Juraj Slafkovský will be paired with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield tonight

Since the start of the season, Juraj Slafkovský has been finding his feet. He was doing well on Kirby Dach’s wing, but since the latter’s season-long injury, the Slovak has been unable to find his feet.

His trio with Alex Newhook and Josh Anderson was absolutely terrible.

But tonight, the return of Christian Dvorak changes all that. It allows the club to send Newhook back to the wing and, at the same time, it allows Martin St-Louis to stir his soup.

So we wondered what was in store for Slaf tonight… and in the end, he got a great opportunity: he’ll be on the wing of the first trio tonight, alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

It’ll be a great opportunity for the 19-year-old to make his mark tonight. He’ll be playing alongside the team’s two best offensive players, and he won’t have the pressure of being the catalyst of his trio.

He’ll have the pressure of playing alongside the club’s two best forwards, but they’ll be able to make him look good.

And in the end, it’s an opportunity he deserves. Just about every big forward on the team has been given a chance on the first line since last year, and Slaf was the one still waiting his turn.

If the plan is to make him the third piece of that trio in the long term, why not give him an audition tonight? Maybe it would give him a bit of a confidence boost at the same time, especially since playing alongside the two youngsters was the reason he wanted to be drafted to Montreal.

It’s not impossible that he won’t find the spark in the first game, but I hope the CH will be patient and give him a few consecutive games to let him find chemistry with his two new trio partners. The important thing is to let him find his confidence, and it’s by offering him consistency and patience that he’ll get there.

And if that doesn’t work after a few games, the club will have to reposition itself. If that doesn’t work, perhaps Laval will become an option.

Extension

In his first game since March, Christian Dvorak will be joined by Slaf ‘s two former trio partners: Alex Newhook and Josh Anderson.

He thus takes Rafaël Harvey-Pinard’s “sweater” in the line-up (even if the line-up has since been shuffled).

The veteran trio remains intact. Sean Monahan will center Tanner Pearson and Brendan Gallagher.