How High Is Juraj Slafkovský’s Ceiling With the Montreal Canadiens?

If you only checked in on the Olympics here and there, you might’ve missed how good the Montreal Canadiens Juraj Slafkovsky was for Team Slovakia. But if you watched even a little, you saw it right away: this kid has taken a real step. Not a lucky week, not a “hot streak,” but the look of a player who suddenly understands exactly who he’s becoming.

Slafkovský Has Grown in Leaps and Bounds in Montreal

Everyone around the Canadiens has been saying the same thing for months. He’s been so steady in his development that the team actually felt comfortable pulling him off the top line and letting him drive his own. That’s not a demotion — that’s trust. That’s a coach saying, “Go run your own group, you’re ready.” And man, did the Olympics back that up.

The moment that grabbed everyone’s attention was that first game against Finland. Two goals, an assist, and then that one shift late in the first period where you could almost see the lightbulb over his head. Artturi Lehkonen was draped all over him in the neutral zone — basically riding him like a backpack — and Slafkovský just shrugged him off and kept going. Puck moved, he chased it down, forced a turnover on Miro Heiskanen, battled his way to the net, tipped a puck for a scoring chance, and then threw a hit on his way off. One shift, and it showed everything: size, speed, stubbornness, confidence, and finally the belief that he belongs.

For Canadiens Fans, It’s Been Fun to Watch Slafkovský Grow

That’s the fun part of watching a young player grow. You can see the work behind the scenes start to show up in real time. Adam Nicholas and Martin St. Louis deserve a ton of credit for helping him slow his game down, see the ice better, and trust his instincts. But none of that works if the player doesn’t buy in.

And Slafkovský clearly has. For a kid who walked into Montreal with all the pressure in the world — first overall pick, massive expectations, and not a lot of points early on — he could’ve easily gotten discouraged. Instead, he decided to grind.

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Slafkovský Is a Special Player and Becoming a Leader

He’s still only 21. He’s still three or four years away from whatever his prime is going to look like. But you can already see young players from Slovakia, Czechia, and even Canada watching him and thinking, “I want to play like that.”

If this is just the start, the Canadiens have something special growing right in front of them.

Related: The Canadiens Have 2 Important Trade Needs to Address