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

[Twisted Sinister]

And dont forget, people like you lol

Maybe we're the hockey historians Bobrov was talking about

 

[River Meadow]

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.

While that may be true..

Have you seen how big he is?

 

[hardcorehabs]

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

Maybe in 3 years it is

 

[SlafySZN]

What?

Now you’re acting like you haven’t been in this thread and elsewhere since last night being all sarcastic, bringing nothing other than troll comments in this thread.

 

[417]

Beck and Mesar looked better more confident and looked like they had higher IQ

But he asked if Slafkovsky looked good at the rookie tournament (not that it matters), not who looked better.

And those players "looking" better doesn't have to mean Slafkovsky is shit either.

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

Agreed - though the bolded is rooted in fantasy.

He hasn't been bad.

He just hasn't lived up to some people's expectations, which again, has nothing to do with him or his development.

 

[Mrb1p]

But he asked if Slafkovsky looked good at the rookie tournament (not that it matters), not who looked better.

And those players "looking" better doesn't have to mean Slafkovsky is shit either.


Agreed - though the bolded is rooted in fantasy.

He hasn't been bad.

He just hasn't lived up to some people's expectations, which again, has nothing to do with him or his development.

Bro just call a spade a spade, he didnt look anything like a first overall pick, he looked worse than Mesar and Beck and he showed very little. It is what it is, thats what he showed. There is no need to change reality.

It also does not mean hes a bust, or that he hasnt shown upside, or that even the evaluation made of him in these two games is a reflection of him as a player. He just was meh, he didnt show much and he didnt have much time to actually make himself valued, its fine. Youre not helping with this crap.

 

[OnTheRun]

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.

He was dressed so the team would be compliant to the preseason roster rules. And that's it really.
You need 8 "vets" per game and the one who qualified as such last night were:
1. Slaf
2. Pitlick
3. Armia
4. Mesar
5. Evans
6. Wideman
7. Montembeault
8. Poulin

The 2nd (of 8) preseason game isn't really about the team strategies and won't really be about that until they are close to a NHL roster.

 

[417]

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.

I kind of agree he has looked lost, well maybe that's not the right word but he's often focusing on the puck when it's away from him and he stops moving his feet to process what he's doing or what's happening or where he should be. You've often seen him communicating with his teammates on the ice in terms of where he should be, a few times it's happened during live play.

This is normal.

Not as strong as he should be? Well he's 18, he's stronger than 99% of people his age but yes, he will/should get stronger with time, which is what makes his physical profile so appealing.

As far as his speed, I think that's again related to what I mentioned earlier...he's going to have to learn that he needs to keep his feet moving in the NHL but when he's skating, i'm not sure how anyone sees that he's slow or not a good sater.

This isn't about excuses...remove all of the noise, and he's been fine.

You want him to continue to get better, not peak and then bottom out.

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

Agreed, his passes are hard and accurate and there's no hesitation.

 

[Goldenhands]

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.

Drouin was supposed to play instead of Slaf yesterday. Slaf was expected to play tonight, probably with Dach. But I agree, the lines were ugly. Only the first pre-season games though, perfect time experiment to see different players in different situations.

 

[Twisted Sinister]

He was dressed so the team would be compliant to the preseason roster rules. And that's it really.
You need 8 "vets" per game and the one who qualified as such last night were:
1. Slaf
2. Pitlick
3. Armia
4. Mesar
5. Evans
6. Wideman
7. Montembeault
8. Poulin

The 2nd (of 8) preseason game isn't really about the team strategies and won't really be about that until they are close to a NHL roster.

Still many better line combinations you could have had with the people playing

 

[417]

Bro just call a spade a spade, he didnt look anything like a first overall pick, he looked worse than Mesar and Beck and he showed very little. It is what it is, thats what he showed. There is no need to change reality.

I am calling a spade a spade.

I don't think a 1st overall pick should look like other 1st overall picks, certainly not in preseason game #2.

Looked worse than Mesar and Beck?

I don't know, I guess we watched a different game...I thought the latter 2 were like much of the Habs last night, not very good.

