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

[River Meadow]

When are we allowed to shit on him?

If he puts up less than 20 points in the AHL over 75 games? Because that is a very real possibility.

I mean, you can shit on him now if you want....

We'll see who is right in a few years.

 

[Xirik]

Something not a lot of people are talking about:

Not to rag on Saint MSL, but I might as well be the first one.

What was up with the line combinations yesterday? Why was Slaf put in a position to fail with Pitlick and Hands of Stone Armia? Why was Pitlick transporting the puck rather than Slaf? Seemed like amateur hour coaching to me.

Those line combinations are probably one of the reasons we scored 0 on the night.

I thought Droin was suppose to play yesterday but couldn't so they decided to let Slaf take his spot?

 

[RealityHurts]

I come to this thread for the lol's.

aha! I respect that. Bustlovskiy!!

 

[River Meadow]

There is nothing to do at this point beyond placing all of our prospects in the positions most conducive to leveraging their skills and aiding them in their development. If a mistake was made in the selection of Slafkovsky, the organization can merely mitigate the damage by ensuring that his development is not hampered, as were our prior top picks.

He should be in the OHL at this point. My expectation was that he'd be a second-third-line tweener in the AHL through this season, with power play time, but if he can be placed in the juniors, it will benefit him immensely.

I don't know if OHL is an option, nor do I think the habs have any interest to place him in OHL, but that is a fair point...

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Oh, I definitely was listening to the pre draft talk.

I have no opinions on slaf, Cooley, or Wright yet, but I'm just a little numb to the whole "have patience" thing. I haven't really seen it play out in a positive way yet.

All of our impact players (price, subban, caufield, Suzuki, even Gallagher) made an impact and impression during their first dozen games.

Again, no judgment yet, but forgive me for being cautiously pessimistic with the patience thing and highly rated prospects

None of those players even played an NHL game til 2 years AFTER they were drafted.

Subban even spent a year in the AHL, and got a 2 game look mid-season.

Caufield 2 years @ NCAA
Price 2 years WHL
Suzuki 2 years OHL
Gallagher 2 years WHL then half a year of AHL (mostly due to lockout)
Subban 2 years OHL, 1 year AHL.

You can add Markov, 2 years Russia.
Plekanec, 1 year Czech League, 3 years AHL (albeit lockout gave him his 3rd year).

In fact, the 2 players who were put into lineup at 18 (Chucky & KK) had the worst development by far.

Draisaitl played 2 years in WHL post-draft
Getzlaf 2 years post draft
Rantanen, 1 year AHL then a 38 pt rookie NHL season.

This was a deep draft for top 9 forwards & top 4D, but isn't a McDavid, Matthews, Stamkos, Tavares, type draft.

All these kids need time to develop, but Slafkovsky has a really good chance of becoming the type of impact player that we'll need. He's part of a future core with Suzuki, Caufield, & our
2023 #1 pick.

Then we hope 1-3 players among Roy, Farrell, Mesar, Beck & Ylonen, and our 2nd 2023 #1 pick, can step into impact top 9 roles to fill out the roster upfront.

Guys like Dach, Heineman & RHP will also have opportunities to grow with the team.

We have no need to rush Slafkovsky, and about million reasons to keep him away from NHL especially this year.

As far as I'm concerned, he's looked good. He's strong on boards, is bullish on his skates, controls the puck well, and is learning quickly on how to play NHL D.

He's shown a hard shot, but needs to disguise his release a little more.

It took Pacioretty 4 years post draft to get his 1st 30 goal season.

Players who step into league and dominate right away are not normal: Crosby, Matthews, McDavid, Patrick Kane are superstar level players.

The reality is Hughes, Lecavalier, Thornton et al, all had struggles their 1st year. MacKinnon had a decent rookie year as a #3 center, but then struggled his next 3 years after that on bad teams. People thought he was a bust.

We've shown no patience with any of our #1 picks taken in top 10, so I disagree with you there too.

It's best for Slafkovsky to grow his game outside of NHL this year.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

When are we allowed to shit on him?

If he puts up less than 20 points in the AHL over 75 games? Because that is a very real possibility.

Based on what? Your doom and gloom world?

 

[ReimanSum1908]

I don't know if OHL is an option, nor do I think the habs have any interest to place him in OHL, but that is a fair point...

Oh, likewise. My understanding is that it's either NHL, Europe, or AHL, but I merely meant that he'd likely benefit from a year of development, dominance, and adaptation in the CHL.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

When are we allowed to shit on him?

If he puts up less than 20 points in the AHL over 75 games? Because that is a very real possibility.

Sure just not after 2 pre season games please god boys jesus christ

None of those players even played an NHL game til 2 years AFTER they were drafted.

Subban even spent a year in the AHL, and got a 2 game look mid-season.

