Prospect Info: [2022 - 1st OA] Juraj Slafkovsky (LW) Part 2

[Mrb1p]

I mean teams always hope for a McDavid/Matthews type.. but other years we get Hischier, RNH, Hall, Nash, Kovalchuk types.. I don't think for a second that Slaf will be on that McD/AM level, but somewhere between a Nash/Kovalchuk would be a really nice and ideally acceptable upside. But who knows, maybe he ends up in the Nuge/Hall range. We'll see how things look in the next 3-6yrs.

Bruh Kovalchuk is probably one of the single most dominant player Ive ever seen play. He came in the league at 18 and scored 330 goals in his first 580 games... Do you see this future for Slaf?

Hall is a Hart winner, and basically a PPG forward from the getgo.

The norm isnt Mcdavid and the norm isnt Slafkovsky. Youre more likely to have a bust 1st overall than a generational talent in the past 30 years. (If not more, I havent checked. )

This kid better be good. No ifs and buts.

 

[Scriptor]

He would have been a really good player if not for concussions and conditioning issues. Plus, he is one of the examples where rushing a player to NHL can hurt a career more ways than one.

Not being wow'd could at least help sending him to AHL easier decision. I don't get why people are surprised by the lack of production, he didn't produce much in Liiga either. That's not to say he never will, just needs more time. Nothing wrong with that and he should be given it.

Was Latendresse rushed? He returned to Juniors after his wowing preseason play, didn't he?

 

[That Habs Fan]

Slaf will be the kind of player we've been lacking for decades...but I still wish we had 1OA just one year later...maybe we will!

 

[Scriptor]

s

Are you Michel Therrien? You want a #1 pick to start grinding away instead of trying to make “finesse” plays? This is why we can’t have nice things. Only once did he try to dangle an entire team and it almost worked. The rest, he set up glorious scoring chances. What he was doing worked.

It's the same refrain with all the bigger players. They wanted the same thing from Latendresse, but he was more of a skills player with a big shot than a physical beast (didn't have the mean streak either).

 

[NotProkofievian]

s

Are you Michel Therrien? You want a #1 pick to start grinding away instead of trying to make “finesse” plays? This is why we can’t have nice things. Only once did he try to dangle an entire team and it almost worked. The rest, he set up glorious scoring chances. What he was doing worked.

Yes, he needs to learn rispeck.

 

[Scriptor]

Hes a first overall pick. Hes not a bust, but hes 100% disapponting.

A first overall pick shouldnt need "time".

A generational player doesn't need "time" to have an impact. Plenty of 1st OA picks took some time to blossom into dominant players and some, of course, never did as well. It's a wide range of outcomes, really, not some steadfast rule as you seem to want to present.

Not looking for an argument. Just pointing out the nuance.

2022 was not a generational player draft and Slafkovsky, Nemec, Cooley or Wright (whichever might have been picked 1st OA) will all need some maturing before they have a genuine impact, IMO.

 

[BlackEye from Xhekaj]

Bruh Kovalchuk is probably one of the single most dominant player Ive ever seen play. He came in the league at 18 and scored 330 goals in his first 580 games... Do you see this future for Slaf?

Hall is a Hart winner, and basically a PPG forward from the getgo.

The norm isnt Mcdavid and the norm isnt Slafkovsky. Youre more likely to have a bust 1st overall than a generational talent in the past 30 years. (If not more, I havent checked. )

This kid better be good. No ifs and buts.

The only 3 real busts in the last 30 years are Daigle, Stefan and Yakupov.. others may have had injuries or just have disappointed, but have had NHL careers, not busts.

Do I see Slafkovsky being a dominant player on the ice when he plays? Absolutely! Points will all come in time and we'll see where that all ends up.. but yes, I definitely see him being a very strong presence on the ice for a long time.

 

[Balthazar]

The norm isnt Mcdavid and the norm isnt Slafkovsky. Youre more likely to have a bust 1st overall than a generational talent in the past 30 years. (If not more, I havent checked. )

This kid better be good. No ifs and buts.

