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Canadiens Postgame

Canadiens Forward Juraj Slafkovsky Announces He Has Arrived

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3 weeks ago

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Montreal Canadiens Juraj Slafkovsky

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night in a match-up featuring a team desperate to earn a playoff berth versus a team that is hoping to finish their rebuilding season on the right note.

However, you would not have known the Flyers were the team aiming for springtime hockey, as the Habs cruised to a dominant 9-3 win.

Juraj Slafkovsky led the offensive charge, scoring his first NHL hat trick while also putting the league on notice about his long-term potential.

Before we dive into the highlights we would like to invite anyone interested in seeing the view from the other side of the rink to visit our sister site, Philadelphia Hockey Now.

Net Front Presence

There’s no doubt Slafkovsky has improved his all-around game by leaps and bounds in the second half of the 2023-24 season. And while most of the praise sent his way has to do with his finesse plays, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention he’s doing a much better job using his wingspan and massive frame to create chaos in the offensive zone.

His 17th goal of the season will be quickly forgotten as it was far from a highlight reel play, but it’s the type of situation that arises a hundred times per game, which means quantity is more important than quality in this particular case.

It should also be noted that Mike Matheson and Cole Caufield assisted the goal, which means Matheson is now just two points shy of hitting the 60-point mark this season, while Caufield still managed to produce 60 points for the first time in his career during what has been a very difficult season from a shooting efficiency standpoint.

Slafkovsky’s second goal of the game concluded a very nice passing play in the offensive zone, something we’re seeing with a little more regularity these days.

Nick Suzuki assisted the play, as is tradition.

Tuesday’s game was a celebration of Slafkovsky’s impressive evolution, which means we won’t focus on Suzuki’s play as much as we usually do, but it must be said he’s the engine that drives the Canadiens’ offence.

Triple Montreal Canadiens Threat

As previously discussed, Slafkovsky has added variety to his offensive toolbag this season, something that has served him quite well when it comes to capitalizing on quality scoring chances.

His hat-trick goal was a good example of his budding offensive awareness, not to mention his growing confidence.

Earlier in the season, Slafkovsky would tend to be slow on the trigger when he was involved in a high-danger scoring chance, but that is no longer the case, which means the Canadiens have three players on the top line that command attention for the first time in a very long time.

Joining The Montreal Canadiens Fun

Full marks are to be given to both Christian Dvorak and Josh Anderson. Yes, we know, Anderson has had a difficult season, but he did have a very solid outing against the Flyers. Given how his season has unfolded, we can suspend our frustration for a little while.

Lost in all the excitement was a great return to the line from forward Chrisitan Dvorak. Again, we’re going to focus on Slafkovsky because he’s an important part of the team’s future, but it’s always fun to see a veteran find the back of the net after dealing with a frustrating injury.

The Montreal Canadiens will be back in action on Thursday, facing the New York Islanders on the road. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted. Via Natural Stat Trick.

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Me2

I remember during the 1st half of the season when Slafkovsky was really struggling how there was a hue and a cry about sending him down from many Habs fans.

And I remember reading 1 comment on another blog where that person posting noted that there was no proof sending any player down made any difference in his development.

I thought at the time here’s 1 intelligent voice in the discussion who’s actually took some time to do some looking into this. Sending young players down to the minors doesn’t do anything more for their development than letting them work it out playing with the big club.

It’s individual to each player. And there’s other factors teams have to consider. I have no idea, for example, why the team decided to keep Slafkovsky with the Habs but had Mailloux spend the entire season in the minors. The team is not going to share that information with the fan base, which is very wise given what we know about fan bases.

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Tyrone

Historically, I’ve been a “let the kids marinate in the minors out of the intense spotlight” kinda guy, but since we already have Slaf and at least 4-5 kids on D learning on the fly in the NHL, my opinion is that we might as well have as many up as possible so that they are all gaining experience at the same time, otherwise we delay the maturity of younger players while wasting the best years of Suzuki, Caufield, etc.

As for Mailloux specifically, I imagine he was kept in the AHL for a few reasons (defensive deficiencies, lack of games played during the pandemic, and the most logical fact, there’s just no room in Montreal on D right now). That’s why, despite being a valuable team member, I’ve been saying Savard HAS to be traded this summer. Not only is he blocking Mailloux, he’s also taking a spot needed by the no longer waiver exempt Barron next season.

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Me2

@ Tyrone,

But, I’m repeating myself, there’s no proof that sending a guy down to the minors either hinders or hasten that player’s development. Keeping Slafkovsky with the Canadiens has worked out, but sending him down to the minors for a few weeks, as the team did with Caufield a few seasons back, that might also have worked out.

So, I don’t see any rhyme nor reason to how a team decides which player(s) to send to the minors nor for how long. As I said, there are other issues that have to be taken into account which could be particular to that player. Or particular to the team.

As you state, there’s a logjam on the Montreal blue line, not enough room for everybody, so the team has to decide which 6 or 7 they want to go with. Maybe they’re giving Mailloux time with Laval since he gets lots of playing time, and given the circumstances, that’s how they’ve decided it works best for both him and the team?

The young core up front, Suzuki’s line, they’re all early 20s, they are not yet into their prime, so time is on the team’s side. Their best years are yet to come.

Savard might be a blocker, but the bigger blockers are Gallagher and Anderson, or at least those 2 will be within a year. I think the Canadiens will be making moves at the draft and over the summer to bring in more scoring, and at some point the team will have to decide how they are going to move each out of the way.

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Tyrone

After taking multiple attempts to write my original reply and having everything wiped out on multiple occasions when this friggin’ website “refreshes” itself, and again in trying to reply to your response, I give up. I had lots , but I’m so sick and tired of having to write stuff over and over. Basically, we’re on the same page. Don’t worry. As for the details why, I’m finished writing them all out again and again. 😡

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Matt

I agree, but would add; I really think its beneficial to send a player down when the team has a young player in the NHL, but doesn’t want to commit to giving them minutes. If they want him to develop, he needs minutes. Slaf is a good example because we can see the difference after they moved him to the top line and gave him time. Drives me crazy when they bring a guy up, but then won’t trust him to play.

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Marc Dumont

Hughes himself stated he was on the brink of sending Slafkovsky down. The “1 intelligent voice” comment is yet another condescending line from you, but honestly, it has no merit.

Hughes already shared the information. Your comment makes no sense. The goal was to get him minutes because we all know players need TOI to improve. He wasn’t getting them in Montreal. Hughes identified the issue as well.

Last edited 18 days ago by Marc Dumont
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