Canadiens' Juraj Slafkovsky on line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield

The day before this year’s NHL Draft, Juraj Slafkovsky was asked why the Canadiens should take him with the No. 1 overall pick.

“I can play with those two guys (Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield) and I think it can be a pretty good line that can make results at the end of the day,” Slafkovsky responded. “I think that’s important for Montreal.”

On Tuesday night, Canadiens fans will get their first look at Slafkovskiy playing on the same line as Suzuki and Cole Caufield in a preseason game against the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., TSN2, TSN5, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

When asked after Tuesday’s morning skate in Brossard how Slafkovsky can help Suzuki and Caufield as their left-winger, head coach Martin St. Louis said: “Probably similar to Andy (Josh Anderson) in the sense of pace, heaviness, big body, good shot. I think he can create a little bit of room.”

The 6-foot-3, 238-pound Slafkovsky is coming off a strong performance in Monday night’s 5-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre, during which he picked up an assist. It was the first point for Slafkovsky in three preseason games after GM Kent Hughes had said the 18-year-old was “underwhelming” in his first two games.

How can Slafkovsky build on his performance Monday night?

“Do it again,” St. Louis said. “I think he’s probably gained some confidence. He’s responsible for that confidence. I think he’s going to be put in situations to build his confidence, but it’s got to come from within. That’s his responsibility and I think he did that yesterday.”

Hughes has said the Canadiens will send Slafkovsky down to the AHL’s Laval Rocket to start the season if they think that’s what will be best for his development. Even before the draft, Hughes was saying he wanted to draft the player the Canadiens scouts felt would be the best NHL player in the future, not now as an 18-year-old.

“If I keep working even harder, harder, I know I can play better,” Slafkovsky said after Monday night’s game. “And if I play at what I would say my best level then I can say I belong. Today it was closer to that level.”

When asked what was missing for him to be at his highest level, Slafkovsky responded: “I don’t tell my secrets on camera.”

For Suzuki, Tuesday night’s game will be his preseason debut after recovering from a lower-body injury suffered during an on-ice training collision with teammate Joel Edmundson two days before the start of training camp.

Edmundson remains sidelined indefinitely with a back injury.

Slafkovsky impresses Anderson

Anderson said he has been impressed by Slafkovsky at training camp and added he can even learn himself from watching the 18-year-old.

“The way he uses his ass and protects pucks,” the 6-foot-3, 218-pound Anderson said after Monday night’s game. “I’m a big body, too, so I can pretty much do the same thing. I got to work on that as well. I’ve watched a lot of video of current NHL players and them doing it. Guys like (the Boston Bruins’ Brad) Marchand, he does it really, really well and protects the puck in that department. So just continue to work on that and I think that will help my game.”

Slafkovsky is still adjusting to playing on the smaller NHL ice surface.

“He’s going to get used to that,” Anderson said. “He’s got such a big body and big ass where he sticks that out it’s going to be really hard to stop him. You see it all the time in practice where he tries to do it. He’s got a long reach, so I think he’s just got to keep working on that.”

Honouring 1972 Team Canada

Players from Team Canada that defeated the Soviet Union in the 1972 Summit Series will be honoured at the Bell Centre before Tuesday night’s game.

Yvon Cournoyer, Guy Lapointe, Peter Mahovlich, Serge Savard, Marcel Dionne and Paul Henderson — who scored the series-winning goal 50 years ago — will be in attendance.

scowan@postmedia.com

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