Offensive production: Slafkovsky is one of the best at U21 level

As we all know, Juraj Slafkovsky is on fire these days.

Prior to tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers, Slafkovsky had 10 points in his last 10 games and 23 points in his last 26 games.

His offensive output over the past two months is not at all representative of his first 31 games of the season.

He scored just eight points during that stretch, and the majority of fans were beginning to worry a great deal about the young Slovak’s potential.

However, his recent performances have rekindled fan appreciation, and he is now among the best in his age category.

At the time of writing, the 20-year-old was tied for third among all players under 21 with 41 points.

Only Connor Bedard (57 points) and Wyatt Johnston (59 points) are ahead of him, while Slafkovsky is tied with the talented Luke Hughes.

Please note that the following table does not include tonight’s games.

One of his team’s best players since a slow start to 2023-24 where he had just 8 points in 31 games, recently turned 20-year-old @CanadiensMTL sophomore Juraj Slafkovsky goes into tonight vs FLA tied for the 3rd most points on this list of youngsters in the NHL so far this season pic.twitter.com/ohJbbJHcGO

– StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) April 2, 2024

The very first pick of the 2022 auction took some time to become an impact player, but when he was paired with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, the flame seemed to be lit.

Since then, Slafkovsky has been on fire, much to the delight of Montreal Canadiens fans.

At the start of the season, many detractors criticized the selection of Kent Hughes in the 2022 draft.

With a little patience and the right line mates, Slafkovsky is finally performing like a true first overall pick.

It’s normal to see a power forward like Slafkovsky take a while to establish himself in the NHL.

I’d even go so far as to say it didn’t take long, given that he’s only played a hundred games in his career.

If he continues to progress like this, the Tricolore will clearly have a very fine jewel in their possession.

It will be interesting to see how many goals Slaf can score next year.

Overtime

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Brendan Gallagher MUST reinvent himself. Will he be able to do it? @TonyMarinaro gives his réponse pic.twitter.com/o8I2OE1qXh

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