Joel Armia is one step closer to returning to action. Which player will he pick up when he’s ready to return? Does that mean Juraj Slafkovsky’s days in Montreal are numbered?
Renaud Lavoie answers all these questions in his column “La mise en check” on the show JiCTuesday, on TVA Sports. See it in the video above.
“This is a case that absolutely needs to be monitored. The problem is this: the Canadiens can’t keep six defensemen just to keep Slafkovsky in Montreal. I doubt that we put Michael Pezzetta on waivers because there would be a chance of losing him. The only forward you can send to the American League is Slafkovsky. He knows he has to step up his game to find a way to stay in the lineup. Could he end up in Laval? Nobody says it won’t happen. On the other hand, I don’t think it would be a long stay,” he said.
“If there are no injuries by the time Joel Armia comes back, in a week or two, what decision are Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes going to make? Important decisions will have to be made and they will have an impact on someone. Watch this file, which is extremely intriguing. We’ll see. But a lot of water will flow under the bridges between now and then,” added Renaud Lavoie.
His column also mentions the change made by Slafkovsky, who trained with a paddle completely covered in tape on Tuesday, having had little of it until now. The subject caused a stir in the organization.
“Slafkovsky told me that everyone in the team talked to him about it, without exception. It’s been a topic of conversation since the start of the season.”