Prospect Info: 2022 - 1st OA] Juraj Slafkovsky (LW) Part 4

[jrom]

There aren’t many 18 year old forwards who start in the NHL but of those who do, Slaf’s PPG at this point (0.34) is in the lower 20%.

It doesn’t mean anything much about his future but it would be nice to see him finish with 45pts+ wouldn’t it? He’s the 1OA! You tank for these players.

I’d like to see him fed more minutes if he’s physically capable of playing it.

You could have just stopped at the “doesn’t mean anything”.

 

[Adam Michaels]

He's been producing in line with his usage.

I'll even say that considering who he was playing with mostly so far, his production is better than his usage.

He was centered by Evans, who only has 2 assists so far this year. He played many games with Pez, who has 0 pts. He played with Armia, who has 0 pts. He played a bit with Dadonov, who has 2 pts. He had Pitlick for a game or two, who has 0 pts.

So when you look at those linemates he was playing with, you see his production in a different light. And even if he sees more PP time now, it's not like that is the reason he has more ponts. Out of his 6 pts, only 1 is from the PP (his goal in St. Louis). Aside from that, the rest is at even strength.

 

[dinodebino]

View attachment 616175

Louis haunts this forum.

 

[CHfan1]

There aren’t many 18 year old forwards who start in the NHL but of those who do, Slaf’s PPG at this point (0.34) is in the lower 20%.

It doesn’t mean anything much about his future but it would be nice to see him finish with 45pts+ wouldn’t it? He’s the 1OA! You tank for these players.

I’d like to see him fed more minutes if he’s physically capable of playing it.

Putting stats aside, when you watch him play this season do you see his game progressing?

 

[Pacciosoftie]

Putting stats aside, when you watch him play this season do you see his game progressing?

Doesn’t look like watches much, if any, games tbh. He seems to only focus on stats. His irrational hot takes that focus only on his stats and nothing else is really annoying. Like, we get it, you have an obsession about being proven right. Clearly he wanted Habs to draft someone else and can’t wait to be proven right. Let it go man.

 

[ReHabs]

Putting stats aside, when you watch him play this season do you see his game progressing?

He’s definitely adapting to the NHL. Looks less behind the play. But I was definitely deflated seeing how raw and jittery he was. I really don’t think he should’ve started the season in the NHL.

 

[Kennerback]

Putting stats aside, when you watch him play this season do you see his game progressing?

He looks very good. Stats can be used in many ways. How about comparing his GPG to other 18 year olds? Yes, he probably has the worst APG, but when your four usual linemates have now a total combined two (2) points this season, you don’t pass to them! It’s even one of my main criticism of him, passing to Evans, Pezetta or the others instead of shooting or going to the net with the puck himself. Hockey IQ 101, if your line’s expectation to score is several times higher when you do it yourself, you don’t pass!

 

[ReHabs]

He looks very good. Stats can be used in many ways. How about comparing his GPG to other 18 year old? Yes, he probably has the worst APG, but when your four usual linemates have now a whole combined two points this season, you don’t pass to them. It’s even one of my main criticism of him this season, passing to Evans, Pezetta or the others instead of shooting or going to the net with the puck himself. Hockey IQ 101, if your line’s expectation to score is several times higher when you do it yourself, you don’t pass!

I’ve been on his case about his playmaking since day 1 so it’s quite discouraging to see everybody just smirk and scoff and dismiss his biggest flaw and issue.

Hockey IQ would be to put his teammates in positions to score. Don’t be facetious.

 

[Kennerback]

I’ve been on his case about his playmaking since day 1 so it’s quite discouraging to see everybody just smirk and scoff and dismiss his biggest flaw and issue.

Hockey IQ would be to put his teammates in positions to score. Don’t be facetious.

I can tell with my eyes that he’s a very sharp passer. He knows where his line-mates are and can one time a pass on the tape of the stick both on the fore-hand and the back-hand. Furthermore a player like Gallagher flubs many 3 feet pass and has no clue where is teammates are yet made a pretty decent career in the NHL for himself.

 

[Kennerback]

Hockey IQ would be to put his teammates in positions to score. Don’t be facetious.

And I’m dead serious when I say he should shoot instead of setting up Pezetta. Are you old enough to have seen Semenko play with Gretzky? Despite every goalie in the NHL knowing that Gretzky would shoot and not pass to Semenko on a 2 on 1, he always ignored the element of surprise and shot himself despite probably being the best passer in NHL history.