But the difference is the level expectation with Mesar/Beck is different than with Slafkovsky...so I get it.

But that doesn't drive my evaluation of players.

I'm changing no reality, i'm just not a knee-jerk reaction kind of guy.

It also does not mean hes a bust, or that he hasnt shown upside, or that even the evaluation made of him in these two games is a reflection of him as a player. He just was meh, he didnt show much and he didnt have much time to actually make himself valued, its fine. Youre not helping with this crap.

I'm not helping by preaching patience?

I've criticized the aspects of his game that I've found are lacking, just like i've praised the aspects of his game I think are strong.

But at no point have I made far-reaching conclusions on a player. How does it make any sense for me to saying he's not going to be this or that?

Last night was literally game # 2 in his career that i've watched.

 

[River Meadow]

Now you’re acting like you haven’t been in this thread and elsewhere since last night being all sarcastic, bringing nothing other than troll comments in this thread.

Not I sir, you must have be confused with someone else.

In all seriousness, go back and read all of my posts from today in this thread, thanks.

 

[Mrb1p]

I am calling a spade a spade.

I don't think a 1st overall pick should look like other 1st overall picks, certainly not in preseason game #2.

Looked worse than Mesar and Beck?

I don't know, I guess we watched a different game...I thought the latter 2 were like much of the Habs last night, not very good.

But the difference is the level expectation with Mesar/Beck is different than with Slafkovsky...so I get it.

But that doesn't drive my evaluation of players.

I'm changing no reality, i'm just not a knee-jerk reaction kind of guy.

I'm not helping by preaching patience?

I've criticized the aspects of his game that I've found are lacking, just like i've praised the aspects of his game I think are strong.

But at no point have I made far-reaching conclusions on a player.

Last night was literally game # 2 in his career that i've watched.

Mesar has two of the four high danger chances the Habs had last night.

One of the other one belongs to Slaf, from Becks sticks.

Its not about expectations, youre just trying to lower expectations for some weird reason. If Slafkovsky made the same plays as Mesar did on the two high-danger chances, wed all have confirmations bias and wed be calling him a NHL player.

 

[River Meadow]

Bro just call a spade a spade, he didnt look anything like a first overall pick, he looked worse than Mesar and Beck and he showed very little. It is what it is, thats what he showed. There is no need to change reality.

It also does not mean hes a bust, or that he hasnt shown upside, or that even the evaluation made of him in these two games is a reflection of him as a player. He just was meh, he didnt show much and he didnt have much time to actually make himself valued, its fine. Youre not helping with this crap.

Many can't accept these simple facts.

I do understand it though... it hurts. We wanted to see the 1st OA pick come out and be a BOSS af

 

[417]

Mesar has two of the four high danger chances the Habs had last night.

And? The are other aspects to the game, as i'm sure you're aware.

I didn't find him very good last night, no one could make a pass or take one to save their lives.

One of the other one belongs to Slaf, from Becks sticks.

Its not about expectations, youre just trying to lower expectations for some weird reason. If Slafkovsky made the same plays as Mesar did on the two high-danger chances, wed all have confirmations bias and wed be calling him a NHL player.

I'm not trying to lower expectations...i'm not quite sure to expect, I know very little about the player from having viewed him myself.

And no, Slafkovsky could have had a hat trick last night and I wouldn't be anymore or any less hyped about him.

This is a snapshot of what is hopefully a very long career.

 

[Mrb1p]

Many can't accept these simple facts.

I do understand it though... it hurts. We wanted to see the 1st OA pick come out and be a BOSS af

I mainly want him to be the best player in the draft and be one of the most valuable pieces for a Habs cup run, I truly do not care how he looks these next two seasons.

I do care about people outright lying about him being good and calling out people who are not sure about him. I also do care about people who call him a 40 pts player at best, thats just as dumb.

 

[OnTheRun]

Still many better line combinations you could have had with the people playing

They probably had something in mind to evaluate Mesar/Beck/Ylonen/Heineman.
So Stephens, Slaf, Pitlick, Armia, Evans, Schnarr, Bourque and Condotta are the one remaining for the grand lines blender strategies.

