Canadiens GM makes intriguing Juraj Slafkovsky confession for 2024-25 season

The Montreal Canadiens signed Juraj Slafkovsky during NHL free agency this summer. Montreal was impressed with Slafkovsky given how his season went. The Canadiens star struggled early in the season. But by the end, the former first-overall pick was one of the team’s best players.

Expectations for Slafkovsky will be higher than they were a year ago. The Canadiens themselves, however, won’t be asking him to give them the sun and the moon. In fact, GM Kent Hughes said elite statistical milestones aren’t the only thing they’re looking for in the future.

“We don’t need him to score 40 or 50 goals or it’s a failure; it’s about him continuing to develop as a hockey player and becoming the best version of himself, because we believe the best version of Juraj is going to give us a good chance to compete and win,” Hughes said at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton, via NHL.com.

Canadians need Juraj Slafkovsky to develop further

Slafkovsky played a whopping 82 games in 2023-24 after his rookie season was cut short by injury. After a slow start, the Slovakian star bounced back in style, scoring a career-high 20 goals and 50 points for the Canadiens last season.

The Canadiens signed their young forward to an eight-year extension on July 1. They hope he continues to develop alongside players like Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Kaiden Guhle. But they are also trying to be more self-aware. They are aware of the situation their young star is in and has been in.

“I don’t know if development is always linear; there are bumps along the way and he’s had to manage the No. 1 tag and try to live up to what that means and what people expect of him, and now he’s got a big contract to go with it,” Kent Hughes said, via NHL.com. “We’ve got to be thoughtful about how we manage him and the message we give him, and the message we give externally.

Slafkovsky isn’t the only player to get a long-term deal from Montreal this summer. Guhle recently signed a six-year contract extension. They join Suzuki and Caufield on long-term deals. Suzuki signed his in the summer of 2021, while the Canadiens signed Caufield last summer.

Hughes admitted Wednesday that it’s not feasible to sign every young player long-term. He’s happy with the players he’s given significant contract extensions, too. He also believes the Canadiens will be better off with those players in the near future.

“I think it’s important for us to have Juraj and Kaiden signed, along with Nick and Cole,” Kent Hughes said, via NHL.com. “We can’t give everybody a long-term contract, but the young players that we’ve picked up and are willing to commit to their side, I think it’s great.”