Slafkovsky: a beneficial addition to the top line

Posted On: January 9, 2024

Lack of confidence, poor decision-making, difficulty asserting himself despite his size: there was a lot of criticism of Juraj Slafkovsky at the start of the season. At some point we even asked ourselves whether it wouldn't be better for him to stay in Laval.

However, the 19-year-old young man's progress has been picking up again in just over a month. A crescendo that coincides with Martin St-Louis' decision to use him in the first trio alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. It was December 4th against the Seattle Kraken.

Photo credit: AFP Photo

Furthermore, our friends at Sportlogiq made us see with supporting statistics that the Slovakian's arrival in the first session was not only good for him. She also had a more than positive influence on the work of all members of the trio.

Since these three strikers have been together, the top line has had almost 60% of expected goals scored in their favor and has a clear advantage in several of our key categories. Whether in attempted shots (+44), shots on goal (+27) and chances on goal (+31).

“It's a chance that Juraj deserved by doing a lot of things that aren't just goals and assists,” Martin St-Louis also emphasized on this topic shortly before Christmas. I thought he had the skills to complement those two players. The more repetitions he can do, the more comfortable he feels. He’s doing a good job at the moment.”

His push helped transform the first line into a unit capable of applying great pressure in the offensive zone and expanding their presence in opponent territory, resulting in many scoring opportunities in the offensive cycle.

The Habs also dominate the opponent on this side when this unit is on the ice. He dominates 32-for-18 scoring chances from the offensive cycle and 47-for-31 shots on goal from the slot.

In the top 3 everywhere

The man understood that he was tall and that he could use his physical attributes to create space on the ice, protect his puck and open a path to the opponent's net.

The figures collected by Sportlogiq show this once again clearly. The very first pick of the 2022 auction ranks top 3 in several of the Habs' offensive statistics.

If he still hesitates to take shots at times, he's still doing it more and more often. We can understand this hesitation. Finally, the boy develops further in the company of the sniper and the team captain. Meanwhile, he does not hesitate to place both feet near the opposing goalkeeper's semicircle to block a shot or take a rebound.

“I like going there,” the Slovakian said in Chicago after scoring his second goal in as many games. At the moment I'm scoring goals near the net. Maybe we should start like this, then I can score more and more.”

The Slovakian loves his new role and it shows.