Starting the first season of his eight-year deal, expectations were a little higher for Juraj Slafkovsky in 2025-26. Fortunately for him and the Habs, he was able to live up to them with a career year. Does he have another one in store for 2026-27?
2025-26
While it seems like a long time ago now, the start of last season wasn’t exactly good for Slafkovsky. He was largely riding shotgun on the top line alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield and while he was shooting a little more, he was still largely deferring to his linemates. The end result was him hovering around half a point per game through the first two months of the season, down a tick from the year before.
But things started to change when Slafkovsky was moved down onto the second line to play with Ivan Demidov. The idea was to give Montreal a second line with some more offensive consistency. While the line’s underlying numbers (with Oliver Kapanen playing down the middle) weren’t anything to write home about, Slafkovsky found another gear on that trio. Instead of being the one deferring, he became much more assertive. The shot volume went up and with that, he became a much bigger scoring threat. When reunited on the top line, Slafkovsky slowly went back to his previous form but on the whole, he was still a bit more productive than he was early in the year.
One area that Slafkovsky took a big step forward in last season was the power play. With Patrik Laine out for most of the season and teams keying in on Caufield’s shot more, Slafkovsky was the beneficiary. At times, he was the net-front option scoring from in tight while in others, he was firing shots home from the faceoff circle. Half of his goals came with the man advantage which, while unsustainable, demonstrated that he’s becoming a more diversified scorer. That’s a promising sign moving forward.
So was Slafkovsky’s first playoff game. He picked up a hat trick and given his size and physicality, it looked like this could be his breakout moment. But he didn’t have a point in the next six games, his worst drought of the season. He managed six points against Buffalo plus a three-point game versus Carolina to have a decent line overall but as was the case with the rest of the top line, the postseason play wasn’t quite what the team was hoping for.
Regular Season Stats: 82 GP, 30-43-73, +9, 52 PIMS, 15 PPG, 4 GWG, 180 shots, 18:32 ATOI
Playoff Stats: 19 GP, 6-6-12, -9, 9 PIMS, 4 PPG, 1 GWG, 48 shots, 19:56 ATOI
4 Year Averages
GP: 71
Goals: 18
Assists: 28
Points: 46
+/-: -5
PIMS: 46
PPG: 7
GWG: 2
Shots: 127
2026-27 Role
Last season, Slafkovsky was expected to be on the top line and while that was the trio he was on the most, it wasn’t by a significant margin. He had a good 30-plus-game stretch playing with Demidov and had enough success for it to be a real option moving forward.
With that in mind, Slafkovsky might be the one that bounces back and forth between the top two lines this coming season. We know Martin St. Louis doesn’t like to split up Caufield and Suzuki too often so when that line needs a tweak (or Demidov’s needs a boost), that means it will be Slafkovsky who moves around. To start, I suspect their preference would be to have him on the top line as was the case for the bulk of the playoffs but things could change if they wind up adding a winger between now and training camp, allowing them to balance the lines a little.
As for special teams, not much should change usage-wise. Slafkovsky was a fixture on the top power play unit last season and there’s no reason to think he won’t be after being their top goalscorer with the man advantage last season. As for the penalty kill, unless it’s a late-game situation where the Habs are down a goal and need to tie it up, he shouldn’t be seeing any action there.
Projected Stats
Given that Slafkovsky is still just 22 and playing on a team that is on the upswing offensively, there’s an understandable belief that he has another level or two to get to. It’s certainly possible that he does but at the same time, as I noted earlier, that power play production probably isn’t sustainable. That’s not to say that he’ll be a pumpkin with the man advantage but an uptick in even-strength production could be offset by a dip in power play success, resulting in an overall similar stat line to last season. And that’s something I think the Canadiens would be quite okay with.
In terms of fantasy hockey, Slafkovsky is one of Montreal’s biggest wild card players. In a strictly points-based league, an expectation of putting up 70 or so points is solid but he’s not likely to be taken in the first few rounds unless it’s a really deep league. But if your league has a bunch of other scoring categories, boy, does he get interesting in a hurry.
Slafkovsky was less physical last season but still surpassed 100 hits. He finally became more of a volume shooter, upping his attempts by more than 100 (and his shots on goal by nearly 50). Meanwhile, for someone who doesn’t fight, he’s averaging a little over 50 PIMS over the last three seasons. If your league has these categories, now you have a 70-point player who is above average in three other spots. In that case, now we’re getting into borderline top-50 territory. Depending on your league’s settings, he’s the type of player who could really be a difference-maker.
GP: 80
Goals: 28
Assists: 42
Points: 70
+/-: +8
PIMS: 50
PPG: 9
GWG: 4
Shots: 178