Slafkovsky cleans up at Hockey Slovakia gala

MONTREAL – Juraj Slafkovsky scored a hat trick of honors at the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation awards ceremony in Bratislava on Monday.

The Canadiens forward, hailing from Kosice, SVK, was named Slovakia’s 2024 Best Player Under 20, Best Forward and Player of the Year at the gala celebrating the country’s elite hockey talents.

“Every year is different, and every year someone else can win it. I’m glad I managed to do it again after a one-year break,” the Slovak told Martin Toth-Vaňo of Sport.sk.

This marks the second time Slafkovsky has been named Player of the Year, having first received the honor in 2022.

“Back [in 2022], there was a lot of euphoria, the draft and everything around it. Now it’s calmer, we’re all probably more focused on hockey. Two wins, and I was a completely different player each time; we’ll see what the coming years bring,” Slafkovsky added.

The 20-year-old posted 50 points (20G, 30A) and rewrote Canadiens history in his sophomore NHL season. On March 26 in Colorado, the then 19-year-old registered an assist on Nick Suzuki’s goal to record his 40^th point of the season, eclipsing Mario Tremblay’s record for most points by a teenager in a single season in franchise history.

The 2022 first-overall pick also became the first teenager in team history to record a nine-game point streak and the second-youngest Hab to score a hat trick, accomplishing the feat on April 9 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Slafkovsky says he expects to return to Montreal ‘sometime next week’ to prepare for the upcoming campaign.