Patience and confidence have helped Juraj Slafkovsky find game with the Montreal Canadiens

One month into the NHL season, Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky was at a crossroads with just one goal and two points.

At the time, it felt like he really just needed a reset with the AHL’s Laval Rocket. There were some promising signs every now and then, but the underlying numbers were rough, and the on-ice results were even worse.

“It’s not easy for a 19-year-old to avoid hearing that (about pressure to perform) and to not be exposed to that with all the media there is in Montreal,” coach Martin St. Louis told Montreal media at the time. “Sometimes it’s not fair.”

There’s no pressure like performing in Montreal, especially as the No. 1 prospect. And after a difficult rookie season that saw him miss the second half due to injury, it just seemed like nothing was going right for him. But it’s easy to forget he’s only 19, turning 20 this Saturday. He’s the only player taken in 2022 with more than 100 NHL games played, having played in almost 40 more games than the second-highest, Logan Cooley.

Fast-forward to now, and Slafkovsky is the first teenager in Canadiens history to register 40 points in a season. Since Jan. 1, He has scored 27 points in 35 games, putting him third on the Canadiens in that span. Even since Feb. 1, he’s second on the Habs with eight goals and 20 points in 22 games. That’s a huge improvement from his 13 points in his first 36 games, with many wondering what needed to be done for him to really figure things out.

What changed?

There’s one thing Slafkovsky never lacked heading into his draft year: confidence. He was always one of the biggest players on the ice and always had one of the best shots in his age group. He moved away from home in 2018 to play in Austria and Czechia to get better coaching and play against stronger competition.

Once he moved to Finland in 2019-20, Slafkovsky was one of the best junior-aged players in the nation. He played in the men’s World Championship at 17, and before he even turned 18, he was named Olympic MVP in 2022. Everything he did just… worked. But the NHL is a whole other beast, and when you’re used to dominating every level, you can get humbled. Slafkovsky didn’t look confident last year, shying away from the more high-risk, high-reward plays that made him valuable with TPS’ Liiga program.

Slafkovsky got knocked around too early in his NHL career, which was undesirable for someone standing at 6-foot-4 and nearly 240 pounds. He’s improving at leveraging his frame to make plays, although there’s room for more.

Slafkovsky also plays with better linemates, holding the top right wing spot alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. It seemed like there was some hesitancy to make that happen for quite a while, but the trio has Montreal’s best expected goals percentage on the team at 51.5 percent. When it was Slafkovsky and Caufield with Christian Dvorak, they were playing at 43.8 percent. When Caufield and Suzuki played with Josh Anderson? Try 42.4 percent. So this group feels right, and the results are showing.

Just about everything we’ve seen this year is a major step up from Slafkovsky’s rookie campaign. His average ice time has jumped by five minutes, his shooting percentage went from 9.5 to 12.7, his Corsi-for is 54.3 compared to 48.9 and he’s getting more quality offensive-zone starts, too.

Martin St. Louis has shown immense patience and belief in No. 20, and that’s huge. He could have easily gone the Columbus Blue Jackets route and benched Slafkovsky a few times – or even send him down, as it really felt like was needed early on. But the Canadiens know having Slafkovsky working closely with the team’s coaching staff is extremely valuable. So is ice time, and after spending significant time in the bottom six last year, Slafkovsky is finally getting that now.

So credit where credit’s due: it couldn’t have been easy, but Montreal’s commitment to developing Slafkovsky the right way is starting to pay off.

It’s still early, and it’s not uncommon in the slightest for first-overall picks to struggle. Nathan MacKinnon had a monstrous 63 points in his rookie season but fell to an 82-game pace of just 49 the following year. Jack Hughes? A 45-point pace. Given Slafkovsky’s slow start, a 46-point pace isn’t too shabby.

Imagine if he played at his 0.77 average since Jan. 1 all year long – that would be closer to 63 points. Consistency will be key, as well as improving the team’s overall competitiveness. The Canadiens are going to finish in the bottom 10 for the third consecutive season, but help’s on the way. Montreal will pick early again this year, and Joshua Roy, Lane Hutson and Logan Mailloux, among others, aren’t far away from helping out Montreal’s core.

Slafkovsky’s improvement now compared even just the fall is evident, and that has to thrill the Canadiens’ organization. What’s the ceiling? Is he going to put up 70-plus points a year? Or is he just going to be a consistent winger you can rely on to contribute in the top six the rest of the way? There aren’t many players built like Slafkovsky, so it’s hard to say. But there’s little reason to doubt he can’t hit 60 points next year.

Reaching the 40-point mark is a good start, but fans will start wanting and expecting more. But keep in mind only one U-20 player in the entire NHL – Chicago Blackhawks phenom Connor Bedard – has outproduced Slafkovsky this season, both from a total points, and a point-per-game perspective. Even with all the extra attention that will be placed on Slafkovsky, especially with everything he has gone through at such a young age, you can’t forget that.

At this point, who knows how good Slafkovsky can end up being? Regardless, Habs fans have to be thrilled.