While he started off slow, the second half of Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky’s season has been electric to say the least.
Currently riding a streak that’s seen him net eight points over his last seven games, the Slovakian winger has the chance to cement himself into the Canadiens’ record books before the end of the week.
Turning 20 on March 30, the 19-year-old is edging closer to tying the franchise record for most points in a single season by a teenager.
With 39 points on the year so far (15 goals, 24 assists), Slafkovsky needs just one more to catch Montreal legend Henri Richard, who logged 40 points in 64 games during his 1955-56 rookie campaign alongside his brother Maurice.
With that said, Slafkovsky, who sits firmly in second place alongside former player and coach Mario Tremblay on the leaderboard, doesn’t have much time to get it done.
Montreal has two more games on the schedule before the 2022 first-overall pick’s birthday: one against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday and a home bout against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
The Habs play on Saturday as well, but Slafkovsky will technically be too old to add to his tally by then.
One point would be enough to put him in Richard’s company, while two would make him the sole record holder.
And given the way the Slovakian winger has been playing, logging 26 points in the 34 games since January 1, many would bet on him getting it done.
And even if he doesn’t, Slafkovsky already holds one Canadiens record, becoming the first teenager in Habs history to record a seven-game point streak, surpassing forward Doug Wickenheiser’s six-game streak on the all-time leaderboard back in February.
Numbers aside, though it doesn’t take a statistician to see that Slafkovsky’s future with the Habs, once a heated subject, looks pretty bright right about now.
Follow Channels and Categories