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

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Maybe it's PTSD from our other top 3 picks, but I don't have a good feeling about where this is going. Yes you can laugh at me all you want but I believe I am more than justified in questioning this organization (especially since Lapointe is still here). KK/Galchenyuk were bad picks that were handled poorly. Slaf was a questionable pick from the get go and so far is being handled worse than those two. Not like Gorton and Borbov have a good drafting resume in the top 10 anyways with Lafereniere, Kakko, Andersson, Kravtsov.

No I'm not throwing in the towel or anything like that, but the unwillingness to try him with good players and play him over guys like Dadonov/Hoffman/Armia/Drouin is making it evident that he should be sent down at the very least. MSL flat out said they want him to focus on even strength game rather than producing for now which to me is a terrible mentality for a prospect that already didn't have the greatest production last year outside of the Olympics and some awful teams in the World Championship.

You literally explained everything I wanted to say.
Slaf is handled like a pee-wee right now. They don't know what to do with him. Gorton and Bobrov are god awful at drafting also. It should be Hugues but let'S be honest there is no way Gorton didnt interfere in some decisions.

I still think we did the wrong choice at the draft and now by how he's handled he's even worse.

 

[KevSkillz4]

You literally explained everything I wanted to say.
Slaf is handled like a pee-wee right now. They don't know what to do with him. Gorton and Bobrov are god awful at drafting also. It should be Hugues but let'S be honest there is no way Gorton didnt interfere in some decisions.

I still think we did the wrong choice at the draft and now by how he's handled he's even worse.

They are awful but they just drafted Owen Beck at 33, Lane Hutson at 62... that's not awful to me. 2022 draft looks outstanding so far for Habs.

 

[ReHabs]

Galchenyuk and KK are irrelevant. They were rushed in and expected to contribute immediately thanks to the previous incompetent management. Juraj is in the NHL to learn from MSL and he is not expected to come out running. That is probably why he isn't on Suzuki's line.

Neither Galchenyuk nor Kotkaniemi were given top line duties or expected to contribute. Therrien famously insisted that Galchenyuk wasn’t ready for big dog duties, which were given to Desharnais instead. Kotkaniemi wasn’t given Danault’s minutes.

Why are you lying? What purpose does it serve?

The situation is identical between the three of them. Bottom6 minutes to players who have been rushed — that’s been the story across the board.

 

[ReHabs]

How would you evaluate Suzuki in his last 5 games?

An irrelevant comparison. Suzuki is a better known quantity and his development is not called into question. Slafkovsky is not a known NHLer and the whole debate is whether is he better served in the NHL or elsewhere.

We do not care about Slaf’s production or performance for its own sake because he is a rookie and this season doesn’t matter — we care about how it looks within his trajectory. And I’m sorry to say that rushing players to the NHL is more bad than good, and trajectories are more set in stone than all of us would hope.

There shouldn’t be a debate if not for the fact Habs fans are die hard supporters of every decision the big club’s GM makes, no matter who the GM. Slaf doesn’t belong in the NHL right now.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

They are awful but they just drafted Owen Beck at 33, Lane Hutson at 62... that's not awful to me. 2022 draft looks outstanding so far for Habs.

Those 2 are proved absolutely nothing
Joshua Roy was destroying the Q last season and couldnt even make an extra forward in the NHL.

I know everytime we get a new prospect they are a future Hall of Fame player. Which I don't get in anymore.

 

[BaseballCoach]

He never looked like a legit top 6 forward imo. I remember this board arguing over why he wasn’t playing center, the guy could barely cover defensively on the wing.

This was a clear case of development mismanagement. Ffs the kid missed a year of hockey with a blown out knee and we still rush him to the bigs as an 18 year old. Then once he got here it seemed like we were actively working against him.

I'm tired of arguing this point with some folks.

Just because a player's actual play never reached the level hoped-for does not ipso facto mean he was rushed. There are allowed to be other reasons for disappointment.

Galchenyuk was not rushed. He had a good lockout-shortened first year (after playing half a season in the OHL and scoring 2 ppg), a very slight dip in year two (as did Gallagher too), then 20 goals in his 20/21 year old year and 30 goals in his 21/22 year. The 2016-17 season started off with Alex playing 1st line center and scoring around 1 ppg with a plus record, and then he got his knee taken out.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

I'm tired of arguing this point with some folks.

