Since being selected first overall at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Juraj Slafkovsky has expressed a lot of excitement about playing in the big league.
Now the young Slovakian will finally get a taste of the Montreal crowd as he suits up at the Bell Centre for the first time on Monday night as the Canadiens take on the New Jersey Devils.
The 2022-23 season is almost here with preseason starting tonight!@SkipTheDishes game preview ⤵️https://t.co/LHUCnjz3eJ
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 26, 2022
The 18-year-old first overall pick did not play in Sunday’s Red vs. White scrimmage, but was confirmed to be in the lineup for the first game of the preseason on Monday morning. Kirby Dach, who recently signed with Montreal, is another young player set to make his debut in Canadiens colours tonight.
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Here are the lines and defence pairings, which include the likes of 2022 first-round pick Filip Mesar and second-round pick Owen Beck, for tonight’s exhibition matchup:
Projected lineup
Forwards
Cole Caufield – Owen Beck – Mike Hoffman
Rem Pitlick – Kirby Dach – Juraj Slafkovsky
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard – Filip Mesar– Anthony Richard
Michael Pezzetta – Jan Mysak – Joshua Roy
Defencemen
Mike Matheson – Justin Barron
Kaiden Guhle – Jordan Harris
Gianni Fairbrother – Mattias Norlinder
Goalies
Jake Allen
Cayden Primeau