Canadiens HC Martin St. Louis addresses recent criticism received by Juraj Slafkovsky

Martine St. Louis, the coach of the Montreal Canadiens, spoke about the widespread criticism of Juraj Slafkovsky.

The Habs are taking part in their 2023 preseason games. All the attention and expectations of coach St. Louis and Habs' fans are on Slafkovsky who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Canadiens in the 2022 draft.

Last season, Slafkovsky made a strong start in training camp. However, his rookie season was marred by injuries. He only played 39 regular-season games, accumulating 10 points (four goals, six assists).

Slafkovsky had some brilliant performances last term, but there were also instances when he struggled to step up, leading to questions about whether he's a good fit for the Habs.

The 19-year-old Kosice, Slovakia, native had a goal contribution in the Habs' 4-3 preseason win over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. Following the game, Habs coach Martin St. Louis highlighted the importance of Juraj Slafkovsky to the team.

He said that Stakhovsky is still on the track of growing and learning:

“I’m just hoping for him to grow & growing is not necessarily in a straight line. There’s gonna be some dips. But I’m pretty sure that from now until the end of the season when we connect these dots, it’s going up."

“You can't just move on the ice wherever you wanna go, you gotta move where the team *needs* you to go. It depends where your teammates are, where the opponents are. He’s got great assets but he's learning to play the game with 4 other guys.” - Coach Marty on Juraj Slafkovsky byu/Go_Habs_Go31 inHabs

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How Juraj Slafkovsky and Montreal Canadiens downed the Ottawa Senators in pre-season

The Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators 4-3 in their preseason clash at the Centre Bell Arena on Wednesday.

With 6:27 minutes into the first period, Brandon Gigantic opened the scoring for the Canadiens. Six minutes later, Juraj Slafkovsky stretched the Habs' lead heading into the second period.

Dominik Kubalik's powerplay goal at the 2:45 mark put the Senators a goal behind the Habs. Goals from Mathieu Joseph helped put the Sens 3-2 up before heading into the final period.

Coming into the third period, the Canadiens continued to dominate. Goals from Sean Monahan and Cole Caufield helped secure a comfortable 4-3 win over the Sens.

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The Montreal Canadiens play their next preseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday (Sept. 29).