The Montreal Canadiens made a tough decision with their first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. There was no clear number one pick, and while there was general consensus among scouts in favor of Shane Wright, he was weak at best.
Eventually, Kent Hughes stepped up to the microphone and announced that Juraj Slafkowski, the Slovakian sensation, would be joining the Montreal Canadiens.
The initial reaction was one of disappointment as the Habs pressing need was in the middle and they traded Shane Wright. But then they went and traded pick 98 and Alexander Romanov for pick 13 and flipped it along with pick 66 to add Kirby Dach to the club. After filling that need at center, adding the big talent on the wing made a lot more sense than it would have otherwise.
Slafkovsky is almost universally considered the most NHL-ready player of this draft class. His size, shot and skating are at a pro level and have been on display against men in Finland’s top pro league. The concern was whether his 10 points in 31 League games were worthy of first choice.
His game relies heavily on his ability to use his frame, where he still has room to grow at 6’4” and 218 pounds. He has very long range, protects the puck well and uses it very effectively in the cycle game. He does most of his shooting work in the goal area around the net, has smooth hands and a heavy wrist shot that can beat goalies from distance as well.
Elite prospects
With TPS in Liiga, he was surrounded by players who simply weren’t at his level, with usage that didn’t play to his strengths. When he retired from TPS and played with the Slovakian national team in two different tournaments, he flourished. Playing on the top line for Slovakia with experienced teammates, he won MVP at the Olympics and was equally impressive at the World Cup.
You don’t want to put too much stock in two internationals when you’re drafting, but these performances were hard to ignore. And the clear takeaway from those tournaments was that – with the right teammates – Slafkovsky had more to offer than his output in Finland. Also of note is his goal percentage in the U20 league in Finland, which was significantly higher and well over a point per game.
He had 18 points in 11 games with the U20 TPS team before earning their promotion to the League. Adjusting to the new league was a challenge, but his performance gradually earned him more ice time, culminating in an average of over 15 minutes of playing time per game in the playoffs. He finished as the fifth leading scorer for TPS in the playoffs with seven points in 18 games.
TPS relied heavily on their veteran top line (Nurmi, Pyyhtiä and Perssinen) throughout the playoffs. That left Slafkowski on the outside looking in, but he still scored his seven points (2+5) despite being second fiddle. None of the veterans on the first line had fewer than 12 points.
This was in stark contrast to Slafkovski’s usage with the Slovakian national team, where he was used on the top line and on the power play, clearly benefiting from better teammates and better deployment. Slafkowski’s play improved over the course of the season, trending upward with his performance against Canada at the World Cup his best performance of the year.
He wasn’t shy about the media either, even going so far as to suggest that he would make a great winger for Nick Suzuki and Cole Coffield. That seems like a logical, if not preordained, landing spot for him, and should at least be seen during Montreal’s preseason.
Slafkowski’s size, as well as his cycling and puck retrieval abilities, would make him a very interesting third musketeer on the top line. Josh Anderson has had some success playing with these two, and at best Slafkowski projects as a more dynamic version of Anderson, so it could end up being a perfect fit.
The alternative would be to try it out with the club’s newest member, Kirby Dach. That would present a very difficult line to toe given the size of these two players, their playmaking skills and respective hockey IQs. Suffice to say, Martin St.Louis has plenty of options on how to use Slafkowski.
Montreal is rebuilding, so he doesn’t need to be a top line winger right away. They can even afford to send him back to Finland for another season if they feel that’s the best course of action. But he’s ready for a show, so they can expect him to be a contributor as early as next season.
After he was drafted, John Lue asked him about some of the boos that rained down, and he said, “Hockey is their passion, as well as mine. Maybe some of them didn’t like me, but I will do my best to play well for this team and maybe one day they will like me.”
Habs brass talked the hell out of wanting to get the best player for the future, not the best player right now. With this pick, they must hope they got the best of both worlds, as he appears to have every intention of being in the Tricolore in 2022-23.
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