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

[Naslundforever]

He has many issues lately, October hockey is over and now teams have starting up the pace and just can't keep up at all for now .

He's being hit like there is no tomorrow because he doesn't read what's coming. He needs to work on that .
He needs to be more aware defensively.
He needs to work to make quicker decisions.


All stuff that he can learn from playing more minutes in NA hockey. The AHL on the first line would be idea for him right now with tons of pp time.

We are at a point right now that he's more lost thab Drouin hoffman or Anderson.

They made a bad decision by keeping him after 9 games , but we all saw that coming let's be honest.

Not sending him for the WJC is also a bad idea.

Also our coaching staff have no idea what to do it with him


He's easy to compare at Kotkaniemi and Galchenyuk because we saw it happen twice in 10 years. I would legit day thw same for Lafreniere. Rushing 18 year olds is often a bad bad bad idea

You project a bit but agreed all the good vets and teams are going to take it to another level now and it shouldn’t get easier.

 

[Kennerback]

He needs to go to Laval.

I thought he was fine. But I didn’t like his last two games. He looked flat. Not saying other vets didn’t also look flat, but I digress.

 

[That Habs Fan]

Slaf isn't horrible, but man did we ever get a bad draft to get 1st overall in

Luckily we will have both a top 10 and top 15 pick (at worst) in an insanely deep draft later this year.

 

[rve24]

Slaf isn't horrible, but man did we ever get a bad draft to get 1st overall in

Luckily we will have both a top 10 and top 15 pick (at worst) in an insanely deep draft later this year.

And the convo can be repeated on double the scale next year.

Poor development, not ready, bad pick, wrong linemates, incorrect usage...... Different management, different coach....same gripes.

Happy a great holiday everyone and Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Some people here are unbelievable lol

Calling the kid a bust.

We really don’t deserve these prospects. Some don’t know what patience mean.

I never called him a bust. He’s a project though, one that should have started in the AHL.

My criticism is more towards Montreal’s management and the powers of MSL to make all our development problems go away. I’m not seeing it, new coach, same decisions. The kid needs to learn how to adjust to the North American game.

 

[DAChampion]

I never called him a bust. He’s a project though, one that should have started in the AHL.

My criticism is more towards Montreal’s management and the powers of MSL to make all our development problems go away. I’m not seeing it, new coach, same decisions. The kid needs to learn how to adjust to the North American game.

I don't know if many people have called Slaf a bust at all.

But he can bust if he's not developed properly or if he has too many injuries.

 

[Runner77]

I don't know if many people have called Slaf a bust at all.

But he can bust if he's not developed properly or if he has too many injuries.

Hughes was adamant about how they drafted him to be the best in 2-3 years, not now. I don’t see how he can be reliably assessed when he’s so raw.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

I don't know if many people have called Slaf a bust at all.

But he can bust if he's not developed properly or if he has too many injuries.

Exactly.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

You project a bit but agreed all the good vets and teams are going to take it to another level now and it shouldn’t get easier.

im not projecting , at this moment he's not even good enough to play on a 4th line.

 

[The Great Weal]

Slaf isn't horrible, but man did we ever get a bad draft to get 1st overall in

Luckily we will have both a top 10 and top 15 pick (at worst) in an insanely deep draft later this year.

I mean as of now Slaf would probably go 5th overall in this year's draft.

 

[vlady]

It's a little painful to watch him now. The confidence seems to be gone completely. His play without the puck got worse as well.

 

[Riggins]

Hughes was adamant about how they drafted him to be the best in 2-3 years, not now. I don’t see how he can be reliably assessed when he’s so raw.

Problem is the way they are handling him now doesn't help him become his best in 2-3 years. The Slafkovsy plan is Bergevin-Ducharme level right now.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Reading people here, apparently not.

No one said he wasn’t. Try not to defend an
against an argument never made. This is an argument about what is best for Slaf for developmental purposes.

Playing 10-11 minutes a night while getting his bell rung every 3-4 games is not it.

 

[BergevinBurner]

Until he gets an extended look with Suzuki+Caufield, or we get some quality linemates for him, I won't read into his play too much. Getting stuck on a line with anyone in our bottom 9 not named Monahan is a death sentence

 

[Bombshell11]

Until he gets an extended look with Suzuki+Caufield, or we get some quality linemates for him, I won't read into his play too much. Getting stuck on a line with anyone in our bottom 9 not named Monahan is a death sentence

Nop the death sentences were these:

Taunting, dumb hit from behind and then retaliation.

He was simply never ready for the NHL, most of us saw it from the second day of the rookie camp.

Suzuki Caufield have their own self to take care of, they're still developing, putting an immature talent next to them will only drag them down.
Suzuki and Caufield are way more important.

2-3 years in the minors will do wonders for him. He'll have plenty of time to develop his offensive skills and wont be punished as hard for not keeping his head up.

 

[Kojo]

Some people take this way too seriously. He's doing fine.

 

[Egresch]

2-3 years in the minors will do wonders for him.

2-3 years in minors and you lose him. If Slaf plays AHL in 2025 it is a clear result of Habs terrible development.

 

[ReHabs]

2-3 years in minors and you lose him. If Slaf plays AHL in 2025 it is a clear result of Habs terrible development.

Tage Thompson kept getting invoked in recent weeks as a “patience is a virtue” comparable. “Big guys take longer to come around”…

I don’t particularly agree that Slaf and Tage ought to be compared, and one was rushed to the NHL and the other was very much not, but it goes to show how much hollow crap gets pulled out of many asses in order to post-hoc justify every move the Habs organization makes.