Just because a player's actual play never reached the level hoped-for does not ipso facto mean he was rushed. There are allowed to be other reasons for disappointment.

Galchenyuk was not rushed. He had a good lockout-shortened first year (after playing half a season in the OHL and scoring 2 ppg), a very slight dip in year two (as did Gallagher too), then 20 goals in his 20/21 year old year and 30 goals in his 21/22 year. The 2016-17 season started off with Alex playing 1st line center and scoring around 1 ppg with a plus record, and then he got his knee taken out.

Im not going to go over this again. Let’s agree to disagree.

We all want the best Slaf that there can be. We can agree on that.

Those 2 are proved absolutely nothing
Joshua Roy was destroying the Q last season and couldnt even make an extra forward in the NHL.

I know everytime we get a new prospect they are a future Hall of Fame player. Which I don't get in anymore.

I love Hutson, but his stature makes him a long shot to ever be an NHLer imo. Love the kids talent.

 

[SwiftyHab]

Just because a player's actual play never reached the level hoped-for does not ipso facto mean he was rushed.

Ipso facto? Ok well how bout a dipsy doodle to you too Mr Lawyerman

 

[Natey]

I don't understand the worrying. We were going to worry regardless because this draft was quite poor for a standout prospect. Shane Wright is a prima donna with a bad ego and was the closest to stand out. I think Nemec might be the best from the "batch" but we weren't taking a defenseman that early either. I think we took the best choice we had.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

I don't understand the worrying. We were going to worry regardless because this draft was quite poor for a standout prospect. Shane Wright is a prima donna with a bad ego and was the closest to stand out. I think Nemec might be the best from the "batch" but we weren't taking a defenseman that early either. I think we took the best choice we had.

There is nothing that indicates Wright is a prima Donna except for some fans imagination.

I agree on Nemec, but I don’t agree that if you feel he’s the best you pass on him for being a dman.

 

[Kojo]

I agree on Nemec, but I don’t agree that if you feel he’s the best you pass on him for being a dman.

Nemec was never the BPA. The Devils selected him because we picked first and got the BPA.

 

[MON4NHLTOR4MLB]

Career 3rd liner at best in the making.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Galchenyuk and KK are irrelevant. They were rushed in and expected to contribute immediately thanks to the previous incompetent management. Juraj is in the NHL to learn from MSL and he is not expected to come out running. That is probably why he isn't on Suzuki's line.

So is Slaf. Nobody gets in the NHL full time without the expectation to contribute. It's the absolute highest tier of hockey there is. At least let him go to the WJC and take a break from the grueling NHL regular season.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Nemec was never the BPA. The Devils selected him because we picked first and got the BPA.

That’s cute, but there are varying opinions, none of them right to this point. The truth is there was no consensus BPA. Good chance Nemec becomes the best of the bunch.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

That’s cute, but there are varying opinions, none of them right to this point. The truth is there was no consensus BPA. Good chance Nemec becomes the best of the bunch.

Maybe but the Devils wanted Slafkovsky.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

So is Slaf. Nobody gets in the NHL full time without the expectation to contribute. It's the absolute highest tier of hockey there is. At least let him go to the WJC and take a break from the grueling NHL regular season.

Canadiens drafted KK because they needed a centre and wanted immediate production. Slafkovsky is in the NHL to learn and develop. That is likely why he isn't tried on the 1st line. They don't want him to feel pressure to produce. Presumably they are working with him and telling him not to worry if he starts out slowly.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Canadiens drafted KK because they needed a centre and wanted immediate production. Slafkovsky is in the NHL to learn and develop. That is likely why he isn't tried on the 1st line. They don't want him to feel pressure to produce. Presumably they are working with him and telling him not to worry if he starts out slowly.

Was KK on the 1st line in rookie year? No. They see a shiny new toy and want to showcase him right away despite him not being a world beater because of fan excitement. Of course they are working with Slaf for him to become a better player but the NHL is not the right place for that. It's hard to work on your offensive game when you rarely get to make offensive plays in the first place.

