Xhekaj was sent down to Laval Monday afternoon, but that was just a temporary salary-cap move with the future of Paul Byron still uncertain because of a hip injury that sidelined him throughout training camp and will likely land him on long-term injured reserve. The Canadiens claimed defenceman Jonathan Kovacevic off waivers on the weekend and made him part of their 23-man roster.
The Canadiens will open the regular season on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m., SN, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio). Canadiens GM Kent Hughes is scheduled to speak with the media at noon Wednesday to discuss the final roster.
“I hope so they will make it,” Slafkovsky said about his parents getting to Montreal in time for the opener. “I’m sure they will do their best.”
The 6-foot-3, 238-pound Slafkovsky said he always believed he could make the team, but added: “There’s some work to do, starting Wednesday.”
“I think I improved my game, skating and winning the pucks and doing the right things,” Slafkovsky added about his performance during training camp. “But still, there’s a lot of the things I’m still not doing and I still need to do better and better. I still need to do them better. I’m happy that I am here and I will try to do them better.”
Slafkovsky was at left wing on a line with Christian Dvorak and Brendan Gallagher at practice Monday.
“A lot of experience they have,” Slafkovsky said about his linemates. “It’s just good that from the start I get to play with older guys. They know how the game goes and I’m sure they will help me during the games and (practices) as well.”
“Big boy,” head coach Martin St. Louis said when asked about his first impression of the 6-foot-4, 208-pound Kovacevic. “I told him: ‘I don’t know much about you and I want to see how you move and we’ll go from there.’ But seems like a pretty good first impression, just the size, the way he moves on the ice, and we’ll see.”
Harris, 22, played 10 games with the Canadiens last season after graduating from Northeastern University, while Guhle, 20, Slafkovsky, 18, and Xhekaj, 21, have yet to play a game in the NHL. The Canadiens selected Harris in the third round (71st overall) of the 2018 NHL draft, while Xhekaj was never drafted and was a dark horse to make the team. Xhekaj’s physical style of play stood out during training camp and he outperformed Barron.
“When I heard it, a lot of things are going through my head,” Xhekaj said about being told Monday morning by Canadiens management that he had made the team. “The past two years have been the craziest years as a kid can have for me. My parents, they are the biggest things. Without them I wouldn’t be here. It’s going to be super special for them.”
St. Louis called Slafkovsky, Harris, Guhle and Xhekaj in for a meeting before practice to let them know they had made the team.
“They told us also that it’s only starting,” Slafkovsky said. “We know that we need to fight for a spot still every day. Nothing is handed.”
“I feel like we’ve been playing for three months together,” Harris said. “We’ve grown quickly together as a group off the ice and on the ice. Very special. These guys have a great career ahead of all of them, so definitely it’s cool to be a part as a group.
“We have a really good young core, so hopefully we can grow together.”
