Montreal's Juraj Slafkovsky handed another demotion last night
When the Montreal Canadiens announced that first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsk� would play with the team this season, there was a lot of excitement for the young Slovak and for the Habs fanbase. While there is still some excitement, Slafkovsk� hasn't had the immediate impact that fans or potentially management had hoped for, which was evident when the young forward spent time on the fourth line during Thursday night's game against the Ducks.
Slafkovsk� has played in 24 games for the Canadiens this season, registering 4 goals and 10 points, with a -1 rating. While those totals aren't bad for a rookie who averages 11:43 of TOI, it still seems that Slafkovsk� hasn't quite been able to establish himself as a regular top-nine player. Obviously there is still a lot of hockey to be played this season, so a lot can change, but that's where he currently stands with the team.
If this continues, one has to wonder if this could be potentially hindering his development and maybe Slafkovsk� should be sent to the AHL to play top line minutes and find some consistency in his game. The Habs aren't exactly known to be the the best at developing prospects, so it will be interesting to see how the rest of his season plays out. I'm sure they've got Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the back of their minds right now, even though the organization would never admit it.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 16 | 4 ANSWERS Montreal's Juraj Slafkovsky handed another demotion last night Where should Slafkovsky play the rest of this season? | ||
| NHL | 2 | 50 % |
| AHL | 0 | 0 % |
| Back in Europe | 2 | 50 % |
| List of polls | ||
