Hockey

Slaf: We are finally seeing the player the Canadiens drafted
Tony Patoine
Slaf: We are finally seeing the player the Canadiens drafted
Credit: Getty Images

Ahhhhh, the good old spring of 2022…

At the age of 17, Juraj Slafkovsky had just been named MVP of the Olympic Games after scoring 7 goals in 7 games, helping Slovakia to the bronze medal. Several fine shots from the slot, some interesting puck control sequences…

It was enough to start talking about him as a serious rival for Shane Wright as a potential first overall pick.

Then there was the World Championship in May, an even tougher competition than the Olympics, including several NHL players (among others, Mathew Barzal, Drake Batherson, Nico Hischier, Mikael Granlund, Timo Meier, Tomas Tatar, and Dylan Cozens).

Once again, it was the young Slafkovsky, barely 18, who was his country's best player, with 9 points in 8 games.

We still remember a few sequences in which he carried the puck with authority from his own territory into the opponent's zone, foiling 2-3 players along the way. Spectacular and authoritative.

It was towards the end of this competition that all doubts had dissipated in my mind: The Habs, who had just won the lottery, owed it to themselves to draft the big Slovak winger.

While I was always disappointed by my viewings of Shane Wright in the OHL, the way Slafkovsky managed to leave his mark on these international games, his willingness to make a difference with and without the puck, to stand up when it counted most, had greatly impressed me.

In my mind, he wasn't miles ahead of Wright and Cooley, but between the three of them, the real top dog of 2022 was him.

And it was he who seemed to me to be the optimal choice for the “little” Habs, the one in whom I had the most confidence on a five-year horizon and on a career horizon with the Canadiens.

And the Habs' management obviously came to the same conclusion a few weeks later when they called him up to the stage in the middle of the Bell Centre, at the risk of offending many on the spot already proudly wearing a Shane Wright jersey!

A timid first season at 18

Unsurprisingly, the 6'3″, 238-lb. colossus began his NHL career at age 18 under the supervision of Martin St-Louis and Adam Nicholas.

It was still a questionable decision.

After all, baby Slaf still had a lot of confidence to build at the professional level and a lot of basic things to work on, including playing with his head held higher, having been “picked up” a few times during that first season cut short by a knee injury.

Slaf sometimes tried to make plays with the puck, but at 18 in the NHL, we hadn't really been able to see the previous season's dominant player with Slovakia again.

A first breakthrough at 19, then a “plateau” at 20

It wasn't until the second half of the 23-24 season that we saw a more confident, consistent, and effective Slafkovsky in a more precise role. Alongside Caufield and Suzuki, “the Big Guy” was now winning his battles along the boards, spotting teammates with great passes, and scoring his share of goals near the opposing net.

In his age-19 season, Slaf recorded close to a point per game in the second half. He also scored 14 points on the powerplay, for a total of 50 points. Not bad.

All prospects were now open. A 65-70 point campaign seemed a very strong possibility at 20 years of age in 24-25.

But a short-lived start to the season, in which he played 21 games between late October and early December without his usual partners, seemed to make him lose his bearings.

St. Louis had tried to make him the player who would revitalize Kirby Dach and become the powerhouse of the second line. It didn't work. In fact, no one seemed in a position to relaunch Dach in 24-25. The Albertan simply wasn't fit enough to keep up with the NHL pace.

But, back with Caufield and Suzuki, everything fell into place once again for Slaf in the second half and he finished last season with 51 points, one more than the previous season, despite 4 points less on the powerplay (10).

All in all, not a real progression, at least not offensively.

The famous fourth season…

At the dawn of his fourth season, a season often decisive for forwards of his stature, we were still entitled to expect him to finally move up to the next level in 25-26.

Still playing alongside Suzuki and Caufield, the first 15-20 games showed us the big winger useful to his two comparses, often keeping the game alive in the opponent's zone, winning battles, stealing pucks, taking up space, creating space, and so on.

Although we would have liked him to be a little more consistent and involved on certain nights, Slaf generally played well, and with a little more luck, he could easily have accumulated 5-6 more points on his record, including 2 goals he seems to have scored on deflections against Chicago and Columbus that the NHL never credited to him.

But, through it all, we still didn't see the incisive, dominant and creative player with the puck that the Canadiens had drafted.

Could this player really exist in the NHL, or was it just a figment of the imagination, a fantasy?

A stint alongside Demidov and the big break?

No doubt wanting to rebalance his line-up by stirring the proverbial soup, Martin St-Louis recently inserted his big #20 alongside his superb rookie, Ivan Demidov, and the surprising Oliver Kapanen.

Did he also want to see once again what Slaf had up his sleeve as a “locomotive” — and this time “veteran” — on this young second line?

Perhaps he did.

In any case, it was on this occasion that we finally saw the real Slafkovsky, the one who in his draft year could remind us of a cross between Jaromir Jagr and Marian Hossa: a big, talented winger capable of driving his line, carrying and protecting the puck, and creating plays for his teammates.

The experiment, though conclusive, only lasted a few games, but could have benefits for Slaf back on his usual first line. We also know that we can put him back with Demidov if need be, depending on the opponent.

So, against the Jets, we saw him take charge with the puck all over the rink, in no way hesitant and much less quick to give the puck to Suzuki and Caufield.

We also saw him more confident and comfortable in front of the goal on the power play, in the role of ” bumper . ” After 26 games, Slaf has already equaled his personal mark of 6 power-play goals in a single season. A strong indicator of things to come…

With 9 goals in 26 games, if he keeps up this pace, “the Big Guy” is heading for a 28-goal season… and 150 body checks, a fact reserved for players with a big enough impact, let's put it that way…

But, if you ask me, I think this pace could intensify, as Slafkovsky, who enjoyed a 5-goal streak in 7 games in late October and early November, has now scored 3 goals in his last 4 games.

Slafkovsky is just beginning to realize that he now has the experience (226 games at 21!) and all the tools to become a dominant player night after night in this league.

All he needed was that little extra dose of confidence that his time with Demidov has given him.

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