Juraj Slafkovsky addresses early season struggles

If you're anything like me, your expectations for Juraj Slafkovsky's third season with the Montreal Canadiens were pretty high after what he did last season.

Slafkovsky scored 50 points, including 30 goals and 20 assists and he looked every bit a top six power forward in the making. This season he has been completely healthy, but it hasn't been going the way he would like it to; although he did have a strong game back on the top line against the Winnipeg Jets last Saturday night.

The 20-year-old continues to move his feet and do all that he can to be involved and help out his team. But for whatever reason things haven't gone the same this year, it has been more of an unlucky bounce or shots that are off target. Whatever it is, Slafkovsky will continue to search for consistency and a little leniency would go a long way for the young man.

Every team that drafts a player first overall hopes that said player will crack the opening night roster the following season and make an impact. But there aren't many Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby, and even guys like Nathan MacKinnon and Jack Hughes weren't superstars right away. It's not meant as a comparison, but, indeed, some players don't become superstars right away, so development years are necessary to try and get there.

Slafkovsky has shown the tools that he has and made the first line a threat. It's incredibly frustrating that he hasn't performed at the level and the bar he set for himself at the end of the 2023-2-24 campaign. But he has continued putting in the effort, and hopefully, it all pays off for him before the Christmas break.

The Montreal Canadiens are a much better team when Slafkovsky is at his best, dominating the puck and making plays with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. I hope the confidence from being back on the top trio will soon translate to the power play. Slafkovsky often seems trigger-shy, but he has shown an absolute cannon shooting on his off-wing, and I hope that comes back to his repertoire.

Slaf notches his third goal of the year against the Buffalo Sabres

The relief when Slafkovsky scored his third goal of the season to restore the Canadiens' two-goal lead was noticeable. He works hard each night and more often than not deserves a better result than he gets. So the tally from behind the goal line against Sabres goaltender Ukko Pekka Luukkonen was one that he can hopefully build on.

Slafkovsky has the power, release and accuracy to be scoring more goals than what he does, and it's frustrating that he hasn't put it all together yet. He has a quick release, but sometimes waits a bit too long to shoot the puck. But when he doesn't overthink it, and just shoots the puck, often good things happen.

Now it's about shooting every game, never stop putting the puck towards the net. It's where anything can happen, and it's never a poor choice. Faceoff's are good too.