If it takes 2-3 years for Slaf to get to where he ought to be, there is no shame in that. I don’t think it should and he’s played at a high enough level that it needn’t be the case but you never know. The absolute worst thing would be what the Habs are doing: rushing him to no tangible gain or benefit and with a needlessly increased risk of injury.

Slaf’s trending behind Kotkaniemi and Galchenyuk’s rookie season production. Given his ample physical gifts (and superior skating to both) the obvious elephant in the room, therefore, is his playmaking and play reading ability. He is behind the play… because he was not NHL ready… and it showed in Rookie Camp and in Training Camp… but the Habs rushed him anyway and Habs fans here quickly justified it to themselves by any means necessary.

I think he will up his production rate this year, and possibly finish with more than 30pts. I have a feeling he’s in a nadir now and will get some good luck soon (possibly when Moneyhands Monaghan comes back). But if there are Habs fans who think Galchenyuk or Kotkaniemi was mishandled by the Habs, then they are surely going to have to admit Slafkovsky’s been rushed to his own detriment.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Tage Thompson kept getting invoked in recent weeks as a “patience is a virtue” comparable. “Big guys take longer to come around”…

I don’t particularly agree that Slaf and Tage ought to be compared, and one was rushed to the NHL and the other was very much not, but it goes to show how much hollow crap gets pulled out of many asses in order to post-hoc justify every move the Habs organization makes.

If it takes 2-3 years for Slaf to get to where he ought to be, there is no shame in that. I don’t think it should and he’s played at a high enough level that it needn’t be the case but you never know. The absolute worst thing would be what the Habs are doing: rushing him to no tangible gain or benefit and with a needlessly increased risk of injury.

Slaf’s trending behind Kotkaniemi and Galchenyuk’s rookie season production. Given his ample physical gifts (and superior skating to both) the obvious elephant in the room, therefore, is his playmaking and play reading ability. He is behind the play… because he was not NHL ready… and it showed in Rookie Camp and in Training Camp… but the Habs rushed him anyway and Habs fans here quickly justified it to themselves by any means necessary.

I think he will up his production rate this year, and possibly finish with more than 30pts. I have a feeling he’s in a nadir now and will get some good luck soon (possibly when Moneyhands Monaghan comes back). But if there are Habs fans who think Galchenyuk or Kotkaniemi was mishandled by the Habs, then they are surely going to have to admit Slafkovsky’s been rushed to his own detriment.

Galchenyuk was not rushed.

 

[Doc McKenna]

I was in the camp to give him just 5 games and send him down. Bring him back up for 4 games at the end of the year if he has a great season at a lower level. Last years draft ended up being a carbon copy of both Chuck and KK

Gauthier is in college, Wright isn't even playing in the AHL, Cooley is at college, Nemec didn't play a single NHL game. Only Jiricek played at the NHL and only 2 games. So why are we doing what no other team is doing. Weak year is a weak year. No shame in working slowly on a project so they meet a higher potential.

We should send him down now and just burn the year if only to give him till late february early march and bring him back up for the last 15-20 games of the season, if at all. I don't expect much from him this season, so I just put pezz in his spot and let him play and adjust to our ice at a lower level. The game is very fast on a small ice, and OHL never translates to AHL level play because so many of the players are kids that can shoot but can't skate, or skate and are big but don't do much else.

The talent pool is more like ice fishing, got a lot of frozen surface that won't yield a thing, but the few holes will yield much better results just because there is a hole available. Any shortcumming will be noticeable when the big leagues roll around(aka summer) and everyone is in their boats.

Its a lot more normalized skill levels with some NHLer and talented kids that are much better than their former peer group. AHL is there to get that step between where everyone is a decent skater, and even the 28 year old former NHL are still a far sight better than some 16 year old that barely made the team at the OHL level.

TL;DR
AHL/Europe has a more consistent nearer NHL level talent pool than an OHL style league. Set the bar a bit higher, without overwhelming these kids.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Some people take this way too seriously. He's doing fine.

No he’s not doing fine. He’s going to end up eating supper at the Lindros table if he keeps it up.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Galchenyuk was not rushed.

Yes he was. He was one of the most highly touted prospects in the world, in fact, at one point he was the top prospect in the world and not once did he look the part. He was putting up goals while looking horrible and being a train wreck/liability everywhere on the ice.

Scoring goals on one timers are not the only thing that wins games. You need to prevent them too.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Yes he was. He was one of the most highly touted prospects in the world, in fact, at one point he was the top prospect in the world and not once did he look the part. He was putting up goals while looking horrible and being a train wreck/liability everywhere on the ice.

Scoring goals on one timers are not the only thing that wins games. You need to prevent them too.

By the time in his D+4/5 that Gachenyuk became a ppg player, he was also a plus player.

The crash came after that, when he got hurt and did not rehab properly. There might have been off-ice issues, I believe he went into the player assistance program at one point.

 

[DAChampion]

By the time in his D+4/5 that Gachenyuk became a ppg player, he was also a plus player.

The crash came after that, when he got hurt and did not rehab properly. There might have been off-ice issues, I believe he went into the player assistance program at one point.

In terms of 5on5 effectiveness, Galchenyuk peaked in his rookie year.

His later "peaks" were artificially inflated by power play production.

 

[salbutera]

Yes he was. He was one of the most highly touted prospects in the world, in fact, at one point he was the top prospect in the world and not once did he look the part. He was putting up goals while looking horrible and being a train wreck/liability everywhere on the ice.

Scoring goals on one timers are not the only thing that wins games. You need to prevent them too.

Galchenyuk was the byproduct of a mediocre 2012 draft cuvée. Didn’t help his cause, the NHL game became less physical & ramped up speed-wise 3-4 years after 2012 draft.