Over the past few games, we’ve seen Juraj Slafkovsky play on the Canadiens’ second line with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov.
And frankly, I don’t dislike Slaf’s performance. He’s not producing any points (just one assist in his last seven games), but he’s playing better without the puck, and it shows.
Except that Slafkovsky’s absence from the top line is also noticeable, especially when you look at the advanced stats.
Marc Dumont and Brian Wilde talked about it on Tony Marinaro’s podcast: Suzuki and Caufield’s numbers with Slaf are much better than those with Bolduc.
The first line, with Slaf, created more scoring chances, shot more on net… and there were more expected goals too with the big Slovak on the wing.
The line-up of Slafkovsky, Caufield and Suzuki was simply one of the best in the NHL. And the line-up of Bolduc, Caufield and Suzuki – while not bad – is far less dominant…
The numbers don’t lie. The #GoHabsGo 1st line was better with Juraj Slafkovsky on it…@MarcPDumont: “It went from an elite line, among the best in the NHL, to way below replacement “#thesickpodcast @TonyMarinaro @BWildeMTL pic.twitter.com/0cMwm0uEt4
– The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) November 28, 2025
Brian Wilde took it a step further… saying that Bolduc doesn’t necessarily deserve his spot on the first unit right now.
He sees him more as an (excellent) third-line winger on a championship team. We agree: the Habs aren’t there yet in their rebuild, but hey.
With his 3-point performance against Utah, has Zach Bolduc cemented his place on the 1st line?@BWildeMTL: ” I don’t think he’s a top 6 forward… I think Slafkovsky should get back on that line “#GoHabsGo #thesickpodcast @TonyMarinaro @MarcPDumont pic.twitter.com/GQs4kEN3i2
– The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) November 28, 2025
Bolduc is a bit of a default right now, after all. If the Habs had gone for a true top-6 winger, we probably wouldn’t even be having this discussion today… and the Québécois would probably be playing on the team’s third line.
That said, the sample size is small and I think we need to give him a few games to see what he’s got. It might take him some time to adapt to the captain’s and Caufield’s style of play… and if he’s able to keep up, it could produce an interesting result.
A bit like we saw in the Canadiens’ last game against the Mammoth. Bolduc still finished his night’s work with three points, including two at even strength…
Overtime
– Wow.
Mika Zibanejad scored twice on the power play and is now one goal shy of his eighth career hat trick, which would move him past Rod Gilbert (7) for the second most in @NYRangers history behind Bill Cook (9).
Tune in now (@NHL_On_TNT, HBO Max) and (@Sportsnet). #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/bLWhQIbex1
– NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) November 28, 2025
– He’s going to be good.
So much for calling James Hagens a perimeter player. 2 goals today for BC pic.twitter.com/q1JChNWseM
– Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) November 28, 2025
– Oh.
We know Shohei Ohtani will be there. https://t.co/T1W2oRL3wJ
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) November 28, 2025
– Of note.
Aaron Rodgers at his post against the Billshttps://t.co/JNQhxMQDeg
– RDS (@RDSca) November 28, 2025
