Slafkovsky's Award Is Real. The Left Wing Problem Is Too.

Juraj Slafkovsky was named Slovakian hockey player of the year this week, a genuine honor for a player who has grown considerably since arriving in Montreal as the first-overall pick. Worth noting alongside it: he finished the season with 40 points in 50 games, which sounds fine until you consider that a league-average left wing produces closer to 0.75 points per game. Slafkovsky came in at 0.43. He's the starter at the position by a wide margin over Alexandre Texier, but the gap between him and a true top-six left wing is real and has been real all season.

The Canadiens spent the offseason patching secondary scoring and defensive depth — Kirby Dach, Brett Berard, Maksymilian Szuber, a handful of prospect signings — but left wing hasn't been addressed. My read is that the front office is betting on Slafkovsky's development closing that gap, which is a reasonable bet for a young player with his physical tools. It's also a bet that didn't pay off last March, when the offense fell off a cliff and Montreal averaged under three goals a game over its final ten contests.

Camp opens with that question still open. The award is a nice moment. The depth chart behind Slafkovsky at left wing is thin, and the Bolduc situation — still unsigned, now surfacing as a potential sign-and-trade candidate — only adds to the uncertainty on that side of the ice.