Stu Cowan: Canadiens fans are falling in love with Juraj Slafkovsky

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There were some boos at the Bell Center after the Canadiens took Juraj Slafkovsky with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal.

Slafkovsky didn’t let the reaction bother him as he smiled and waved to fans after taking the stage and putting on a Canadiens sweater for the first time.

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“I think it comes down to hockey being his passion as well as mine,” Slafkovsky said when meeting the media that day. “Maybe some of them don’t like me, but I’ll do my best to play well for this team and maybe one day they’ll like me.”

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That day has definitely arrived.

Slafkovsky scored in the Canadiens’ 5-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre, giving him 20-30-50 totals while playing in all 82 games. It was a big improvement over his rookie season, when Slafkovsky went 4-6-10 in 39 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

“You see, Slafkovsky, maybe 12 months ago in this room people were looking at us like we didn’t know what we were doing,” said Jeff Gorton, the Canadiens’ executive vice president of hockey operations, for one season. ending Wednesday’s press conference in Brossard. “But now he’s gone a year and it looks like he’s going to be a very good player.”

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Watching Slafkovsky earlier this season, it seemed like he needed some time in the AHL to work on his game.

After 30 games, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound winger scored just two goals and five assists. But Slafkovsky’s game really started to improve after head coach Martin St. Louis put him on the number one line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield in early December and he continued to improve. In the last 19 games, Slafkovsky had a total of 7-12-19.

General manager Kent Hughes warned Wednesday that progression is rarely linear with young players and that while Slafkovsky took a “big jump” this season, he expects him to “go sideways again” before reaching his peak.

It was certainly fun to watch Slafkovsky’s progression this season and see his confidence start to grow. The game also slowed down for him and he was able to process things much better and use his size more to his advantage. Slafkovsky said that he also began to believe in himself more and that he was really ready to play in the NHL.

“At the beginning of the year I was still recovering and I feel like I wasn’t playing the same way I do now,” Slafkovsky said Wednesday during his final media meeting this season in Brossard.

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When asked where he improved his game the most, the 20-year-old said: “I would say he was better with the puck. Making better plays. Feeling like I had more time to be able to be more of the type of player I want to be and try my things. I feel like that’s important. But also on the defensive end, I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better playing against the top lines every night. I had to be more responsible and everything. That part of the game… I feel like there are so many things I could name right now.”

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Caufield was also asked Wednesday where Slafkovsky’s game improved the most.

“Honestly, I think there’s maturity in his game: off the ice, on the ice,” Caufield said. “Becoming a complete boy. Sometimes you forget that he is 20 years old. You look at him and he’s like 38. To us, it’s just him doing it every day, doing it consistently and not being too hard on himself. You have to come to the court the next day, whether you have a good or bad game, and work the same. He’s figuring it out as a pro and he’s doing all those right things consistently. We all support him and we all support him. But he’s doing it himself, which is probably the best part.”

Slafkovsky’s season isn’t over yet. He is scheduled to play for Slovakia at the IIHF World Championship, which will be held May 10-26 in Czechia. After that, he plans to take a vacation in Spain before starting training for next season. He still isn’t sure what he will do with the $250,000 bonus he earned by scoring his 20th goal of the season in the last game.

“I don’t have it yet,” said Slafkovsky, whose salary was $950,000 this season. “Once I have it, I will start making decisions.

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“I hope they are good,” he added with a laugh.

Slafkovsky’s personality is another reason Canadiens fans have fallen in love with him. He has adjusted well to the spotlight in Montreal, especially a No. 1 overall draft pick.

“I hope they like it,” he said Wednesday when asked about the fans. “I love our fans. They’re great. I have no problem taking photos or anything. I feel like it wasn’t crazy.

“You should come to Slovakia if you want to see how crazy it is.”

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