Nick Suzuki stuns with gesture for Juraj Slafkovsky
Photo credit: Habs Eyes on the Prize
A huge revelation has surfaced regarding a major action taken by Nick Suzuki towards the young Juraj Slafkovsky, which changed everything for the Montreal Canadiens.
In fact, it was during a segment covering yesterday's game between the CH and the Toronto Maple Leafs that we had the opportunity to learn more about the sudden emergence of the 2022 overall first pick.
Former NHL player turned Sportsnet analyst, Kevin Bieksa, said it was the captain who asked Martin St-Louis to put Juraj Slafkovsky on his line, at a time when the 19-year-old was struggling early in the season.
«Juraj started the season with 2A in his first 15 games. He wasn't playing good hockey Nick Suzuki, being the leader that he is, went into coach Marty's office and said, ‘Put him on my line. I'll help him learn to play the right way on both sides of the ice.'» - Kevin Bieksa
In other words, we've just learned that it's entirely thanks to Suzuki that Slafkovsky was promoted to the first line, and as anticipated by the captain, the addition of the Slovak to him and Cole Caufield sparked right from the start.
«I see a lot of things in Slaf's game. I thought he would fit well [on my line]. Since we've been playing together, he has really risen to the challenge of playing against top players and playing with me and Cole and we've had a lot of chemistry and success lately.» - Nick Suzuki on Sportsnet
From this statement by number 14, it's clear that he wanted to take Slaf under his wing. He wanted to contribute to his development, especially in his defensive game, to play a more complete style.
With the huge explosion of number 20 over the past few months, it's becoming increasingly clear that the Canadiens have grabbed a raw talent with him.
Moreover, since the All-Star weekend, Slafkovsky has been the best or second-best forward for the Canadiens in several interesting statistics, both offensive and defensive.
| POLL |
7 AVRIL | 107 ANSWERS Nick Suzuki stuns with gesture for Juraj Slafkovsky Do you think that the Canadiens have the best ‘culture' in the league? |
| Yes | 87 | 81.3 % |
| No | 20 | 18.7 % |
| LIST OF POLLS |
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