The appearance of the Slavs Montreal Canadiens

Other names that come in comparison with Slafkovsky should be mentioned here. First, Colorado legend Peter Forsberg told Slovakian Dennik H in February 2022 that he saw similarities between Slafkowski and Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen, and that Rantanen had 51 points in 100 games. Then there's Florida Panthers captain Alexander Barkov, who had 43 at the crucial juncture.

But while Slafkowski draws inspiration from those big names, he aims to forge his own identity in the league.

“He is a great player. I try to get something out of every player and he's one of those guys,” offered Slafkowski of Barkow, whose resume includes the Selke and Lady Byng Cups. “He plays the game the right way, he's always on the good side of the puck. He wins many stick and puck battles. When I watch him play, I try to take away as much (as I can), but at the end of the day, I just want to be myself.”

Teammates like Jake Evans have noticed the big forward's personality is taking shape — and it's not just on the scoreboard.

“He's grown a lot since his first season, from the first 30-40 games to what he's doing now: playing on the top line, scoring big goals, playing big minutes,” praised Evans Slafkowski ahead of his 100th game in Tampa. noted his willingness and ability to block shots. “He's matured a lot, he makes smarter plays, he's more confident out there. He has more fire and it shows.”

To build confidence and ensure his upward trajectory continues, Slafkowski must continue to iterate in practice and connect to all tools in the organization.

His coaches certainly have high hopes that will be the case.

“It's been great so far. But he is very young. I can see he's a guy who wants to get better. You just hope they maintain that focus and hunger. He's in an environment where we support that and we make it easy,” St. Louis said during Slafkowski's first historic scoring streak. “I think it probably helps players like Slaf to use all the resources and the environment to improve. He is a young player who has developed very well and it all starts with him. It doesn't matter what we want to do with it; it starts with him, his attitude and his presence. It was very impressive.”