The Montreal Canadiens have made two serious mistakes, according to former CH general manager Serge Savard

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MarcO
February 3, 2023 (9:42)

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Since the beginning of the season, opinions are varied concerning the development of young Juraj Slafkovsky. While many like to see him develop with the big club, others would have preferred to see him join the Laval Rocket and even participate in the last World Junior Hockey Championships.

During his recent appearance on Tony Marinaro's "The Sick Podcast", former CH GM Serge Savard gave his opinion on the subject. He was very hard on the organization mentioning that they made not one but two mistakes in the development of Juraj Slafkovsky.

"I think Montreal made a mistake keeping him with the big club. But the staff could have corrected that mistake by sending him to the World Junior Championship which the CH decided not to do. A young player needs time. He needs to see action and play 30 minutes in a game. Sending him to this tournament would have made him a much better player." - Serge Savard

In his remarks, Savard mentions that he was angry. He didn't want to see the organization ruin the development of another promising young player. He recalls that there are only one or two players a year who can play at the NHL level at 18, and that in his day, no one made it to the NHL before finishing junior.

In his segment on JiC on Tuesday night, Tony Marinaro went back to that interview. He agrees with the man known as "The Senator" about the young CH forward.

When it comes from Serge, who won Stanley Cups as a general manager, I think it carries weight," he said. I always go back to what a scout told me, Tony, I've never seen a player get burned by playing one too many World Juniors or spending one too many years in the American league. But I have seen players get burned by coming to the National League too early." - Tony Marinaro

Jean-Charles Lajoie thinks the CH did well to keep Slaf up.

"Slafkovsky's development, for now, I still think he's doing well here in Montreal," he argued. He's been around the best, he's learned from the best and he's got what it takes between the ears to endure if he has to endure a National League season at 18." - JC

It's a shame that Slafkovsky will now have to sit out several weeks with his injury because he won't be able to prove whether or not he belongs with the CH this season. One thing is for sure, we can say that his progress will be slowed down by this rehabilitation...

Via TVA Sports