Juraj Slafkovsky keeps proving he’s more than the big frame Montreal fans see barreling up the ice.
A sequence from the Canadiens’ November 29, 2025 matchup against the Colorado Avalanche earned the Slovak winger a spot in 13th place among the top 15 assists of the last season, thanks to a slick piece of work on a night Montreal otherwise would rather forget. Martin St-Louis’ team was buried 7-2 by Nathan MacKinnon and co., but while the Canadiens were trailing 4-0, their second line - Slafkovsky, Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov - put together a play worth remembering.
Demidov entered the zone and dropped the puck back to Slafkovsky before circling behind the net. Slafkovsky then used a spin Orama to buy time, drove toward the crease and slipped the puck back to Demidov, who had already worked his way to the far side and was set up in his office.
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Those were some sweet moves from Juraj Slafkovský 🫢
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That moment also reinforced how naturally Slafkovsky and Demidov can mesh on the same line. It helps explain why Montreal would like to add another big power forward for its top six. Such a player could line up with Demidov, or perhaps even slide onto Suzuki’s line if the Canadiens want to recreate the Slafkovsky-Demidov connection.
Montreal did get the last word against Colorado later on, beating the Avalanche 7-3 at the Bell Centre in January. In that game, the line finished the job with the seventh and final goal on another passing sequence involving Kapanen and Slafkovsky.
What St-Louis does with his top six this season will be worth watching. The chemistry between Slafkovsky and Demidov is already there, but it also raises the question of what could happen if the Russian sophomore gets a chance beside Suzuki and Caufield. If Kent Hughes can bring in another top-six piece, the Canadiens may have even more room to shuffle those combinations around.
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