Slafkovsky could follow the same path as Suzuki: here's what some experts think is the next step in his case
It was inevitable, everyone's eyes were going to be on young Juraj Slafkovsky this season and expectations were going to be high for him. It's normal, people expect a first overall pick to single-handedly revive a team, like Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid did.
But the young Slovak is not that type of player. While he is excellent, he is not dominant in any aspect of the game other than perhaps his shot, which he still doesn't use often enough. Joel Bouchard recently wrote an excellent profile of the club's newest first round pick.
Nevertheless, many are dissatisfied with the way Martin St-Louis uses Slafkovsky. This is probably because they think that Slaf must produce at all costs. But this is not the case, the young forward must first adapt to NHL hockey, try to find his bearings, slowly gain confidence and absorb as much as possible from his teammates, on and off the ice.
For these reasons, playing on the fourth line in Montreal is great for him. BPM Sport's morning show host Jean-Charles Lajoie totally agrees, and he explained it all in his Tuesday morning editorial.
It will be interesting to see if this is indeed the next step for "Slaf".
Still have doubts? Look at the path of the CH's current best player, captain Nick Suzuki. He began his NHL career, not many moons ago, on the right wing of the 4th line. He played, at the time, alongside Paul Byron and Nate Thompson. It doesn't seem to have turned out so bad to have started at the bottom...
Claude Julien had the same vision of things as Lajoie in the Slafkovsky case, to show him how to walk.
One thing is important with Juraj Slafkovsky, patience. Let him learn and absorb a little more and let him really get comfortable before judging him!
| POLL | ||
Do you think Juraj Slafkovsky should go to the AHL? | ||
| Yes | 138 | 58.2 % |
| No | 99 | 41.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
