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

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Advice for some of you with Slaf management.... It's best to treat this as an investment and allow your investor to manage it. Looking at the dips and gains daily and trying to play investor expert is a foolish game.

If you don't like your investor manager, fire them and hire someone you trust. If you like your investor, let them do their job ;)
 
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Unfortunately slaf seems to be more of a distrubutor of the puck than a bull that goes to the net. That's fine but not if he's gonna be playing with scrubs, he made some mistakes on the second wave PP half wall (mostly receiving shitty passes in his skates and not being able to control them) and then made some beauty cross crease passes to Anderson through the pk box. Kid dosent look great but the vision is there imo. He also has a really heavy shot , I'd love to see him play with some more talent. Not gonna lie I'm getting a bit worried about his development.

I'm also not a fan of him going in stick first in battles and always trying to Mario Lemieux Windmill one hand the puck to pick it up in transition it just never works at the NHL level because everybody plays the body
 
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The Gr8 Dane said:
Unfortunately slaf seems to be more of a distrubutor of the puck than a bull that goes to the net. That's fine but not if he's gonna be playing with scrubs, he made some mistakes on the second wave PP half wall (mostly receiving shitty passes in his skates and not being able to control them) and then made some beauty cross crease passes to Anderson through the pk box. Kid dosent look great but the vision is there imo. He also has a really heavy shot , I'd love to see him play with some more talent. Not gonna lie I'm getting a bit worried about his development.

I'm also not a fan of him going in stick first in battles and always trying to Mario Lemieux Windmill one hand the puck to pick it up in transition it just never works at the NHL level because everybody plays the body
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That could change once he gets confidence and experience at this level.
 
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The Gr8 Dane said:
Unfortunately slaf seems to be more of a distrubutor of the puck than a bull that goes to the net. That's fine but not if he's gonna be playing with scrubs, he made some mistakes on the second wave PP half wall (mostly receiving shitty passes in his skates and not being able to control them) and then made some beauty cross crease passes to Anderson through the pk box. Kid dosent look great but the vision is there imo. He also has a really heavy shot , I'd love to see him play with some more talent. Not gonna lie I'm getting a bit worried about his development.

I'm also not a fan of him going in stick first in battles and always trying to Mario Lemieux Windmill one hand the puck to pick it up in transition it just never works at the NHL level because everybody plays the body
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I think your assessment is close to accurate but the time to get worried is not this season. It's impossible to predict Slab's obsession to improve year/year at this point in time so let your investment go through the up/downs game/game and look at it with larger sample sizes.

How he looks heading into next season matters more IMO. This is a get your feet wet type season and then it's up to him to train and work hard at the flaws in the off season. Suzuki would not be the center he is today if he was not smart enough to realize where he needs to put the work in which was physical strength.

The biggest area to gain with Slaf is his edge work and body leverage/reach. He's very strong at 18 but he can fill in a bit more and learn how to use his body to position himself in-between the puck and the defender. Skating, Skill, Shot, Size/Strength is clearly there.

Development drills I would have him practice is moving from one end of the ice to the other and leaning into defenders while he cuts around them. Lean into them while you are still skating and moving your feet and learn how to maintain puck possession as you deal with contact and move past them. Initiating contract first helps you get the body leverage before they do on you.
 
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The Gr8 Dane said:
Agreed but he needs to receive the puck on his stick in scoring areas, we just don't see it enough. Could be on him or on linemates , probably a bit of both
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Do we have precedents of young players breaking out on the 4th line? I mean put up big numbers for longer than a couple of games… I’m so used to having offensive prospects starting on the Top-9 or quickly moving up from the 4th line that I‘m drawing a blank. Something like Laine or PL Dubois were playing with Evans and Pezetta-like players until they started putting up big numbers on the 4th line?
 
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ChesterNimitz said:
In my long legal and business career I have been accused of many things but never being a supplicant to authority or power. I pride myself in my contrarianism. What I fail to see is how playing 5 or 7 minutes more a game against lesser opposition will enhance or accelerate this young player’s development. I loved what I saw last night: a player who played with speed, power and elan. Slafkovsky played a disruptive game last night. He was noticeable. He hit. He pursued. He was around the puck. He created scoring chances. He started to show elements of the player everyone hoped he will be. Is he there yet? No. He’s 18. He’s a kid in a man’s body. But last night he showed his immense potential.

I will remind you of another promising young Montreal player who the fans complained about his limited usage. When Yvan Cournoyer first arrived in the NHL, Toe Blake only used him on the power play. He was the fastest, most dynamic player on the team. As he sat stapled to the bench, the fans use to chant impatiently ‘On veux Cournoyer’. The chant use to rock the old Forum. Blake remained unmoved. Cournoyer’s ice time never increased. Those limited minutes early in his career did not hamper Cournoyer’s development. But what do I know, being a slave to authority?
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For every success story like Cournoyer there are 10 where the approach didn’t work. We have plenty of recent examples in our own back yard.