 

[Adam Michaels]

I’ve been on his case about his playmaking since day 1 so it’s quite discouraging to see everybody just smirk and scoff and dismiss his biggest flaw and issue.

Hockey IQ would be to put his teammates in positions to score. Don’t be facetious.

Kinda hard to put Evans and Pez and Armia in positions to score, though, when they don't read the game the same way. And in the rare times they did go to the right area and Slaf found them, they didn't finish the play because they're offensive ability is limited.

This isn't to absolve Slaf of everything. There are moments he needs to be better and he's the one who screwed a play up. But in the kid's defense, his linemates were not helping him offensively.

Similar to Caufield last year when Ducharme would put him on the third or fourth lines for a good while. There was only so much Cole could do with the type of linemates he was playing with.

 

[jrom]

I’ve been on his case about his playmaking since day 1 so it’s quite discouraging to see everybody just smirk and scoff and dismiss his biggest flaw and issue.

Hockey IQ would be to put his teammates in positions to score. Don’t be facetious.

I thought it was the poor quality of Wright’s teammates that made his production suffer last year, despite his high hockey IQ.

 

[Kennerback]

Kinda hard to put Evans and Pez and Armia in positions to score, though, when they don't read the game the same way. And in the rare times they did go to the right area and Slaf found them, they didn't finish the play because they're offensive ability is limited.

This isn't to absolve Slaf of everything. There are moments he needs to be better and he's the one who screwed a play up. But in the kid's defense, his linemates were not helping him offensively.

Similar to Caufield last year when Ducharme would put him on the third or fourth lines for a good while. There was only so much Cole could do with the type of linemates he was playing with.

Trying to set up Pezetta or Evans instead of Slaf backing off the board himself, taking it to the slot and shooting is a poor hockey decision. It’s not selfishness, it’s part of hockey IQ.

 

[Zilo44]

Trying to set up Pezetta or Evans instead of Slaf backing off the board himself, taking it to the slot and shooting is a poor hockey decision. It’s not selfishness, it’s part of hockey IQ.

This makes no sense.

Very few players can do what you say. Ignore your teammates because they’re not good enough and do it all by yourself.

I’d be curious to see Ovechkin playing alongside Evans and Pezzetta

 

[HuGo Sham]

I'm interested in hearing you elaborate on why you choose Rantananen as a comparable to Slaf's upside.

To be clear, I'm not arguing he can't, but from what I've seen so far, Slaf hasn't shown traits of the elite playmaking vision Rantanen has. So I'm interested in hearing your take.

Just two big men with great hands. Slaf's playmaking skills were what caught everyone's attention leading up to the draft. He's been using his shot more. Just seems like an idealistic comparable. Not sure he can put up those kinds of points though; maybe a bit less

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Trying to set up Pezetta or Evans instead of Slaf backing off the board himself, taking it to the slot and shooting is a poor hockey decision. It’s not selfishness, it’s part of hockey IQ.

For sure but you can't expect the kid to just bull into the slot like Mario Lemieux either at 18. I'd also like to see him take it to the net himself . Hopefully he starts doing it as hes slowly improving every game

 

[Kennerback]

This makes no sense.

Very few players can do what you say. Ignore your teammates because they’re not good enough and do it all by yourself.

I’d be curious to see Ovechkin playing alongside Evans and Pezzetta

There’s such a huge talent discrepancy between a top skilled prospect and a grinder that you rarely see them play on the 4th line for any length of time. Perhaps MSL put him there because he’s forced to play a North South Game and be physical?

I can guarantee that Gallagher wouldn’t even acknowledge Evans and Pezetta yet put up points. Gallagher does it instinctively but I think it’s the way to maximize that 4th line’s production. Ovechkin would do the same.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Trying to set up Pezetta or Evans instead of Slaf backing off the board himself, taking it to the slot and shooting is a poor hockey decision. It’s not selfishness, it’s part of hockey IQ.

No. If setting Pez and Evans up is the right play, then it is good hockey IQ. It's not Slaf's IQ the problem when the others' IQs are not on his level. But it's no reason for any player to try going it alone.

There are plays where him being selfish and taking the puck on his own to shoot is the smart play, which he does by the way. But if he ignores Evans and Pez and hogs the puck because his linemates suck offensively is not good hockey IQ.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

I'll even say that considering who he was playing with mostly so far, his production is better than his usage.

He was centered by Evans, who only has 2 assists so far this year. He played many games with Pez, who has 0 pts. He played with Armia, who has 0 pts. He played a bit with Dadonov, who has 2 pts. He had Pitlick for a game or two, who has 0 pts.

