Montreal Canadiens: Juraj Slafkovsky should shoot more

The Montreal Canadiens should be trying to encourage more shooting from rookie Juraj Slafkovsky. It’s early in the year, and Slafkovsky has been looking good so far. He may have missed some time with an injury, but he is back on the ice once again.

To hopefully keep the offense rolling out of Slafkovsky, the Montreal Canadiens should be encouraging the rookie to keep shooting. After all, when he has shot the puck, it’s worked out well for the young winger.

With just five shots on goal through six games played during the 2022-23 season, Slafkovsky has found the back of the net twice. After all, why not see what he can do? If he’s making the most of his scoring chances, it’s only a good thing for the Habs and for Slafkovsky.

Juraj Slafkovsky should keep trying to tap into offense with Montreal Canadiens.

After the Habs’ recent contest with the St. Louis Blues, head coach Martin St. Louis spoke about the success that he thought Slafkovsky had. He called it his best game to this point in the season. He went further to say it was not his power-play goal that earned this praise.

Instead, St. Louis was more impressed with how Slafkovsky handled each shift. He consistently found ways to be involved in the play, found ways to get the job done, and ultimately found ways to convert on a scoring chance when the opportunity presented itself.

He may only be averaging around 11 minutes of ice time, but Slafkovsky is very raw. He’s an 18-year-old first-overall draft pick. While the ceiling is exciting and fun to think about, there’s still work for the Slovakian to do as he continues to learn and adjust to the NHL game.

Given the early success and good performance, it seems like the best way to keep stringing together good games is to build off the performance he has had so far. The Habs should be looking for the youngster to shoot more.

If he can keep putting together good shifts and create some scoring chances with the puck on his stick, it should only bring good things for Slafkovsky. It seems like a simple thing, but for the young winger, he should be trying to get the puck on the net.

After all, he’s got a 40% shooting percentage to this point. It’s only on five shots, but it’s still great. Hopefully, the Habs can get him shooting more, opting to help him find some more offense and keep excelling early on.