Big last-minute statement and it involves Alexis Lafrenière and Juraj Slafkovsky

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Elias Edmonson
September 28, 2023 (4:26 PM)

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In his first season in the NHL last year, it can be said, without much error, that it was quite a difficult debut for Juraj Slafkovsky.

Selected first overall by the Canadiens in the 2022 Draft, the young Slovak forward was limited to just 39 games where he only scored 10 points, but an injury he suffered in January ended his rookie season.

If we go back two years earlier, a certain Alexis Lafrenière went through the same path as Slafkovsky being chosen first overall in the 2020 Draft. However, it cannot be said that he has broken all records since his arrival in the NHL, and the upcoming season will be a truthful one for the forward.

But what is the link between Lafrenière and the Habs forward, you might ask? It's that a veteran journalist made a prediction that may displease Canadiens fans.

During his appearance on BPM Sports radio with hosts Stéphane Gonzalez and Georges Laraque, the excellent Tony Marinaro stated that Lafrenière will accumulate more points at the end of his career than Slafkovsky.

What to make of this statement?

It is true that the Rangers' number 13 has not produced at a pace we are used to for a first overall pick, but it should be mentioned that he plays on the Blues Shirts' third line and is surpassed by Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider among the team's left wingers.

However, it is rather premature to claim to predict which of the two young players will end their career with the most points when Slafkovsky has only one season under his belt. We can expect better production from him in 2023-2024, and the same can be said for Lafrenière.

That said, we will have to wait a long time to answer this question, and it will obviously depend on their development over the next few years.