One of the things that has impressed TSN hockey analyst Mike Johnson the most about the Canadiens this season is the fact their best players are still young and can get even better.
Nick Suzuki and Noah Dobson are 26, Cole Caufield is 25, Lane Hutson, Juraj Slafkovsky and Oliver Kapanen are all 22 and Ivan Demidov is 20. The goalies are also young — Jakub Dobes is 24 and Jacob Fowler is 21.
“They have top players that are already top players that are getting better,” Johnson said in a phone interview on Thursday. “That implies that they’re driven and not satisfied by being great and being well compensated, which would be totally normal, like a lot of guys. ‘OK. I’m a really good player.’ But that’s not enough for these guys. I like that.”
Johnson has been impressed by the progress of Slafkovsky this season after the Canadiens selected him with the No. 1 overall pick at the 2022 NHL Draft. Heading into Saturday’s game against the Devils in New Jersey (7 p.m., SNE, Citytv, TVA Sports), Slafkovsky has 29-38-67 totals, setting career highs in goals, assists and points in his fourth NHL season to go along with a plus-14 differential.
“Juraj Slafkovsky is so wildly better than he was even two years ago,” Johnson said. “It’s amazing. When the Canadiens drafted him I think there’s a clip of (general manager Kent Hughes) during the draft saying: ‘He might not be the best player this year, but what about four years from now?’ And you think about that … Lane Hutson (selected in the second round, 62nd overall) may be the best player out of that draft or maybe it’s Logan Cooley (selected third overall by the Arizona Coyotes, now the Utah Mammoth). But whatever, there’s a case to be made that (Slafkovsky’s) so unique.”
Johnson got a close-up look at Slafkovsky in action when he worked back-to-back Canadiens games as they beat the Hurricanes 3-1 last Sunday in Carolina and the Lightning 4-1 in Tampa on Tuesday. Slafkovsky had a goal and an assist against the Lightning and finished plus-2 with two hits in 19:12 of ice time.
“Tampa forces you to play sort of a big-boy game,” Johnson said. “It’s always physical, it’s always kind of grinding and greasy. Slafkovsky on that team with Montreal is very unique and very important because he has the physical tools (at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds) to play any kind of style. Just to watch his progression from his body to his confidence to his skills to his mental awareness and all of it has been really impressive.”
It’s a huge difference from Slafkovsky’s first two seasons in the NHL when he would often look lost on the ice, especially in the defensive zone. He was a combined minus-32 in his first two seasons.
“I just don’t think he knew what was going on out there,” Johnson said. “I just don’t think he was processing it fast enough, which is interesting because the idea that hockey sense or processing speed can really improve is sometimes debated. If you don’t understand or see the game that well, how much can you improve? Well, I guess he’s showing that for him you can improve a lot.
“I think he’s a guy who was just the biggest and best player (as a youngster) and so he didn’t have to see everything going on out there,” Johnson added. “The Eric Lindros kind of analogy. You just sort of run over guys, you don’t have to worry about guys hitting you because they’re so much smaller. And then (Slafkovsky) gets to a league where he’s not so clearly the biggest and best and you have to figure out other ways to be effective and he has. He’s really good now. Like, he’s really good!”
Johnson had an 11-year playing career in the NHL, including one season with the Canadiens in 2006-07 when he had 11-20-31 totals in 80 games. He said the young talent the Canadiens have now and the success they are enjoying as a team this season should make Montreal very attractive to veteran free agents in the future.
“You think about the opportunity now,” Johnson said. “The longer you’re in the league the more winning becomes a forefront priority because you realize how much your entire existence revolves around whether you’re winning or losing. Contracts are nice and everything else, but winning trumps all. So Montreal, right now, to step into this team, to look at the talent, to see the future that you could be part of as early as two weeks from now (in the playoffs) and maybe most excitedly for — I don’t know — five years, six, seven years? They have all these (young) guys signed to contracts. Montreal has quickly become, as a team, a hot destination for players.
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“Personally, Montreal as a city and a franchise to me was always a great destination and was proven when I played there,” Johnson added, “It was like: ‘This is the greatest place in the world to play. It’s incredible.’ I get it’s cold, but buy a warm jacket or get a car that heats up on its own. There are ways to get around that. But as far as just comparing where would you want to play for the next seven or eight years and what kind of players you would want to play with and what kind of success you are in line to have, Montreal’s as good as anywhere in the league.
“In fact, it might be better than just about anywhere.”
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