Slafkovsky 'pretty much can't wait' to begin season with Laine, Canadiens

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.”

Slafkovsky could end up on a line with Laine, who has 388 points (204 goals, 184 assists) in 480 NHL games and 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 24 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

“I know who he is,” Slavkovsky said, “but I don’t know if he knows who I am.”

The 20-year-old, entering his third season, had 50 points (20 goals, 30 assists) in 82 games last season, fourth on the Canadiens, and signed an eight-year, $60.8 million contract extension (average annual value $7.6 million) with Montreal on July 2 that begins in 2025-26.

Slafkovsky said he was a lot more comfortable in his second season than his rookie year, which was cut short by a lower-body injury that limited him to 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 39 games.

“You can’t even compare the first and second year,” Slafkovsky said. “If I compare my 39 games from my first year to last year it was like I was a different player. My last year in Finland, my first year in Montreal, and my second year in Montreal, it was like I was three different players.”

Going into this season, Slafkovsky is looking to continue his development to become the the player the Canadiens envisioned when they selected him ahead of defenseman Simon Nemec of the New Jersey Devils, forward Logan Cooley of the Utah Hockey Club and Shane Wright of the Seattle Kraken.

Montreal felt confident enough in Slafkovsky’s potential to lock him up to a long-term contract, which general manager Kent Hughes hopes is viewed as a bargain toward the end of the deal.

“I think typically those long-term deals on the back end of them, those players should be underpaid,” Hughes said at the Hlinka Gretzky under-18 tournament in Edmonton on Aug. 7. “Effectively, they are making more money at the front end that they would otherwise make if they want shorter term. So I think naturally at the back end of those deals, at least the cap number should be favorable to the team and if it’s not, then you made the bet on the wrong horse.”

With the addition of Laine, the return of forward Kirby Dach, who missed all but two games last season with a torn MCL and ACL in his right knee, and talented players such as forwards Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook all coming of age, Slafkovsky said he believes Montreal has the pieces in place to make the playoffs for the first time since going to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

He said he believes expectations have risen in a hockey-savvy market with some of the most knowledgeable fans in the NHL.

“In my first two years Montreal has been calm, because I think the fans know it (rebuild) 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.”