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Juraj Slafkovsky, Montreal Canadiens (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Canadiens 2025-26 Player Previews: Juraj Slafkovsky

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Blain Potvin | Last updated Aug 16, 2025 3:33 PM ET

The offseason leading into the 2025-26 season continues, and with the major events such as the NHL Entry Draft and free agent frenzy completed, the dog days of summer wear on as NHL management groups take a bit of a breather before the training camps begin. In this series, I will try to investigate every Montreal Canadiens roster player, recap their last season and look ahead to this upcoming season. I will look at their place in the organization, their role and their possible impact.

In the next step of the series, I will continue looking at the Canadiens’ forward group, this time with their top line power forward, Juraj Slafkovsky.

2024-25 Season Recap

Over the last three seasons, Juraj Slafkovsky has slowly progressed in his overall game. In 2024-25, he scored 18 goals and reached a career high in points (51). He also unlocked a more physical side of his game, putting up a career high of 194 hits in his 79 games played. This is an important aspect as to why he is a good fit on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. He brings size, speed and physicality to a line that is considered undersized, but he has the skill level to not only keep up with them, but also compete with them on an equal footing.

He had a lot of ups and downs last season and worked on his game the entire time. Perhaps he could have put up better numbers if he had been consistent throughout the season. This lack of consistency is something Slafkovsky knows he has struggled with, having slow starts each season. Despite the slow start, he finished the season as a key member of the top line, averaging 17:21 of ice time. Also, Slafkovsky was used on the top pair of the power play (PP) but rarely on the penalty kill (PK), but that isn’t because he is weak defensively; it is more to do with providing players with roles, and using him offensively is more impactful than putting him in defensive roles.

Great defensive play from Juraj and it leads to a goal!

48 Points in the season for Slaf#GoHabsGo
pic.twitter.com/uCKuFtZ6Mn
— SlafkovskyMuse (@SlafkovskyMuse) April 4, 2025

Like many of his teammates, Slafkovsky really broke out after the 4 Nations tournament break. During that time off, he rested, but he also met with Canadiens development coach Adam Nicholas almost daily. In these sessions, Nicholas helped the 21-year-old Slovakian to focus on the role he needed to play to be a star player. The player he looked to at that time as an example was the play of Brady Tkachuk at the tournament.

Juraj Slafkovsky since the Four Nations break:

18 games
— 9 goals
— 8 assists
— 15 even-strength points (17th in NHL)
— +10

He's better than you think. pic.twitter.com/VQFOhE0PgK
— Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) April 2, 2025

Slafkovsky took those lessons to heart, taking his offensive game up several notches, but also became far more physical as he finished the season leading the team in hits, the exact combination of skill and grit the team wants from their 2022 first overall draft pick.

2025-26 Season Expectations

Slafkovsky has completed his three-year entry-level contract and is now entering year one of his eight-year deal, paying him $7.6 million per season. This new salary will come with much higher expectations than ever before for the 6-foot-3, 238-pound forward. Frank Corrado on TSN compared his game to that of Chris Kreider. His shot and willingness to use it have been a difference maker for his jump in production. His net front presence with his shooting ability challenges defences. These skills will need to be seen as of game number one, and through the season, if he is to see a large jump in his point totals.

His playoff performance last season can provide him with the confidence to not only start the 2025-26 season strong, but also show him he can be more dominant. While Montreal’s playoffs were short, a loss in five games to the Washington Capitals in the first round, Slafkovsky had a strong performance. His shot attempts per game rose, and his line was dominant. His advanced possession statistics were impressive, putting up a Corsi For percentage of 64.9% and an expected goals percentage of 55.2%, and he did this against Washington’s top defensive players.

A reasonable expectation now, as the 21-year-old enters his fourth NHL season, would be for him to score 25 goals and provide a total of 60 points. Add to this a consistent level of physical play that would get him closer to 250 hits, which would put him close to the NHL’s top 10 in hits. This is especially important as he needs to bring that power forward style on the top line with Caufield and Suzuki, which would open up space in the offensive zone that they could exploit, and add even more offence. The key for Slafkovsky will be how well prepared he is to start the season. It will not only be a physical task, but a mental one as well, as the expectations for him to perform nightly have risen steadily, especially now as he enters his new contract.