Juraj Slafkovsky’s breakout continues as Canadiens forward named NHL Third Star of the Week

Juraj Slafkovsky has now become a player who is “carrying the mail” for the Montreal Canadiens. It may have taken a bit longer than anticipated for the former number one overall pick to show the dominance he showcased at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and IIHF World Championship, but the Slovakian winger has been on an absolute tear the last two months of the season.

Slafkovsky has eight points in his last four games and was just named the NHL’s third star of the week following his performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Canadiens were down 3-0 to the Lightning going into the third period before Slafkovsky helped the team rescue a point, scoring two goals and adding an assist before the Habs lost yet another game in the shootout.

He has consistently been one of the Canadiens' better players this season, but for a while, the production would tell you otherwise. In Slafkovsky’s first 10 games this season, he had four goals and five points, but there was this feeling that the production would eventually catch up to how well he was playing. Surprisingly enough, all it took was for the Canadiens to move Slafkovsky onto the team’s second line for the puck to finally start bouncing his way.

When the Canadiens lost Alex Newhook to a fractured ankle in November, the coaching staff decided to shuffle the lines, which saw Slafkovsky move onto a line alongside two rookies in Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen. The move to the second line has arguably been the best thing that has happened to him in his career thus far. Slafkovsky has looked like a completely different player. With Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, it felt like Slafkovsky was being used as a complementary player rather than someone who can drive the offence, something we saw more of when he plays for Slovakia than he has in his time with the Canadiens.

Playing alongside Demidov and Kapanen, that is exactly what Slafkovsky has become: a driver of the offence. Since he moved to the line on November 17th against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Slafkovsky has seven goals and 19 points in 20 games. As his play continues to improve, so does his confidence. It was on full display in the game against the Lightning. He did not just want the puck; he demanded it.

With the Canadiens down by three, Kapanen picks up a loose puck in the neutral zone, and as he skates into Tampa Bay’s zone, you hear Slafkovsky tapping his stick on the ice and yelling for the puck. The Finnish rookie spots him trailing behind the play, feeds him a pass, and Slafkovsky does miss a beat firing it home for his first of two on the night.

If Slafkovsky continues to play like this, it will not be long before he becomes a dominant player in this league, if he is not already. He had all the intangibles coming out of the NHL Draft, but we had yet to see it all come together at the NHL level until a couple of months ago. It looks like Slafkovsky has finally become the player everyone thought he was going to be when the Canadiens took him in the 2022 NHL Draft, and if he continues to play like this, he could be a mismatch for any team the Habs go up against.