Juraj Slafkovsky impresses in scrimmage debut in Montreal

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Rookie Juraj Slafkovsky had his first opportunity to show his skills in Montreal and was an instant hit as he led Team C to a 5-1 win over Team D in the second of two scrimmages on Friday at Brossard.

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The 18-year-old male son made full use of his 6’2, 238-pound physique, impressing fans, the media and most importantly, Canada’s head coach Martin St. Louis.

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“He’s here,” St. Louis said. “He’s physically strong, has good speed, he pushed people back. He can win battles. It was nice to see him play against some NHL guys.”

Slafkovsky, the first overall pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, didn’t score, but he did assist two goals from Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who showed he knows his net. The Slovakian was also on the ice when defender Arber Xhekaj opened the scoring, finishing the scrimmage at plus-3.

Evgenii Dadonov and rookie Lucas Condotta scored the other goals for Team C, while defender Corey Schueneman converted a Jonathan Drouin backhand into the losing side’s only goal.

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The first scrimmage on Friday featured just a handful of NHL-caliber players on each team and ended 0-0 after two periods of play. Rem Pitlick and Kirby Dach scored in a shootout to give Team B the win.

St. Louis said he was pleased with the hockey produced in the first two scrimmages. He put together four teams with three lines and five defenders so everyone got plenty of ice time in the two 20-minute periods.

“Hockey was fun to play (and) I was happy with the brand they played,” St. Louis said. “There were youngsters that haven’t been there and we have veterans that we need to bring, but I thought we were all on the same page. I don’t know if it was experienced guys that pointed things out to the guys and made them aware of concepts that we used last year, but it was very encouraging to see the type of hockey we play out there.”

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Slafkovsky wasn’t the only hefty newcomer to catch St. Louis’ eye. Xhekaj, the 6-foot-4, 238-pound rookie defenseman, was a one-man wrecking crew at last week’s rookie tournament in Buffalo, but he didn’t want to offload his teammates, and St. Louis said it was a chance to evaluate his other assets.

“Historically guys who play like him don’t have all the defensive qualities like the feet he has,” St. Louis said. “It’s exciting for me to see a big guy like him play, be comfortable on the blueline, be good with the puck and be mean, that’s exciting.

“Sometimes these guys know that (being physical) is a big part of their game and they almost play that game with too much aggressiveness where they look at that and forget about the rest and you get in trouble.

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“Watching him play hockey today was really good,” added St. Louis. “I know that being physical and aggressive is part of his game and we have to control it. I am a strong believer, especially in young men, to look for their blanket. I don’t care about the floor. If we focus on the ceiling, we can fix the floor. The ground gets higher with Xhekaj when he’s playing the game in front of him and not running around because he’s only going to get into trouble.”

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