 

[MON4NHLTOR4MLB]

A 1st overall pick shouldn’t be a project, work in progress, may or may not make it but we’ll throw a dart at the board pick. Wright will eventually show how much better he is than Slaf and I think Jiricek will be best D of draft

 

[Kennerback]

A 1st overall pick shouldn’t be a project, work in progress, may or may not make it but we’ll throw a dart at the board pick. Wright will eventually show how much better he is than Slaf and I think Jiricek will be best D of draft

Wright is a major project. Still Today! We would have had a project if we picked Wright.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Nemec was never the BPA. The Devils selected him because we picked first and got the BPA.

I also think the Devils drafted by need. They still got themselves a good player, but they've been building their forward group with high picks for years. And now they're building their back end.

They got Hischier, Hughes, Bratt (not a high pick, but a stud for them), Holtz, and Mercer up front. Now they want to build their D with Luke Hughes last year and Nemec this year, adding them to Hamilton and Marino.

 

[Schooner Guy]

A 1st overall pick shouldn’t be a project, work in progress, may or may not make it but we’ll throw a dart at the board pick. Wright will eventually show how much better he is than Slaf and I think Jiricek will be best D of draft

Interesting that Wright went #4 and wasn't even the first center to get picked. Many reports had him falling to #7 had the Kraken not taken him.

 

[Nicko999]

Maybe it's PTSD from our other top 3 picks, but I don't have a good feeling about where this is going. Yes you can laugh at me all you want but I believe I am more than justified in questioning this organization (especially since Lapointe is still here). KK/Galchenyuk were bad picks that were handled poorly. Slaf was a questionable pick from the get go and so far is being handled worse than those two. Not like Gorton and Borbov have a good drafting resume in the top 10 anyways with Lafereniere, Kakko, Andersson, Kravtsov.

No I'm not throwing in the towel or anything like that, but the unwillingness to try him with good players and play him over guys like Dadonov/Hoffman/Armia/Drouin is making it evident that he should be sent down at the very least. MSL flat out said they want him to focus on even strength game rather than producing for now which to me is a terrible mentality for a prospect that already didn't have the greatest production last year outside of the Olympics and some awful teams in the World Championship.

Galchenyuk was not a bad pick. Despite what people say, he kept progressing until his 30 goals season. The fact he stopped progressing at an early age is his fault. Sick and tired of seeing people blame the team for that.

KK was a bad pick. Doesn't matter with what team he would end up, he wasn't good enough.
And on top of that, we select an even worst player in Slaf 1st overall.

I am still willing to give him time but my fears have materialized so far. He is a KK 2.0

 

[calder candidate]

The problem is that the game is too hard for him at the NHL level. He needs a game that he can beat, have regular successes and build on them. That's all development is, really.

Totally agree he is able to play in the NHL that doesn’t he has to… even if the NHL the better league it doesn’t mean that it is the best place for him. Every good player in the NHL dominated lower level there is very few player that step in at 18 and dominate or develop in the NHL.

 

[Jaaanosik]

An irrelevant comparison. Suzuki is a better known quantity and his development is not called into question. Slafkovsky is not a known NHLer and the whole debate is whether is he better served in the NHL or elsewhere.

We do not care about Slaf’s production or performance for its own sake because he is a rookie and this season doesn’t matter — we care about how it looks within his trajectory. And I’m sorry to say that rushing players to the NHL is more bad than good, and trajectories are more set in stone than all of us would hope.

There shouldn’t be a debate if not for the fact Habs fans are die hard supporters of every decision the big club’s GM makes, no matter who the GM. Slaf doesn’t belong in the NHL right now.

An irrelevant comparison? Really????
This is a logical fallacy!
If Suzuki is struggling in the recent games then it is logical conclusion that Slaf is not going to have good results as well, would not you agree?
This is a prove the team is not doing OK in the recent games and it influences Slaf's performance.

How can you expect Slaf at 18 years old to change the fortune of the whole team?

 

[Skip Bayless]

Career 3rd liner at best in the making.

I don't agree with your opinion, but I respect that you share your opinion.