“With a young team, you strive for consistency.” Martin St-Louis repeated that sentence more than once, a few hours before his team left for Buffalo.
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If there's one player who feels like he's been running a little less lately, it's Juraj Slafkovsky.
Slafkovsky has been deployed on the right wing of the front line alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield in the last two games, passing the test against the Seattle Kraken and Los Angeles Kings.
The highest-ranked draft player in the 2022 draft class didn't put his name on the scoresheet, but he kept pace with his team's top two forwards. Not only did he follow the rhythm, he was often the one who set it.
Slafkovsky won a variety of battles along the ramps, making good use of his large stature (1.80 m and 100 kg). But one element stood out even more: his vision of the game.
“I feel like he's scanning the ice better and seeing his teammates even better,” Nick Suzuki said after the 4-0 loss to the Kings. Slaf has been working on his vision of the game in the offseason and it shows. He recognizes his teammates better and plays good passes.”
More touches, more confidence
The CH did not make Slafkovsky its first overall pick in the 2022 auction due to his passing skills. He was primarily described as a powerful winger who could score multiple goals in the NHL.
Photo Martin Chevalier
According to a good old cliché, the vision of the game remains an instinctive thing, a force that cannot really be learned.
“It's a bit of both,” replied Martin St-Louis when asked whether the game's vision was more a matter of instinct or teaching. “But at 19 I think you can still learn a little bit. That's what stands out to me. For Slaf, his consistency since the start of the year has been good. He had better and worse games. But for a 19-year-old, I think his consistency is one of his strengths.
“What I like about Slaf is that he recognizes his reference points in our concepts,” St-Louis continued. He knows where his teammates are on the ice and where his opponents are. It detects whether it is a team playing zone coverage or player versus player. It's very high, he thinks. It’s no coincidence that he has more tact and is more confident.”
“He is confident as he has a lot of touches. The more touches you have, the more confidence you have. As your confidence increases, your execution improves. For a 19-year-old, I’m very impressed.”
Difficult confrontations
In his last two games, Slafkovsky went 17-14 against the Kraken and 18-16 against the Kings. Not only did he run five-on-five with Suzuki and Caufield, but he also found himself in the first wave of the power play.
For him, this is a golden opportunity. But it is also the challenge of having the opposing team's best defenders and the most defensive trios in your hands. The visit of the kings was even more striking. Slafkovsky made most of his appearances against Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson, as well as Phillip Danault's trio (Kevin Fiala-Danault-Trevor Moore).
Despite a poor end to the Habs' game against the Kings, Slafkovsky, Suzuki and Caufield finished Thursday night with a positive Corsi (55.26%). Therefore, they spent more time playing five-on-five games in enemy territory.