Guhle on Slafkovsky’s Improvements
March 28, 2024
By Grant McCagg
Kaiden Guhle was asked in today’s press conference what the biggest change has been in Juraj Slafkovsky’s game:
“I think the biggest one is just how he uses his body. I know you guys saw last year there were a couple of times getting blown up and you said how is he getting hit like that…he’s like 240..he’s a big body…I think he just kind of understood that he can use that body to his advantage. I think a lot of guys even told him in practice: You’re skating at me with your back turned…I’m not going to be able to move you. So that’s a big thing I’ve noticed is that he’s just so good at protecting the puck at 19 years old, and you can just see that there’s guys on the other team that just don’t know what to do when he’s coming at them, so I just think that’s the biggest thing; just using his body, and he just looks so much more confident with the puck. He’s not really afraid to make mistakes and that’s something that’s fun to watch. I mean I’m happy for him. Obviously, it was a little bit of a tough year for him last year so it’s good to see him get some results and have a good one this year.”