Caufield 2 years @ NCAA
Price 2 years WHL
Suzuki 2 years OHL
Gallagher 2 years WHL then half a year of AHL (mostly due to lockout)
Subban 2 years OHL, 1 year AHL.

You can add Markov, 2 years Russia.
Plekanec, 1 year Czech League, 3 years AHL (albeit lockout gave him his 3rd year).

In fact, the 2 players who were put into lineup at 18 (Chucky & KK) had the worst development by far.

Draisaitl played 2 years in WHL post-draft
Getzlaf 2 years post draft
Rantanen, 1 year AHL then a 38 pt rookie NHL season.

This was a deep draft for top 9 forwards & top 4D, but isn't a McDavid, Matthews, Stamkos, Tavares, type draft.

All these kids need time to develop, but Slafkovsky has a really good chance of becoming the type of impact player that we'll need. He's part of a future core with Suzuki, Caufield, & our
2023 #1 pick.

Then we hope 1-3 players among Roy, Farrell, Mesar, Beck & Ylonen, and our 2nd 2023 #1 pick, can step into impact top 9 roles to fill out the roster upfront.

Guys like Dach, Heineman & RHP will also have opportunities to grow with the team.

We have no need to rush Slafkovsky, and about million reasons to keep him away from NHL especially this year.

As far as I'm concerned, he's looked good. He's strong on boards, is bullish on his skates, controls the puck well, and is learning quickly on how to play NHL D.

He's shown a hard shot, but needs to disguise his release a little more.

It took Pacioretty 4 years post draft to get his 1st 30 goal season.

Players who step into league and dominate right away are not normal: Crosby, Matthews, McDavid, Patrick Kane are superstar level players.

The reality is Hughes, Lecavalier, Thornton et al, all had struggles their 1st year. MacKinnon had a decent rookie year as a #3 center, but then struggled his next 3 years after that on bad teams. People thought he was a bust.

We've shown no patience with any of our #1 picks taken in top 10, so I disagree with you there too.

It's best for Slafkovsky to grow his game outside of NHL this year.

Suzuki was a mess in his first training camp with us , looked like nothing.

Im convinced the people complaining don't really follow hockey closely league wide.

 

[Captain Mountain]

When are we allowed to shit on him?

If he puts up less than 20 points in the AHL over 75 games? Because that is a very real possibility.

When you "shit" on literally every other top prospect from the 2022 draft, as none of them have done anything either.

 

[Jaynki]

And when are we allowed to cheer on him? Because scoring 20g and 50 points in the NHL over 75 games is also a possibility

When are we allowed to shit on him?

If he puts up less than 20 points in the AHL over 75 games? Because that is a very real possibility.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Sure just not after 2 pre season games please god boys jesus christ


Suzuki was a mess in his first training camp with us , looked like nothing.

Im convinced the people complaining don't really follow hockey closely league wide.

Yeah, Suzi looked really slow & weak. Slafkovsky has a good development team around him. For the 1st time in ages, I feel our prospects are in good hands.

 

[Twisted Sinister]

There is nothing to do at this point beyond placing all of our prospects in the positions most conducive to leveraging their skills and aiding them in their development. If a mistake was made in the selection of Slafkovsky, the organization can merely mitigate the damage by ensuring that his development is not hampered, as were our prior top picks.

He should be in the OHL at this point. My expectation was that he'd be a second-third-line tweener in the AHL through this season, with power play time, but if he can be placed in the juniors, it will benefit him immensely.

The important thing is that he develops skills other than "me big so smash." The OHL might allow him to be lazy and not fix his weaknesses. Tough spot.

Slaf wasn't supposed to play yesterday, he was a last minute sub for Drouin.

Sure, but that doesn't mean you don't adapt your strategies for the new player. If you can't, that's a bad sign.

I thought Droin was suppose to play yesterday but couldn't so they decided to let Slaf take his spot?

One of the main issues we've had with coaches here for the longest time is inability to adapt to new situations. Hope that's not continuing.

 

[morhilane]

So what should we do?

Stop panicking and having knee-jerk reactions.

Slaf wasn't selected because he had elite IQ or flashy skills. He was selected because he could bulldoze himself into developing plays from the opposite team, cause chaos and run away with the puck against men at 18 years old + good vision, good passing skills, good board play/puck protection, good skating, good shooting and excellent drive/character.

And his IQ is actually not bad, it's just full of holes. He understand and execute things regular NHLers don't always grasp or do, but there other things you would think a player his age would know, but he doesn't appear to. He clearly didn't have the best coaching while growing up or his size was such an advantage that he never had to apply those and "lost those instinct/habits" as a result. MSL will fill those holes.

 

[Mrb1p]

This thread is a cesspool. Absolutely no discussion about Slafkovskys game, just people being angry at people angry that Slafkovsky had bad games.

