Juraj Slafkovsky was seen talking animatedly with Martin St-Louis on the Canadiens bench during Saturday night's loss to the Avalanche.
Montreal fell 4-1 at the Bell Centre, and the building was quiet for much of it. The emotion was on the bench rather than the ice, and Slafkovsky's conversation with his head coach was the sequence that stood out.
Nobody knows whether the two disagreed or whether the winger was simply venting while his coach listened. Players talk to coaches all the time, but not often with that kind of intensity.
The timing matters. Montreal is 12-4-4 and sits second in the Atlantic Division, so the standings aren't the problem. The problem is one player on the top line who isn't producing.
Slafkovsky has 2 goals and 13 points in 20 games. Last season he scored 30 goals and put up 70 points, which is the player people expect to see.
Does Martin St-Louis have to send Juraj Slafkovsky a message?
He does, and the reasoning is simple. Slafkovsky is getting the minutes, 20:15 against Colorado, along with first-line deployment, first-unit power-play time and a spot when the net is empty. With that role, two goals is not good enough.
His only point Saturday was an assist, and he put 2 shots on goal. The frustration has shown for weeks, in his body language and in how he reacted to not starting the season on the first line. Passing up shooting lanes looks like a player who has lost confidence.
If a talk behind the bench doesn't fix it, a lineup change is the next step. Moving him off the top line and trimming his power-play time would send the message louder than any conversation could. St-Louis has already shown he is blunt, as he was in his comments on how long he'll remain coach.
The coach has other things to manage. We reported that Ivan Demidov's status for the trip was unclear, and the concern around Ivan Demidov hasn't gone away. Nick Suzuki scored against Colorado and has 17 points in 14 games, but one productive centre won't carry the top six on his own.
The Canadiens visit the Rangers on Monday. Watch who lines up next to Suzuki and who takes the first power-play shift.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
What should Martin St-Louis do with Juraj Slafkovsky?
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