Juraj Slafkovský’s injury has been dragging on for some time

This morning, the Canadiens announced that Juraj Slafkovský would miss at least a week of action. It’s obviously not ideal, but the kid clearly wasn’t 100%.

If we’re going to play him banged up, we might as well take a step back and make sure he comes back when he’s fully healthy.

That said, even if we knew he was affected by something, it was all rather nebulous. We knew his shoulder was bothering him, but we didn’t know when or how he’d injured it.

Well, Renaud Lavoie seems to have provided the answer tonight on JiC: the informant revealed that, according to what’s being said backstage, the youngster has been nursing his injury for some time now.

We’re talking more about an aggravated injury than a new one.

The moment when Juraj Slafkovsky was injured may have been identified, see @renlavoietva ‘s explanation: https: //t.co/LaGHwkwRYU #GoHabsGo

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) October 22, 2024

Lavoie also noted that the youngster fell quite heavily on his shoulder during the game against the Kings last Thursday, so he possibly aggravated it then.

He still played on Saturday… but his condition has obviously worsened since then. Was it a good idea to have him play against the Islanders?

The question to ask, though, is whether the initial injury is related to the back injury that prevented him from playing for Slovakia at the end of August. It’s not the same injury, obviously, but it’s legitimate to ask whether there’s a link.

That said, the most important thing is for the youngster to get better before coming back. We know that his style of play can be taxing on the body, and in a season when the Habs won’t be competitive (even if he hopes to be #InTheMix), there’s no point in playing him if he’s not healthy.

And if he’s still in discomfort a week from now, he might as well wait another week. The youngster’s health is the priority right now.