 

[Mrb1p]

And? The are other aspects to the game, as i'm sure you're aware.

I didn't find him very good last night, no one could make a pass or take one to save their lives.

I'm not trying to lower expectations...i'm not quite sure to expect, I know very little about the player from having viewed him myself.

And no, Slafkovsky could have had a hat trick last night and I wouldn't be anymore or any less hyped about him.

This is a snapshot of what is hopefully a very long career.

This is an outright lie.

 

[417]

Many can't accept these simple facts.

I do understand it though... it hurts. We wanted to see the 1st OA pick come out and be a BOSS af

Sorry boss...i'm not that emotionally attached to this team.

I'm not out here defending the guy and acting like he was amazing last night.

No one was. Not a single player had a passing grade for me last night.

But Slafkovsky, IMO, was one of the better of the shit performances I saw last night.

So it might hurt you...but not me my guy lol.

This is an outright lie.

Where have you seen me overhype Slafkovsky?

Again, I've barely watched this player...I know very little about him lol.

Show me one post where i'm being a fanboy about him...just one lol

I'm 41yrs old man, maybe i'm jaded, but these rookie tournaments and preseason game performances don't move me, one way or another.

I really don't care.

 

[River Meadow]

I mainly want him to be the best player in the draft and be one of the most valuable pieces for a Habs cup run, I truly do not care how he looks these next two seasons.

I do care about people outright lying about him being good and calling out people who are not sure about him. I also do care about people who call him a 40 pts player at best, thats just as dumb.

Yeah of course, we all want that.

From what we've been so far in this short period, he is not ready, and he has not lit the world on fire.

He should be a beast in the future though, but he needs time, seasoning, experience, etc...

 

[JoelWarlord]

The earlier exchange in this thread of "this is wild overreaction, Habs fans would lose their minds over Lafrienière's first two seasons" immediately being countered with something like "well so what Lafrenière is a bust" was extremely funny to me. The takeaway there being "yeah he's a bust just like Laf is a bust" instead of "Laf struggled for a couple years before settling in" is hilarious to me.

I guess all I can really say is I don't think anything we've see so far should change your read on this player unless you somehow convinced yourself he was ready to be an instant star player in year 1. I will certainly admit that I had (and still maintain some) hope he could step in and have something like a Brady Tkachuk/Andrei Svechnikov type rookie year, but if that's not the case I don't think it really tells us anything we didn't already know.

I'm also not really sure why there's so much does he/doesn't he look like a 1st overall pick discussion. It's just odd to me given it would be the same argument no matter who we picked. Cooley is playing a year in college and the other three top picks look like they will be in the AHL/OHL this year. I get that it's disappointing we tanked and didn't get an instant star/generational talent but it is what it is.

 

[River Meadow]

But Slafkovsky, IMO, was one of the better of the shit performances I saw last night.

I mean.. that's not saying much though, when most of the team looked bad. Mesar did look better though...

What did Slaf show last night? Let's break it down...

 

[417]

Ok? How is that overhyping?

Because I think that amidst a shit performance from the entire Habs, he was one of the few who wasn't the shittiest?

OK then lol

Did you watch his linemates?

Probably not, you probably had the focus cam on Slafkovsky the entire game lol which explains a lot.

When you don't care about anyone else on the ice, it's easy to shit on one guy.

 

[Supersonic]

At first I was so excited that we got a first overall pick, for once in my lifetime

Now coming to this thread I surely underestimated what this board was getting into

 

[SlafySZN]

I mainly want him to be the best player in the draft and be one of the most valuable pieces for a Habs cup run, I truly do not care how he looks these next two seasons.

I do care about people outright lying about him being good and calling out people who are not sure about him. I also do care about people who call him a 40 pts player at best, thats just as dumb.

You probably have different standards on what being ‘’good’’ is for a 18 years old, first time in north america after 2 pre-seasons game should be. And we have other standards.

There’s a way to say you are not sure about him or a way to say what you like or don’t like in his game. The ones who get called out are the ones who constantly comment negative things or are insufferable everyday with their exaggerating, dramatic comments.