Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis wants more engagement from Slafkovksy as he and Dach practised on the fourth line. Adam Proteau shares how they can bounce back.
As the Montreal Canadiens attempt to claw their way out of the Eastern Conference basement, the team now has youngsters Juraj Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach on the fourth line.
Dach and Slafkovsky wound up on the fourth line in the third period of Saturday's loss against Vegas, and they remained there in practice Monday, confirming the duo’s lowly place on Montreal’s line combinations at the moment.
All in all, it was a shocking situation for Habs observers who expect big things from Slafkovsky and Dach. But when asked what Slafkovsky needed to do to get back in the coach’s good books, Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis repeated the word “engaged,” and the same message likely goes for Dach.
"Just focusing on taking what the game is giving him," St-Louis told reporters Monday about Slafkovsky. "Playing the game, not having your mind made up of what you want to do that night. Just play the game and be ready for anything. Be engaged your whole shift.
"To me, it comes down to being engaged during your shift, with whatever the game is asking, and it starts with pace on both sides of the puck."
Certainly, in the “what have you done for me lately” world of pro hockey, Dach and Slafkovsky have not produced enough offense to justify the financial investment the Habs have made in them.
Slafkovsky is currently locked in contractually beginning next season at $7.6 million, and he’s scored just one goal in 17 games. Meanwhile, Dach has a roughly $3.36-million cap hit and has only one goal and eight points in 20 games.
That’s far from adequate, let alone ideal.
St-Louis demoting Dach and Slafkovsky may not have helped their confidence and development right away, but the coach clearly felt the need to shake up his team. If it means angering or short-shifting Slafkovsky and Dach into a heightened quality of play, so be it.
We won’t know for sure whether this thinly veiled message to Slafkovsky and Dach results in them actually playing on the fourth line until Montreal’s next game – a showdown against Utah on Tuesday in Montreal. But St-Louis’ decision is unmistakable – there has to be an improved effort from the two youngsters, or they could find themselves in the coach’s doghouse over the long term.
It’s important to mention Slafkovsky is actually producing points at a better clip than he did last season. Slafkovsky's 10 assists and 11 points in 17 games comes to 0.65 points per game, which is a slight improvement on his 0.61 points-per-game pace last season. But Slafkovsky’s goal production is far and away his most alarming statistic, and he and Dach have to ratchet up the quality of their all-around game sooner than later.
If they don’t, the white-hot glare of the spotlight will toast them in a highly uncomfortable way.
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