Eight-Year Contract Extension Looming for Juraj Slafkovsky? Experts Have Made a Major Statement

The contrast in his performance is striking, and the Slovak's confidence is growing by the day. What makes his development even more fascinating is his increased frequency in scoring goals.

Since his surge, he's been scoring in almost every other game, which is particularly impressive considering he is only 19 years old.

Former NHL player turned TVA Sports analyst, Antoine Roussel, has suggested that the Canadiens should offer Slafkovsky a contract as soon as possible.

He emphasized that this contract should be signed immediately and for the long term, leaving no ambiguity about his position.

Given his performance over the last two months, we're starting to get a clearer picture of his progression. Two months of solid performance are dispelling doubts and suggesting a consistent level of play.

Signing such a long-term contract aims to capitalize on the last 4-5 years of the deal when the return on investment will be maximized, benefiting from a lower salary compared to statistics.

Considering General Manager Kent Hughes will likely want to maintain the salary hierarchy established by Nick Suzuki as the top earner, followed by Cole Caufield, it can be assumed that Hughes would propose an offer below 7.85M$ annually in such a scenario.

Technically, there's another year left on the 2022 first overall pick's entry-level contract, meaning an extension cannot be signed before July 1st.

At that point, Hughes's calculation will be whether signing Slaf immediately could potentially save millions in the long term, or whether he prefers to take the risk of waiting another evaluation season, which could increase his salary following a productive campaign.