 

[WinterLion]

None of those players even played an NHL game til 2 years AFTER they were drafted.

Subban even spent a year in the AHL, and got a 2 game look mid-season.

Caufield 2 years @ NCAA
Price 2 years WHL
Suzuki 2 years OHL
Gallagher 2 years WHL then half a year of AHL (mostly due to lockout)
Subban 2 years OHL, 1 year AHL.

You can add Markov, 2 years Russia.
Plekanec, 1 year Czech League, 3 years AHL (albeit lockout gave him his 3rd year).

In fact, the 2 players who were put into lineup at 18 (Chucky & KK) had the worst development by far.

Draisaitl played 2 years in WHL post-draft
Getzlaf 2 years post draft
Rantanen, 1 year AHL then a 38 pt rookie NHL season.

This was a deep draft for top 9 forwards & top 4D, but isn't a McDavid, Matthews, Stamkos, Tavares, type draft.

All these kids need time to develop, but Slafkovsky has a really good chance of becoming the type of impact player that we'll need. He's part of a future core with Suzuki, Caufield, & our
2023 #1 pick.

Then we hope 1-3 players among Roy, Farrell, Mesar, Beck & Ylonen, and our 2nd 2023 #1 pick, can step into impact top 9 roles to fill out the roster upfront.

Guys like Dach, Heineman & RHP will also have opportunities to grow with the team.

We have no need to rush Slafkovsky, and about million reasons to keep him away from NHL especially this year.

As far as I'm concerned, he's looked good. He's strong on boards, is bullish on his skates, controls the puck well, and is learning quickly on how to play NHL D.

He's shown a hard shot, but needs to disguise his release a little more.

It took Pacioretty 4 years post draft to get his 1st 30 goal season.

Players who step into league and dominate right away are not normal: Crosby, Matthews, McDavid, Patrick Kane are superstar level players.

The reality is Hughes, Lecavalier, Thornton et al, all had struggles their 1st year. MacKinnon had a decent rookie year as a #3 center, but then struggled his next 3 years after that on bad teams. People thought he was a bust.

We've shown no patience with any of our #1 picks taken in top 10, so I disagree with you there too.

It's best for Slafkovsky to grow his game outside of NHL this year.

Well said. Thanks for writing all of that. I think we all may need to refer to this a few more times this year.

 

[Bombshell11]

Something not a lot of people are talking about:

Not to rag on Saint MSL, but I might as well be the first one.

What was up with the line combinations yesterday? Why was Slaf put in a position to fail with Pitlick and Hands of Stone Armia? Why was Pitlick transporting the puck rather than Slaf? Seemed like amateur hour coaching to me.

Those line combinations are probably one of the reasons we scored 0 on the night.

Yep and i really dint like his attitude on the post press conference. It feels like he's already fed up with all of this lol

I hope i'm wrong but I din't get this wind of fresh air i got from last year.

 

[Redux91]

This thread is a cesspool. Absolutely no discussion about Slafkovskys game, just people being angry at people angry that Slafkovsky had bad games.

And dont forget, people like you lol

 

[River Meadow]

This thread is a cesspool. Absolutely no discussion about Slafkovskys game, just people being angry at people angry that Slafkovsky had bad games.

The cope is strong

 

[WinterLion]

This thread is a cesspool. Absolutely no discussion about Slafkovskys game, just people being angry at people angry that Slafkovsky had bad games.

I liked how he was attacking the net from the point on the PP last night. Unfortunately we couldn't enter the zone.

What I noticed about his speed was that he was unsure about where to be going at times and so he was stagnant too much. His speed needs work, no doubt... but it looks worse because he is often starting from 0.

His board work is already very strong on D, but on offense the NHL D are wrapping him up and he hasn't figured out how to deal with it yet.

His passing is amazing. He finds guys super quickly.

 

[SlafySZN]

delete

 

[River Meadow]

None of those players even played an NHL game til 2 years AFTER they were drafted.

Subban even spent a year in the AHL, and got a 2 game look mid-season.

Caufield 2 years @ NCAA
Price 2 years WHL
Suzuki 2 years OHL
Gallagher 2 years WHL then half a year of AHL (mostly due to lockout)
Subban 2 years OHL, 1 year AHL.

You can add Markov, 2 years Russia.
Plekanec, 1 year Czech League, 3 years AHL (albeit lockout gave him his 3rd year).

In fact, the 2 players who were put into lineup at 18 (Chucky & KK) had the worst development by far.

Draisaitl played 2 years in WHL post-draft
Getzlaf 2 years post draft
Rantanen, 1 year AHL then a 38 pt rookie NHL season.

This was a deep draft for top 9 forwards & top 4D, but isn't a McDavid, Matthews, Stamkos, Tavares, type draft.

