Should Juraj Slafkovsky be considered in a slump? In his latest paper for The Athletic, Arpon Basu spoke about Juraj Slafkovsky and revealed why the young Slovak was so pleased with his performance last night. It has to be said the power forward hasn't necessarily had it easy this season, he's been hurt, he's bounced around the lineup a bit and his production has dipped. Yesterday, Slafkovsky didn't get on the scoresheet, but that's not the only way to have a positive impact on the game. In that dual with the New York Islanders he played big, He took that big frame of his and he put it to good use. Landing six hits on one game, he was able to cause turnover and retrieve pucks for the Canadiens that he once upon a time wouldn't have been able to get. Speaking to Basu after the game last night, he confessed he received a swift talking to. Surprisingly, it wasn't coach Martin St-Louis who did the talking on the team's day off on Monday, no, it was general manager Kent Hughes. The GM has a lot riding on Slafkovsky, afterall, he made him the first overall pick of the 2022 NHL draft, the first draft of the Hughes era and last off-season, he also gave him an eight-year contract with a $7.6 M cap hit which mean's he could be with Montreal until the end of the 2032-33 season. The Slovak is a huge part of the Canadiens' rebuilt and it's not surprising that Hughes is keeping a close eye on his investment, especially considering he had already made it clear to Slafkovsky he needed him to take the next step at his exit meeting last season. It's interesting that the youngster made the information public, he could have kept it to himself but he didn't, that's a great sign of accountability and honesty, two qualities which are very important in a player you wish to be part of your core. Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains] Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens
