The emergence of Slaf

MONTREAL – The pressure of being a first-overall pick for the Canadiens will tower over anyone the same way... well, the same way Juraj Slafkovsky towers over most anyone.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound forward puts that pressure on himself as much as – if not more than – anyone else, especially after his rookie NHL season was cut short due to injury. And while no one said playing in the NHL would be easy – certainly not for a teenager – Slafkovsky surely would’ve preferred that his goal-scoring drought to end his rookie season wouldn’t carry over into his sophomore campaign.

“I think the most pressure on Slaf is the pressure that he puts on himself. You sometimes could see that early in the season with his body language and things like that,” described assistant coach Trevor Letowski, a veteran of 616 NHL games. “We just try to put him in situations where he can succeed.”

But Slafkovsky’s coaches weren’t just looking at numbers on the scoresheet to measure his success. In fact, they were quite pleased with the progress he was showing earlier in 2023-24, even if it didn’t reflect in his scoring numbers.

“I find there have been a lot of games this year where Slaf played extraordinary but he didn’t produce,” recalled head coach Martin St-Louis in February. “When I would see that, his actions on the ice, I would say to myself: it won’t be long before a game like that would be a game of 2-3 points for him.”

We’d tell the bench boss to buy some more lottery tickets – Tuesday night’s hat trick performance is case in point – but it’s clear the coaching staff saw things in Slafkovsky’s game – and in his preparation – that showed he was ready for an expanded role.

“I really like how, away from the puck, he's taken pride, especially defensively, in little things like blocking shots and being organized with defensive zone arrivals,” outlined Letowski. “Maybe last year there was more looseness to his game; his routes are more direct [now], and he's become a pretty reliable defensive player. We're pretty excited about the way he's developed on the defensive side.”

With those observations in mind, St-Louis and his staff made a carefully-timed decision to put together a first line consisting of Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, and captain Nick Suzuki in early December. It should come as no surprise that Slafkovsky’s offensive production started ramping up not long afterward, culminating in his first record-setting eight-game point streak.

The coaches knew that making sure Slafkovsky was put in a position to succeed and grow would be an important key to unlocking new levels of his game. Showing him patience, putting in work with the staff – including director of player development Adam Nicholas – and enlisting the help of teammates such as Suzuki and Caufield were all part of the equation.

“[Slafkovsky] is a very important player for us. Not just now but for a long time and we want him in a good place,” explained Letowski. “We felt like the timing of that was more of that: just putting him in a situation to succeed with good players and putting some onus on Nick and Cole to help elevate his game. I think that's what's happened.”

The famous first point streak, which ran from January 25-February 17, saw Slafkovsky rack up an impressive 12 points (6G, 6A). The eight-game run was two more than the Canadiens’ previous first-overall pick, Doug Wickenheiser, had managed in 1980-81 and who, until now, held the record for the longest point streak by a teenager on the team. Of course, Slafkovsky beat his own record with a nine-game string later in the season.

As he approached his 100-game mark, comparisons with some more contemporary names were in order – and they surely provided a measure of excitement for Habs fans. Slafkovsky’s 41 points at the milestone are not far off from other recent first-overall picks Rasmus Dahlin (56), Owen Power (45), and Jack Hughes (42) – and ahead of Alexis Lafreniere (33). Slafkovsky also set a new record for points in a season by a Canadiens teenager, topping Mario Tremblay’s record established in 1974-75 (39 points).

Other names that come up in comparison to Slafkovsky are worth mentioning here, too. For one, Colorado legend Peter Forsberg told Slovakia’s Dennik N back in February 2022 that he saw similarities between Slafkovsky and Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen, and Rantanen had 51 points through 100 games. Then, there’s Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, who had 43 at the milestone.

But Slafkovsky is aiming to carve out his own identity in the League, even if he draws inspiration from those big names.

“He’s a great player. I’m pretty much just trying to take something from every player and he’s for sure one of those guys,” offered Slafkovsky of Barkov, who has a Selke and Lady Byng Trophy on his resume. “He plays the game the right way, he’s always on the good side of the puck. He wins so many stick battles and puck battles. When I’m watching him play, I try and take away as many things [as I can], but I just want to be myself at the end of the day.”

Teammates such as Jake Evans have taken notice of the big forward’s identity taking shape – and not just on the scoresheet.

“He’s grown a lot from his first season, his first 30-40 games to what he’s doing now: playing on the top line, scoring big goals, playing big minutes,” praised Evans of Slafkovsky in Tampa just prior to his 100th contest, noting his willingness and adeptness at blocking shots. “He’s matured a lot, he’s making smarter plays, having a lot more confidence out there. He’s got a lot more fire to him, too, and it’s definitely showing.”

In order to keep building his confidence and ensuring his trajectory continues upward, Slafkovsky will need to keep up his reps in practice and keep himself plugged in to all the tools in the organization at his disposal.

His coaches certainly have high hopes that’ll be the case.

“So far, it’s been great. But he’s so young. I can see him being a guy who keeps wanting to get better. You just hope they keep that focus and that hunger. He’s in an environment where we encourage that, and we facilitate that,” St-Louis said during Slafkovsky’s first historic point streak. “I think that is probably going to help drive players like Slaf to use all the resources and the environment to keep at getting better. He’s a young player who’s progressed tremendously well and it all starts with him. It doesn’t matter what we want to do with him; it starts with him, his attitude, and his engagement. It’s been pretty impressive.”