All these kids need time to develop, but Slafkovsky has a really good chance of becoming the type of impact player that we'll need. He's part of a future core with Suzuki, Caufield, & our
2023 #1 pick.

Then we hope 1-3 players among Roy, Farrell, Mesar, Beck & Ylonen, and our 2nd 2023 #1 pick, can step into impact top 9 roles to fill out the roster upfront.

Guys like Dach, Heineman & RHP will also have opportunities to grow with the team.

We have no need to rush Slafkovsky, and about million reasons to keep him away from NHL especially this year.

As far as I'm concerned, he's looked good. He's strong on boards, is bullish on his skates, controls the puck well, and is learning quickly on how to play NHL D.

He's shown a hard shot, but needs to disguise his release a little more.

It took Pacioretty 4 years post draft to get his 1st 30 goal season.

Players who step into league and dominate right away are not normal: Crosby, Matthews, McDavid, Patrick Kane are superstar level players.

The reality is Hughes, Lecavalier, Thornton et al, all had struggles their 1st year. MacKinnon had a decent rookie year as a #3 center, but then struggled his next 3 years after that on bad teams. People thought he was a bust.

We've shown no patience with any of our #1 picks taken in top 10, so I disagree with you there too.

It's best for Slafkovsky to grow his game outside of NHL this year.

*Backs up off that ledge*

Thanks buddy, good points...

 

[ZUKI]

I’m not too concerned about Slaf. Actually I’m excited. Here’s why:

I’ve understood a while ago that he is not a generational player.

I’ve understood a while ago that it’s extremely unlikely that this draft produced a player that ends up a generational player. Moreover, the top prospects from this draft are so close in terms of quality at this point that it makes it extremely difficult to predict with confidence who will end up better.

Player evaluation is about projection. How will a player’s attributes and attitude at this moment translate into performance down the road. Top players generally have at least some top end attributes. In Slaf’s case, he has a unique combination of size, strength, reach, skating, intensity and instincts. This allows him to cover an unusual large amount of ice. Once he gets more experience, adapts to North American smaller rinks and NHL speed, this package could make him one of best players at creating turnovers in the league. He will break up tonnes of plays and force defensemen to rush passes. Paired with players like Suzuki and Caufield, this will generate a lot of goals for.

Slaf is also already pretty good at puck protection now. Once he refines this skill, he could be the best puck protection/cycling player in the league. With time I can definitely see him wear and tire defensemen out, maintaining the puck in the other team’s zone for long stretches. Again, pair him with good offensive players and this will generate a lot of goals for.

These 2 qualities alone, if further developed, should allow him to be at least a good top 6 player.

Some are concerned about his IQ. He’s no Suzuki out there but he’s no Pezzetta either. IQ might not be a standout quality in his case but it’s not low enough that it will hinder him. Actually, right now, his execution is poor but his decision making seems fine to me. Besides, many very productive players do not have particularly high hockey IQ, especially from the wing position.

Now what I really would like him to improve on is to position himself to shoot more, and by extension to shoot more. To go from good to great, he’ll need to be a goal scoring threat. He’s got good puck handling, he’s a willing passer, he needs to have defensemen worry about him quickly and efficiently shoot the puck. I this would open up his game a lot and help him become a better point producer.

You bring some fresh air to this thread, it's black or white around here, mostly black of course.

As you said, the kid needs to adapt his game to the smaller rinks, he played with Pitnik and Armia, he showed good things you just named. I' ve also read that Slaf took 20 pounds this summer; It's a lot for a short period and if it's true, it probably affects his speed.

Confidence is important, even more for the kids. He could score 1-2 goals and suddenly will find his game. I am not worried at all about his future with the Habs.

 

[SlafySZN]

The cope is strong

My god, you’re still going…

It’s kinda pathetic at this point.

Telling people they’re ‘’coping’’ because they don’t think Slafkovsky’s bad or are not worried about him.

Everyone doesn’t have to think like you.

 

[Mrb1p]

I liked how he was attacking the net from the point on the PP last night. Unfortunately we couldn't enter the zone.

What I noticed about his speed was that he was unsure about where to be going at times and so he was stagnant too much. His speed needs work, no doubt... but it looks worse because he is often starting from 0.

His board work is already very strong on D, but on offense the NHL D are wrapping him up and he hasn't figured out how to deal with it yet.

His passing is amazing. He finds guys super quickly.

I havent liked much so far, hes lost, hes not as strong as he should be, hes often lost on the ice and hes not super fast. I dont think he needs excuses, he just hasnt been good.

Good lord he can pass though. When he learns to use his body and grows into his body, hes going to be insane.

 

[River Meadow]

My god, you’re still going…

It’s kinda pathetic at this point.

Telling people they’re ‘’coping’’ because they don’t think Slafkovsky’s bad or are not worried about him.

Everyone doesn’t have to think like you.

What?