Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky is gearing up for the new season with optimism following the team’s acquisition of Patrik Laine.
“It’s good to see (Laine) join our team and hopefully he’s excited too,” Slafkovsky said Wednesday, according to NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest. “I’m sure he wants to come and restart his career, and I feel like Montreal is a great place for him to do that.”
The Canadiens acquired Laine and a second-round pick from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenseman Jordan Harris on Monday.
Laine, who scored 30 or more goals in each of his first three NHL seasons, including a 44-goal season at 19 years old, has not reached the 30-goal mark since the 2018-19 season. He has faced injury challenges in recent years and participated in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program earlier this year.
Slafkovsky is enthusiastic about the Canadiens’ decision to take on Laine as a reclamation project and is eager for the season to start.
“I wish we could skip training camp and just start the season because I’m excited to play games that mean something,” Slafkovsky said.
Having admired Laine since his teenage years, Slafkovsky recalls, “In 2016, I was probably 13 or 14 at that time, and I was a big fan of (Laine’s), waiting to see whether he or (Auston) Matthews would go first (in the draft).”
Slafkovsky acknowledged, “I know who he is, but I don’t know if he knows who I am.”
Selected first overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, Slafkovsky showed significant improvement in the latter part of last season, recording 16 goals and 37 points in 46 games after January 1.
“If I compare my 39 games from my first year to last year, it was like I was a different player,” Slafkovsky said. “My last year in Finland, my first year in Montreal, and my second year in Montreal, it was like I was three different players.”
As Slafkovsky enters his third season with the Canadiens, he acknowledges the rising expectations from fans.
“In my first two years, Montreal has been calm, because I think the fans know it is not going to happen overnight,” Slafkovsky said. “It takes time, but it’s getting to a point when they expect it to be time. We think it is time as well and I can’t wait to keep pushing towards that time when we are going to be good.”
