Kent Hughes: David Reinbacher can count on Juraj Slafkovsky

If I told you today that Juraj Slafkovsky should be sent to the American League, I’d expect to be criticized pretty harshly.

With good reason, as we all agree.

But then, it was a popular idea not so long ago. The young man seemed to be having trouble getting off the ground in the NHL, so much so that the option of seeing him develop in Laval was discussed at length.

Slaf must have gone through the whole gamut of emotions, because there was a lot of criticism of him and the Habs management.

The young man has been through it all, even though there has been a marked improvement in his game over the last twenty games or so…

And of course, seeing the young man shine right now is enough to make the Montreal organization smile.

Kent Hughes, who gave an interview to a Slovak media outlet, says he likes what he’s seeing right now… Because in the GM’s eyes, Slaf will be able to help David Reinbacher “survive” when the latter comes to town:

Last year, we drafted David Reinbacher, who should do the same when he arrives in Montreal.

He will, however, have an advantage. He’ll be able to count on Slaf, who has survived it all. – Kent Hughes

Habs GM Kent Hughes on drafting Juraj Slafkovsky & David Reinbacher in a recent interview this week with Slovak media.

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– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) February 15, 2024

In the way he said it, it sounds like Kent Hughes is implying that the plan is already done with Reinbacher and that the defenseman should start his North American career in Montreal (and not Laval).

So I can’t wait to see what happens when Reinbacher comes to town. The Habs won’t be in the playoffs this year, and may want to give him the opportunity to play a few NHL games in preparation for next season…

But the scenario of Reinbacher in Laval is a little more ideal in my eyes, because he didn’t have a big season in Switzerland, and because he’d have a bigger role in Jean-François Houle’s line-up.

All this to say that the Habs management obviously want Juraj Slafkovsky to play a bit of a big brother role with David Reinbacher.

And Slaf might just be the guy for the job, because the circumstances of their respective arrivals in Montreal are very similar in the sense that they’ve both come a long way .