It’s hard to compare players from different generations, but the more I watched Slafkovsky improve dramatically during the second half of last season the more he reminded me of former Canadien John LeClair.

They’re both wingers, both shoot left and are almost the exact same size — Slafkovsky is listed at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds and LeClair was 6-foot-3 and 226 pounds in his playing days.

After scoring 19 goals in each of his last two full seasons with the Canadiens, LeClair really gained confidence and learned to use his size and shot to his advantage after being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. That resulted in three straight 50-goal seasons in Philadelphia while playing on the Legion of Doom line with Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg.