When Montreal Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens]coach Martin St-Louis revealed his lines for Monday night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets], I’ll admit I wondered how Juraj Slafkovsky would react to losing his spot on the first line. With Zachary Bolduc set to skate alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, the 21-year-old Slovak found himself on the second line alongside Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov. Ever since he joined the Canadiens, Slafkovsky has spent most of his time on ice with the team’s most productive duo, but he hasn’t produced as much as they did. That’s not surprising, though, since he’s not on the same level of skills, and that’s not why he was drafted; he was drafted because of his own skill set that has more to do with a physical style of play than finesse. Canadiens: A Family Affair [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-a-family-affair] Former Canadiens Blueliner Hits 1,000 Games [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/former-canadiens-blueliner-hits-1-000-games] Canadiens’ Dobes Suffers Another Extra Time Defeat [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-dobes-suffers-another-extra-time-defeat] On the ice, his role is to use his big body to retrieve pucks and allow his linemates to initiate or continue the attack. The fact that he has points in only 23.1% of the goals scored while he is on the ice at even strength and 39.1% of the goals scored on the power play reflects the nature of his role. As for his points per 60 minutes, it stands at 1.6. His style of play, however, doesn't mean his production should have decreased compared to last season. At the end of the 2024-25 campaign, his points per 60 minutes stood at 2.2, and he had gathered 51 points. His even strength points percentage stood at 65.1%. He has already shown that he can be more productive than his numbers show this season. He’s on pace for 39 points this year, a significant decrease. Taking those numbers into account, it made sense for St-Louis to try and shake things up a bit, and Slafkovsky understood to move and rose to the challenge. He was energetic on the ice and skating with purpose. The fact that he found himself on a line with rookie-of-the-year candidate Demidov probably helped; everyone can see just how talented the young Russian is. While Slafkovsky didn’t pick up any points, he worked hard all night and provided the screen, which allowed Lane Hutson to tie up the score with less than two minutes left in the game. It takes time to build chemistry, but the signs were positive on Monday night, even if the “kid line” faced one of the Jackets’ top lines. It will be interesting to see what they can do with St-Louis controlling the match-up on home ice, if he decides to stick with those combinations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] on The Hockey News. Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I].