So when you look at those linemates he was playing with, you see his production in a different light. And even if he sees more PP time now, it's not like that is the reason he has more ponts. Out of his 6 pts, only 1 is from the PP (his goal in St. Louis). Aside from that, the rest is at even strength.

Evans has two assists because he has been saddled with poor linemates......Gorton inadvertently admitted as much by suggesting his production has more to do with his place in the lineup than his play.

Slaf is only 18 and struggles mightily with the mental side of the game. He has a ton of talent but he is something of a nightmare to play with as his reads are poor and he is rarely where he is supposed to be on the ice. Pezetta is.........Pezetta.

Slaf has been opportunistic on a few occasions and clearly has the skill to bury his chances but both him and Xhekaj are not playing at an NHL level without the puck yet and are creating more negative events than the average fan seems to notice.

 

[Kennerback]

No. If setting Pez and Evans up is the right play, then it is good hockey IQ. It's not Slaf's IQ the problem when the others' IQs are not on his level.

There are plays where him being selfish and taking the puck on his own to shoot is the smart play, which he does by the way. But if he ignores Evans and Pez and hogs the puck because his linemates suck offensively is not good hockey IQ.

I beg to disagree. I fault Slafkovsky for this and I faulted him in Liiga last season for the same thing. TPS was the worst offensive team in the league, the only 3 offensive players that had any talent were on the first line. He played with the bottom 6 players for almost the whole season. It was him and Boogaard x2. He would regularly spring them on break aways or give them short one-timers with the net open and they could never score.

Hockey IQ is noticing the above pattern and shooting more and doing much more yourself. Goaltenders are much better now. It’s very hard to score goals. And the discrepancy in the value of a sniper and a passer is greater. Altruism is poor decision making here.

 

[Adam Michaels]

I beg to disagree. I fault Slafkovsky for this and I faulted him in Liiga last season for the same thing. TPS was the worst offensive team in the league, the only 3 offensive players that had any talent were on the first line. He played with the bottom 6 players for almost the whole season. It was him and Boogaard x2. He would regularly spring them on break aways or give them short one-timers with the net with the goal open and they could never score.

Hockey IQ is noticing the above pattern and shooting more and doing much more yourself. Goaltenders are much better now. It’s very hard to score goals. And the discrepancy in the value of a sniper and a passer is greater. Altruism is poor decision making here.

And you fault Slaf's IQ when he literally set his linemates up for chances, but they couldn't score? You serious fault Slaf for that? That's a new one.

 

[Kennerback]

And you fault Slaf's IQ when he literally set his linemates up for chances, but they couldn't score? You serious fault Slaf for that? That's a new one.

In terms of pure tactics the pass is the good move, in terms of strategy and game-theory it’s the bad move.

 

[Adam Michaels]

In terms of pure tactics the pass is the good move, in terms of strategy and game-theory it’s the bad move.

In terms of everything, he set his linemates up for prime scoring opportunities. He did his part in the play. He made the right read. He made the right play. The part that doesn't end up as a goal is not on Slaf's stick. It's on his linemate's. That's Slaf's hockey IQ at work and the vision to see a linemate who has a better chance of scoring a goal.

And it goes the other way, as well. If his linemate sets him up for a prime scoring opportunity, but he doesn't score, it's not his linemate's fault he didn't score. It's Slaf's fault the puck didn't end up in the back of the net.

 

[Kennerback]

In terms of everything, he set his linemates up for prime scoring opportunities. He did his part in the play.

Michel Therrien is given hard time but he’s right that if you’re playing with grinders best expectation is shooting. Plus it forces Pezetta and Evans to always go to the net for a rebound. They probably both score more. The 4th line as a whole certainly scores more.

 

[26Mats]

No. If setting Pez and Evans up is the right play, then it is good hockey IQ. It's not Slaf's IQ the problem when the others' IQs are not on his level. But it's no reason for any player to try going it alone.

There are plays where him being selfish and taking the puck on his own to shoot is the smart play, which he does by the way. But if he ignores Evans and Pez and hogs the puck because his linemates suck offensively is not good hockey IQ.

I also think he's been passing to his linemates on odd man rushes out of respect for the vets and wanting to be a good teammate - even when the best opportunity to score is for him to shoot.

I think as he gets more comfortable and more offensive opportunities because he's playing on a more offensive line, he'll start to choose the play that has the best opportunity to go on, not the play that makes him not appear selfish.