In the Montreal Canadiens' last game, coach Martin St-Louis made Juraj Slafkovsky skip a few turns in the second period, something the bench boss puts down to growing pains.
In the third year of their reconstruction, the Montreal Canadiens are no longer focusing solely on development, they are now in the stage where they need to learn to win. As a result, pilot Martin St-Louis has been tougher with his men as Jake Evans mentioned last week.
On Saturday, Juraj Slafkovsky was on the receiving end of his coach's newfound toughness. He stayed on the bench at the end of the second period rather than heading to the dressing room and captain Nick Suzuki came to tell him they'd need him in the third. Sniper Cole Caufield also spoke to the youngster and told him he'd see him in the sauna postgame.
Following today's morning skate, St-Louis was asked about how Slafkovsky's teammates handled the situation and he said:
I'm not surprised. As a coach you take decisions, but it's a team that's close, they're like brothers and sometimes brothers help each other mentally, that's what you want and it's important. It's part of the culture we're trying to build.
Asked about the situation today after the morning skate, St-Louis explained: "He's still young, that experience is part of his maturing." The bench boss was then asked if he would have made the same decision had he been dissatisfied with another player's play and he explained:
You learn as a coach but I would have acted the same way with a player who in the same stage of his development. You learn to manage players, especially youngsters, they don't come with instructions on how to handle them. Decisions you take at one stage will help you handle them the next time around.
Slafkovsky is still only 20 years old, would he be considered in the same stage of his development as Kirby Dach who's 23? Judging by the coach's decisions he is not. After all, Dach has had issues on the ice this season but he has yet to be "punished" so to speak. It might be that he's got a longer leash because he's coming back from a significant injury or, it could also be because as things stands, Slafkovsky is part of the team's core while the sometimes center isn't, not yet in any case.
The Canadiens expect a lot from Slafkovsky, they've given him a long term extension and he's being treated like a player who will be around long term. The same cannot be said about Dach however. has another year left to his bridge deal and the Canadiens are still in the process of figuring out what he is. St-Louis explained last year that at this stage, he's not sure if he's a center or not, that tells me Dach is not in the same stage of his development.
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