The chances of Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky successful rookie of the 12 months rely upon whether or not he performs previous the nine-game mark

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Juraj Slafkovsky is expected to be in the lineup when the Montreal Canadiens start the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. But whether he remains with the club beyond the nine-game mark and uses up a year of his entry-level contract is still up for debate.

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The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft finished the pre-season with no goals and two assists in six games. 

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Maybe that is why BetOnline.ag has given Slafkovsky 25-to-1 odds of winning the Calder Trophy. A total of twelve different rookies have better odds, including Seattle’s Shane Wright (22-to-1), who was selected three spots after Slafkovsky and had no goals and one assist in five pre-season games. 

Meanwhile, Anaheim’s Mason McTavish, who was selected with the No. 3 pick a year ago, is a 4-to-1 favourite, followed by Buffalo’s Owen Power (11-to-2) and Seattle’s Matty Beniers (9-to-1), who were the top-two picks in 2021.

— Michael Traikos, Postmedia