Carolina), Brady Gilmour (Detroit) and Reilly Webb (Detroit) also returned to Saginaw. The Spirit are waiting on Damien Giroux (Minnesota), Ivan Prosvetov (Arizona), Keaton Middleton (San Jose), Bode Wilde (New York Islanders) and Blade Jenkins (New York Islanders).
After Wednesday's opener, the Spirit have another home game at 7:05 p.m. Saturday against Sarnia.