Looking Ahead
Point being, Slafkovsky isn’t the Canadiens savior, and he shouldn’t have the expectations nor the pressure of having to be one. Past NHL drafts have had weaker classes with debatable first overall picks, and 2022 was no different.
Slafkovsky isn’t fully NHL ready yet, and his training camp performance has demonstrated that along with some bright spots. He’s far from a finished product. However, that isn’t a bad thing that he’s not a finished product rather he simply needs more development, either in the AHL or back in Finland or his native Slovakia.
In my opinion, with the exception of guys like Conor Bedard and McDavid and other generational talents, the first overall pick doesn’t always mean a player who’s going to be the knight in shining armor slaying the dragon and bringing home the Stanley Cup.
Slafkovsky isn’t that right now and might not be that for a few more years. If I’m the Canadiens, I’d do everything possible to ensure his development is done patiently and properly, to avoid another Jesperi Kotkaniemi like disaster with an unproven player being forced into roles he couldn’t perform in.
As the Canadiens training camp gets underway, there’s a number of question marks left as to who’s going to claim those final roster spots, but just as players like Owen Beck and David Reinbacher try to leave their mark, I think Juraj Slafkovsky is just as much deserving, of a chance to grow and develop patiently, either in the NHL, or otherwise.
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