Late into last night's game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens, 2022 1st overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky dropped the gloves for the very first time with veteran defenseman Connor Clifton.
While it was not pretty, it is clear that Slafkovsky ended the fight with the upper hand by knocking Clifton on his back first.
After the fight, Slafkovsky revealed who taught him how to fight in the NHL.
After the game, Slafkovsky revealed that Arber Xhekaj, the beloved undrafted Canadiens enforcer who is currently in the AHL, taught him how to drop the mitts.
If Slafkovsky is able to further develop this aspect of his game, he could wind up turning into an NHL unicorn who is able to balance size, skill, and physicality similarly to Matthew and Brady Tkachuk. Seeing him doing these types of things at 19 years old is scary for the rest of the NHL as Slafkovsky has even more runway and could very well prove to be a franchise-level talent one day.
POLL | ||
DÉCEMBRE 10 | 1 ANSWERS Juraj Slafkovsky Sparks Controversy in Montreal After Revealing the Demoted Undrafted Phenom Arber Xhekaj Taught Him How to Fight Will Slafkovsky score 40+ points this year? | ||
Yes | 0 | 0 % |
No | 0 | 0 % |
LIST OF POLLS |
G | A | PTS | ||
Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
Noel Acciari | - | - | - | |
Mason Appleton | - | - | - | |
Morgan Barron | - | - | - | |
Anthony Beauvillier | - | - | - | |
Sidney Crosby | - | - | - | |
Dylan DeMelo | - | - | - | |
Haydn Fleury | - | - | - | |
Matthew Grzelcyk | - | - | - | |
Connor Hellebuyck | - | - | - | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
Conference | Cumulative |