This past summer, the Canadiens signed forward Juraj Slafkovsky to an 8-year contract extension. The deal is worth 60.8 million and carries an AAV of 7.6 million. The deal will kick in next season and will keep the former first-overall pick in Montreal until 2033. With this new salary comes high expectations. Slafkovsky potted 20 goals and 50 points last season during his sophomore campaign. Many expected him to build on that success this year, however, Slafkovsky has largely struggled. He is on pace for nearly 50 points, but hasn’t looked like the dominant power-forward and scoring threat we saw last year. He currently has only three goals on the campaign. This has left fans to criticize the contract extension and whether or not it was too early to give Slafkovsky a big deal. Here’s why the Slafkovsky extension was the right move for the Canadiens.
Juraj Slafkovsky Extension with Canadiens
Canadiens Rebuild Hinges on Slafkovsky
After the Canadiens run to the cup finals in 2021, the team found themselves at the bottom of the standings. This landed them the first overall selection where they took the Slovakian winger Juraj Slafkovsky. That season would be the start of the Canadiens rebuild. Almost three years later, Slafkovsky remains the cornerstone for the rebuild’s success.
If the Canadiens rebuild is to have success, they need the Slafkovksy pick to pan out. The team has a history of whiffing on to five picks in the draft. Alex Galchenyuk in 2012, Jesperi Kotkaniemi in 2018, and most recently David Reinbacher in 2023 who has struggled thus far. The Reinbacher pick is too early to criticize however, especially with his injury troubles but thus far it hasn’t been positive. With this being said, the Canadiens rebuild hinges on Slafkovksy developing into an elite winger and power forward. However, if he doesn’t pan out, this contract was still the right move. The organization put faith in their first overall pick and with him being arguably the biggest piece in the rebuild, this move was necessary. With the cap expected to rise, the 7 million range for a potential superstar winger could look like a steal.
Slafkovsky’s Usage This Season
Much of Slafkovky’s struggles have come down to his usage early in the year. He began the season alongside Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. The trio found much success together last season and they carried it into the new campaign. Slafkovksy was scoring at a point per game clip through seven games before going down with injury. He missed a few games but upon his return and was demoted to the second line. He then played mostly alongside Kirby Dach who has struggled this year or lesser talents such as Christian Dvorak and Jake Evans. This caused Slafkovsky’s production to dip as well as his confidence.
On the powerplay he hasn’t been used in a favorable position either. He has often been used solely as a net front presence. Last year we saw him on his strong side where his one timer was a threat. This also allowed much of the play to go through Slafkovsky. With less puck touches and shooting opportunities on the powerplay, he hasn’t found the same success. Slafkovsky is now playing with Suzuki and Caufield oncemore at even strength and his overall play and production have started to improve. Playing on the top line and better usage on the powerplay will allow his production to increase.
Development Is Not Linear
General manager Kent Hughes stated earlier this offseason that development isn’t linear and he expects Slafkovsky’s production to take a dip at some point before he reaches his full potential. This has seemingly been the case this season as his development has regressed or stagnated. While he is on pace for similar point totals, he hasn’t been as dominant as we saw last year.
For a 20 year old forward who is facing the pressures of living up to a big contract extension there should’nt be need for worry. Slafkovksy is only in his second full season (injury in first year) and therefor this could be considered his sophomore slump. It’s way too soon to hit the panic button on Juraj Slafkovsky and Kent Hughes did the right thing by extending him this past summer.