Not if it's a shit draft like 2012.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Hes a first overall pick. Hes not a bust, but hes 100% disapponting.

A first overall pick shouldnt need "time".

This is such a stupid way of thinking.

Not all 1st overalls are the same and picking for today is a really short sighted way to pick.

He was not disappointing at all, he showed exactly why they took a chance on him over some other players. He has things that are hard to get and a really refined offensive skill-set for someone as big as he is, at the age he is at.

 

[417]

Hes a first overall pick. Hes not a bust, but hes 100% disapponting.

A first overall pick shouldnt need "time".

This couldn't be further from the truth

I'm not sure why people, no saying you necessarily, think that generational 1st overall picks are the standard by which every other 1st overall pick should be measured against.

The evaluation period has even started with the Habs and Slafkovsky. TRAINING CAMP HAS NOT YET BEGAN.

Yet you got folks talking about he’s disappointing and guys on the radio say he will never score 30.

We never learn man...fans and the media are the biggest reason why players don't make it here, there's zero patience.

All I read about is “development this, development that”, but 2 games into a freaking PROSPECT TOURNAMENT, and we’re writing career obtiuaries.

 

[Redux91]

Hes a first overall pick. Hes not a bust, but hes 100% disapponting.

A first overall pick shouldnt need "time".

Meanwhile everyone who wanted Wright wanted him back in the OHL for another year..

 

[Captain Mountain]

Hes a first overall pick. Hes not a bust, but hes 100% disapponting.

A first overall pick shouldnt need "time".

What? Who was the last first overall pick that hasn't needed "time"? Matthews? Dahlin? I think you need to adjust your expectations of first overall picks.

 

[417]

I've got a feeling his training camp performance is gonna “wow” everyone and then it's gonna be the yelling to see him make the team and start on the 1st line...

Then when he inevitably has a rough patch, it’ll be send him down to Laval, his being rushed and we're gonna destroy him.

Zero perspective or understanding of the process

 

[Mrb1p]

What? Who was the last first overall pick that hasn't needed "time"? Matthews? Dahlin? I think you need to adjust your expectations of first overall picks.

Time for what exactly? You equate time with "Being good in the NHL". I equate time with "Show me something plz".

The answer is Power, as he was insanely good the moment I watched him. Lafreniere didnt particularly need time to wow me either, great player.
Hughes either.

I guess you have to go to Hischier and then Yakupov for players who needed "time".

The point is, people need to stop treating Slaf like hes a 26th overall.

Meanwhile everyone who wanted Wright wanted him back in the OHL for another year..

And theres no correlation between showing something and going back to the OHL. You can show things at any level.

 

[Garbageyuk]

That sounds great and It might be but it's also a huuuuuuge red flags.
How many player in that league have that weight and are very good?
One and it's Ovechkin

That's a whole lot of weight to carry around, trying to be explosive and gain some speed (cause skating never been his strongest attribute)

Kovalchuk was ~240 lbs in his prime. Jagr was up around 230. Byfuglien was like 240-250 during the season and he was still a borderline elite D for a few years. There have been heavy skilled players. It just isn’t all that common.

 

[Mrb1p]

This couldn't be further from the truth

I'm not sure why people, no saying you necessarily, think that generational 1st overall picks are the standard by which every other 1st overall pick should be measured against.

The evaluation period has even started with the Habs and Slafkovsky. TRAINING CAMP HAS NOT YET BEGAN.

Yet you got folks talking about he’s disappointing and guys on the radio say he will never score 30.

We never learn man...fans and the media are the biggest reason why players don't make it here, there's zero patience.

All I read about is “development this, development that”, but 2 games into a freaking PROSPECT TOURNAMENT, and we’re writing career obtiuaries.

Buddy the list is up there, you can look at it. First overall that showed very little are not the norm. Even Yakupov looked dominant at times early on.

This is such a stupid way of thinking.

