The Montreal Canadiens signed Juraj Slafkovsky at the advent of NHL Free Agency this summer. Montreal had been impressed by Slafkovsky given how his season turned out. The Canadiens star struggled early in the season. But by the end, the former first-overall pick was one of the team's best players.
Expectations for Slafkovsky are going to be higher than they were a year prior. However, the Canadiens themselves aren't going to ask him to give them the sun and the moon. In fact, general manager Kent Hughes mentioned that elite statistical milestones aren't the only thing they are looking for moving forward.
“We don’t need him to score 40 or 50 goals or it’s a failure; it’s about continuing to progress as a hockey player and to be the best version of himself, because we’re confident the best version of Juraj is going to give us a good chance to compete and win,” Hughes said at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton, via NHL.com.
Canadiens need Juraj Slafkovsky to continue developing
Slafkovsky played a full 82 games in 2023-24 after having his rookie season cut short due to injury. After a slow start, the Slovakian star bounced back in a major way. He scored a career-high 20 goals and 50 points for the Canadiens this past season.
The Canadiens signed their young forward to an eight-year extension on July 1. They hope he continues developing alongside the likes of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Kaiden Guhle. But they are also trying to be more self-aware. They are mindful of the situation their young star is in and has been in.
“I don’t know that development is always linear; along the way, there’s bumps and he’s had to manage the No. 1 overall label and try to live up to what that means and what people expect of him, and now he’s got a big contract to go with it,” Kent Hughes said, via NHL.com. “We have to be mindful of how we manage him and the messaging that we provide him, and we provide externally too.
Slafkovsky is not the only player to receive a long-term contract from Montreal this summer. Guhle signed a six-year contract extension not too long ago. They join Suzuki and Caufield on long-term contracts. Suzuki signed his in the summer of 2021 while the Canadiens signed Caufield last summer.
Hughes admitted on Wednesday that signing every young player long-term isn't feasible. In saying that, he is happy with the players he has given major extensions too. He also believes the Canadiens are better off with these players in the foreseeable future.
“I think to have Juraj and Kaiden signed, along with Nick and Cole, it’s important for us,” Kent Hughes said, via NHL.com. “We can’t give everybody long-term deals, but the young players that we’ve chosen to do and are willing to commit on their end, I think it’s great.”
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