It’s been a little over a month since Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis put together the team’s current top line consisting of Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, and captain Nick Suzuki.
And while the three youngsters (all under 25) have been tasked with going up against the NHL’s top lines, the Canadiens bench boss has been pleased with their performance so far.
After taking the red-hot Edmonton Oilers to overtime on the weekend and stunning the Colorado Avalanche’s powerhouse roster with a regulation win at the Bell Centre on Monday night, the top trio has combined for three goals and seven points in just two games.
St. Louis sees that as a sign that they’re equipped to handle what’s to come.
“All those guys, I feel are going through a process to becoming elite and they’re doing it the right way — with a team-first approach,” the coach told reporters Monday night.
“When are we going to tag them ‘elite’? I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter when. Our goal is to get them there,” he explained. “But what is ‘elite’? Is ‘elite’ just a point producer? Just a goal scorer? Cause if you’re going to build a winning culture, you want elite hockey players. Guys who play 200 feet, that play the game.”
Martin St-Louis questionné à savoir si Slafkovsky, Caufield et Suzuki sont « élites » 👀 pic.twitter.com/wssKbQ1kqK
— L'Antichambre (@Antichambre) January 16, 2024
And speaking of a winning culture, the Habs who are riding an 18-18-7 record while remaining in the race for an Eastern Conference Wild Card spot, are well on their way.
“We’re still in the process of building a winning culture; it’s not a some-of-the-time thing, it’s an everyday thing. Your culture gets challenged when there’s a little bit of struggle but we find we’re right on track in the process of building what we want,” said St. Louis.
Despite getting off to a slow start, Slafkovsky, 19, is hitting his stride with his new linemates, logging six shots and a powerplay goal in Monday’s win, bringing his season point total to 16.
As for Caufield, who also netted one against Colorado, the 23-year-old’s 0.40 career goals per game is the highest among all active players aged 24 or younger
Meanwhile, Suzuki is on his way to becoming Montreal’s first point-per-game player since Alex Kovalev (2007-08) with 37 over 43 games.
Wins, losses, and stats aside, though, St. Louis is satisfied with the growth he’s seen in the first half of the ongoing campaign.
“We’re able to grow even in games where we fail, we learn from that and we get to work. We don’t point fingers, the answers are everywhere – we try to find them and I think that’s a great environment to grow the culture we want to grow.”
Likely keeping their first line intact, the Canadiens will be back in action on Wednesday when they take on the New Jersey Devils.
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