Not all 1st overalls are the same and picking for today is a really short sighted way to pick.

He was not disappointing at all, he showed exactly why they took a chance on him over some other players. He has things that are hard to get and a really refined offensive skill-set for someone as big as he is, at the age he is at.

Hes a first overall pick, best of the crop of a 12 month gene pool. Its lame excuses all over.

The expectations should be higher than "Having things that are hard to get".

 

[Mrb1p]

Not if it's a shit draft like 2012.

Filip Forsberg has been a legit first line talent for the past decade and I had him first most of the year.

Morgan Rielly is a top 2 D.
Hellebyuck, Andersen and Vasilevsky are starting goaltenders.
Jacob Slavin is a legit 1D.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Time for what exactly? You equate time with "Being good in the NHL". I equate time with "Show me something plz".

The answer is Power, as he was insanely good the moment I watched him. Lafreniere didnt particularly need time to wow me either, great player.
Hughes either.

I guess you have to go to Hischier and then Yakupov for players who needed "time".

The point is, people need to stop treating Slaf like hes a 26th overall.

You have a very... interesting... interpretation of "Show me something plz". Especially if you're already complaining after 2 Rookie Tournament games.

 

[Mrb1p]

You have a very... interesting... interpretation of "Show me something plz". Especially if you're already complaining after 2 Rookie Tournament games.

Ive watched over a week worth of film at this point

 

[Hacketts]

He's played 2 rookie games.

We are the best of fans, we are the worst of fans.

Anyone talking in definites right now is the reason why these threads devolve into nonsense.

 

[Tetragrammaton]

He’s so big and strong, fast and skilled, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s our best player starting the year and they wouldn’t be able to send him down. That said I hope he plays in Laval because I wanna win a Calder cup and I want the Habs to lose every game minus Toronto/Boston/Ottawa games.

 

[SlafySZN]

Time for what exactly? You equate time with "Being good in the NHL". I equate time with "Show me something plz".

The answer is Power, as he was insanely good the moment I watched him. Lafreniere didnt particularly need time to wow me either, great player.
Hughes either.

I guess you have to go to Hischier and then Yakupov for players who needed "time".

The point is, people need to stop treating Slaf like hes a 26th overall.


And theres no correlation between showing something and going back to the OHL. You can show things at any level.

He showed plenty of good things but it looks like you choose to ignore them for some reason.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Ive watched over a week worth of film at this point

Ok? I'm not sure why you think your opinion is the arbiter of if a player is disappointing or not. Especially considering he hasn't played meaningful hockey post draft.

 

[417]

Buddy the list is up there, you can look at it. First overall that showed very little are not the norm. Even Yakupov looked dominant at times early on.


Hes a first overall pick, best of the crop of a 12 month gene pool. Its lame excuses all over.

The expectations should be higher than "Having things that are hard to get".

This may come as a surprise but Juraj Slafkovsky has yet to even have a practice with the Montreal Canadiens, never mind play a game.

He showed little?

He hasn't even had the opportunity to show anything lol

Complete madness...

It's ironic that those who are loudest about development, also decide a player is done developing before they've even had a chance at training camp.

Ok? I'm not sure why you think your opinion is the arbiter of if a player is disappointing or not. Especially considering he hasn't played meaningful hockey post draft.

Nab bro...the games against the not-even rookies of the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators was the litmus test.

Slafkovsky had his chance, he failed.

Case closed

 

[ReHabs]

The Lowering Standards and Managing Expectations train has arrived very early this time.

Not sure why because nothing has changed since the draft.

A rookie camp is irrelevant… but training camp should reveal if he is capable of keeping up with (not particularly good) NHLers. A 1OA should belong at least until the last cuts… but we will know more in a few weeks.

I suspect his biggest fans are being unfair to him actually: he’s the 1OA, he was very noticeable at the WC and Olys, he is just adapting to the new ice… it don’t think we need to keep deflating his tires at this time. There’s nothing wrong with expecting him to look good.