Slavkowski, No. 1 overall pick in 2022 NHL draft, to start season with Canadiens

This striker with striker Christian Dvorak and Brendan Gallagher trained together and was not in Monday’s final cut. The Canadiens will kick off the season on Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, ESPN+, SN NOW). “It felt really, really good,” Slavkowski said. “I’d say I always believed, I’m glad I know how it goes, and there’s still some work to do from Wednesday.” Slavkovsky, from Slovakia, texted his parents, saying “they Now it’s time to come.” “I’m sure they’ll do their best, and I hope they’ll be here,” he said. Slavkovsky represented Slovakia at the 2022 Beijing Olympics by scoring seven goals in seven games, earning MVP honors and helping his country to a bronze medal. He scored 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) in 18 playoff games in Finland’s top professional league Liiga last season. “Every time I get a chance to play, I play my best game,” Slavkowski said. “I think if I give everything, then I can be here for a long time, and that’s what I’m going to try to do.” He was one of four rookies who made the opening night roster with the defense. One Cayden Guller , Jordan Harris and Arber Xhekaj. Coach Martin St. Louis shared the news with all four players at the same time. “It was special to hear it with those guys, too,” Guller said. “Your dream as a kid was to play in the NHL, so obviously that’s cool, and hearing it this morning was definitely a dream come true, and I’m definitely super excited.” St. Louis said he wants rookies to share their special moment. “I think if you bring them in once, they’ll think they’ve been clipped,” St. Louis said. “It’s always more fun to celebrate as a group. When you have big moments like this, it’s always fun to have people around you. Moments like this aren’t that fun to be alone.” Defensive Player Justin Barron and Otto Leskinen , forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Jesse Ylonen and Goalkeeper Cayden Primeau is assigned to Laval of the American Hockey League. Forward Nick Suzuki missed two pre-season and post-season practices with a lower extremity injury. Dvorak and forward
Mike Hoffman also returned to practice. Defender Mike Mathison gets lower body injuries every day. Forward Joel Amia listed for upper body injury Injury Reserve. Forward Emile Heinemann is out for six weeks with a thumb injury. Defender Joel Edmondson (lower body) skating , but there is no timetable for his return.