After a 50-point season, Juraj Slafkovsky has silenced many critics. While some cried flop after one season, he is now being compared to players who are making a difference to their teams.
Currently in action at the World Championship with Slovakia, Slafkovsky doesn’t disappoint, with four points in as many games. We can therefore continue to speak highly of his performance even after the end of the Canadian season.
The work he’s doing with Slovakia is excellent, and it caught the eye of former Canadiens player Guy Carbonneau. During a visit to the Antichambre on Friday evening, he compared the Habs’ nugget to a player who left his mark on the NHL: Chris Kreider.
We know, it’s the 10th anniversary of Kreider falling into Carey Price’s knee in the Eastern Conference Final, but we’ll pull out the player’s good while trying to forget this bad anecdote.
Carbonneau noted that the majority of Chris Kreider’s goals are scored at the edge of the opponent’s net. He makes his mark and disturbs the other team.
It works, because Kreider has scored at least 36 goals in each of his last three seasons, not to mention his 52-goal campaign in 2021-22.
At 6’3″ and 230 lbs, Slafkovsky could easily become the kind of player who prowls around the opposing net to pick up loose pucks, deflect shots and unleash quick shots to surprise the goalie.
The only problem with this comparison is that Kreider has never had a season with at least one point per game. He flirted with the mark with harvests of 77 and 75 points, but never reached it.
Carbonneau, however, sees a lot more in Slafkovsky, and perhaps that’s what could help him achieve point-per-game seasons.
He thinks Slafkovsky’s skating, vision and puck handling are all better than Kreider’s.
Even if Kreider is a controversial player, this comparison is nice to hear.
We were talking earlier about Slafkovsky’s presence at the World Championship, and he’s making his mark, not just on the ice with his talent, but off the rink with his teammates and management.
Slovakia’s head coach, Craig Ramsey, had nothing but good things to say about him inan interview with Slovakian media outlet, Dennik N. Even though he became a star playing for the Canadians, he doesn’t play the super star with his national team. He’s always smiling, so much so that his smile is contagious, according to Remasey.
We love to hear good news about Slafkovsky like that.
