PRAGUE -- Juraj Slafkovsky already was more than eager for the 2024-25 NHL season to begin. Now, he wishes the Montreal Canadiens could drop the puck right now.
That’s what having Patrik Laine added to your team can do.
“I’m excited about the season, especially with the Patrik Laine trade,” Slafkovsky said at the NHL European Player Media Tour on Wednesday. “It’s funny, during the summer you wonder how things are going to be throughout the year and who you’re going to play with and what your role is going to be, and I pretty much can’t wait to be there already and play.
“I wish we would could skip training camp and just start the season, because I’m excited to play games that mean something.”
The No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft first learned Montreal had acquired Laine when he arrived here to take part in the media tour. Laine, the No. 2 pick by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2016 NHL Draft, was acquired by Montreal along with a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft for defenseman Jordan Harris on Monday.
“I just landed in Prague and it popped up on my phone and I was so happy,” Slafkovsky said. “In 2016, I was probably 13 or 14 at that time, and I was a big fan of his, waiting to see whether he or [Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston] Matthews would go first (in the NHL Draft), so I was a fan of his back in the day.”
Laine made many fans during his first two seasons with the Jets, scoring 36 goals his rookie season and 44 in his second year. But the forward scored a total of 58 over the next two seasons and was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets with center Jack Roslovic on Jan. 23, 2021 for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois and a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. In four seasons with the Blue Jackets, he scored 64 goals in 174 games, including six goals in 18 games last season before he sustained a broken clavicle on Dec. 14.
The 26-year-old began receiving care from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Jan. 28 and was cleared from the program July 26.
“It’s good to see him join our team and hopefully he’s excited too,” Slafkovsky said. “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.”