Montreal Canadiens Juraj Slafkovsky is more than just a big body on the ice.
There’s not much the Montreal Canadiens and their fans would like to remember about their game against the Colorado Avalanche on November 29, 2025. On that day, Martin St-Louis’ Habs were obliterated 7-2 by Nathan MacKinnon and co. But when the Canadiens were down 4-0, the second line, formed by Juraj Slafkovsky, Oliver Kapanen, and Ivan Demidov, conjured up some magic.
That beauty of a play allowed Slafkovsky to land in 13th place in the top 15 assists of the last season. Demidov skated into the zone, made a drop pass to the big Slovak before skating around the net, while the big Slovak bought himself some time with a spin Orama, then headed to the net and fed Demidov, who had time to get to the other side, in his office.
That fantastic play also reminds you how well the two can link up on the same line. It’s no wonder the Canadiens would like to find another big power forward to play on their top six. That mystery player could either skate with Demidov or maybe even on Suzuki’s line if the Canadiens would rather re-create the Slafkovsky-Demidov magic.
That play was without a doubt the only redeeming part of that massacre against Colorado, but the Canadiens would have the last laugh with a 7-3 win against the Avs at the Bell Centre in January. On that day, the line scored the seventh and final goal of a great passing play between Kapanen and Slafkovsky.
It will be interesting to see what St-Louis will do with his top six this season. Clearly, there’s some chemistry between Slafkovsky and Demidov, but one has to wonder what would happen if the Russian sophomore were given an opportunity to play alongside Suzuki and Caufield. It could be easier to mix-and-match if Kent Hughes were able to land another top-six player.
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