Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens’ Juraj Slafkovsky Is the Player Nobody Wants to Defend

Sidney Crosby sees Juraj Slafkovsky as Montreal’s biggest weapon. At 22, the Canadiens winger may just be getting started.

by
Old Prof
October 8, 2026

When Sidney Crosby was asked who the Canadiens’ biggest weapon is, he had plenty of names to pick from. Suzuki. Caufield. Hutson. Demidov. He went with Juraj Slafkovsky, and the more you think about it, the less surprising it is.

Notice what Crosby didn’t say. He didn’t call Slafkovsky Montreal’s best player. He said he’s the biggest weapon, and that’s different. A weapon is the guy a coach has to build a game plan around, the one who creates problems no matter how you line up against him.

Why Slafkovsky Is Such a Strong Player for the Canadiens

Here’s why Slafkovsky fits that. Every other star on that roster beats you in one main way. Suzuki thinks the game better than you, Caufield shoots it before you’re ready, Hutson dances around you, and Demidov dreams up plays you didn’t know existed. Slafkovsky does a bit of everything. He’s 6-foot-3, he’ll win a physical battle, he sees the ice, and he can finish. There’s no single thing a defence can take away from him.

That’s what makes him interesting from a trade-value standpoint too. GMs love to talk about “matchup problems,” and this is what they mean. Big, skilled wingers who can play both ways are the hardest thing in hockey to build or buy. You can’t find one in free agency, and you usually can’t trade for one without paying a premium.

Juraj Slafkovsky Canadiens talk — Juraj Slafkovsky Canadiens

Slafkovsky Is a Young Player, and There’s Probably More to Come

And he’s only 22. The trend line is the real story: 10 points as a rookie, then 50, then 51, then 73 last season, with 30 of those being goals. That’s a player who keeps getting better every year, and nobody has seen the finished product yet.

Even Slafkovsky seemed surprised by the praise. He reportedly wondered if the clip was AI before realizing Crosby actually said it. He took it as motivation, which is exactly what you want from a young player getting a compliment from a future Hall of Famer.

For a team that’s already loaded with young talent, it’s a good reminder that the player who gets the least attention might be the one the other side has to worry about most. Crosby seems to think so, and he’s played against pretty much everyone. Maybe 100 points is a bit much to ask just yet. But at 22, coming off a 73-point year, why put a ceiling on him?