I don’t find you to be an apologist or someone who appeals to authority on a regular basis, but that one post felt like it was leaning that way imo. I know he’s 18 and showing some positive signs, but imo his growth would be accelerated with more reps. It’s the single, most important factor in a players development. It’s not like we have better options preventing him either. I don’t like what we’ve done here with him at all.
 
rik schau said:
You mean those noted playmakers in Pezzetta and Evans? I somehow doubt they'd even be able to pass him the salt and pepper.lol.
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It’s funny how posters support MSL’s development path for Slaf while simultaneously ridiculing his usage and line mates.
 
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BehindTheTimes said:
For every success story like Cournoyer there are 10 where the approach didn’t work. We have plenty of recent examples in our own back yard.

I don’t find you to be an apologist or someone who appeals to authority on a regular basis, but that one post felt like it was leaning that way imo. I know he’s 18 and showing some positive signs, but imo his growth would be accelerated with more reps. It’s the single, most important factor in a players development. It’s not like we have better options preventing him either. I don’t like what we’ve done here with him at all.
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I guess we will have to agree to disagree. But either way, this is not a motherhood issue. Slafkovsky will be what he will be. He will largely achieve what his natural talents will allow him to achieve. As with Cournoyer, neither pathway will make that much of a difference. As such, I will trust MSL’s judgment as he is closest to the kid. If we don’t trust his judgment in this matter, why are we trusting him in any other matter?
 
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Kennerback said:
Do we have precedents of young players breaking out on the 4th line? I mean put up big numbers for longer than a couple of games… I’m so used to having offensive prospects starting on the Top-9 or quickly moving up from the 4th line that I‘m drawing a blank. Something like Laine or PL Dubois were playing with Evans and Pezetta-like players until they started putting up big numbers on the 4th line?
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As a rookie Suzuki played a lot with Cousins and Weal (Cousins and Thompson was also a frequent combination), his last game centering the 4th line was game #37. Game #48 was his last game while being used at wing. It's worth noting he had a few games here and there in the top-6 as a winger during that first half of the season.
 
I get worried he's losing confidence in his offensive abilities. He's missing that extra fraction of a second in execution, specially when shooting. He's got much less time to get it off than in Liiga, obviously, and it's an adjustment he's working on. But the board battles are being won, he's on the puck more often than not, his reads are becoming more automatic and less hesitant. He looks a bit lost when the opposing team cycles, but that's normal for a winger his age, specially in a man to man defense.

I think Barkov also had the same issues where he looked like he had the skills but he was always fumbling pucks and fanning on shots during his rookie year because he was still learning how to move out there.

Slaf looks better every week it seems, so that's encouraging.
 
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Skip Bayless said:
I get worried he's losing confidence in his offensive abilities. He's missing that extra fraction of a second in execution, specially when shooting. He's got much less time to get it off than in Liiga, obviously, and it's an adjustment he's working on. But the board battles are being won, he's on the puck more often than not, his reads are becoming more automatic and less hesitant. He looks a bit lost when the opposing team cycles, but that's normal for a winger his age, specially in a man to man defense.

I think Barkov also had the same issues where he looked like he had the skills but he was always fumbling pucks and fanning on shots during his rookie year because he was still learning how to move out there.

Slaf looks better every week it seems, so that's encouraging.
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He is ready to play with better players. Your 1OA is playing with borderline NHL players
 
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The Gr8 Dane said:
Unfortunately slaf seems to be more of a distrubutor of the puck than a bull that goes to the net. That's fine but not if he's gonna be playing with scrubs, he made some mistakes on the second wave PP half wall (mostly receiving shitty passes in his skates and not being able to control them) and then made some beauty cross crease passes to Anderson through the pk box. Kid dosent look great but the vision is there imo. He also has a really heavy shot , I'd love to see him play with some more talent. Not gonna lie I'm getting a bit worried about his development.

I'm also not a fan of him going in stick first in battles and always trying to Mario Lemieux Windmill one hand the puck to pick it up in transition it just never works at the NHL level because everybody plays the body
Click to expand...
I wouldn't worry about him right now. 18 and has looked utter dominant when he's on. Besides, best Offensive Skillset on the team ( sorry cole and suzi )

I think he is Devilishly Underrated.
 
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BehindTheTimes said:
For every success story like Cournoyer there are 10 where the approach didn’t work. We have plenty of recent examples in our own back yard.

I don’t find you to be an apologist or someone who appeals to authority on a regular basis, but that one post felt like it was leaning that way imo. I know he’s 18 and showing some positive signs, but imo his growth would be accelerated with more reps. It’s the single, most important factor in a players development. It’s not like we have better options preventing him either. I don’t like what we’ve done here with him at all.
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I feel you're concern if Slaf become a KK 2.0. I wonder if Laval with a lot of ice time would be better for his developpment. But 80% of Habs fan will cry wolf if that happen. F*** the fans, Habs management have to do for the best and forget the critics!
 
Interesting concept the min/game at lower level is vs. practice time with the big club and better resources.
Not a perfect comparison but.
CHL vs. College.....far more games and minutes of game action in the CHL vs. College with practice n resources for an 18/19 yr old but I can't say which is better as players have thrived in both n not made it from both ( not talking 4 year college players who are much older when graduate, but rather then 1/2 yr players)

I think it's more dependant on the player. I'll trust for now Slafs work ethic n willingness to learn, his absorption of messaging n teachings, the development resources the big club can/foes offer, the staffs assessment ect.... I personally don't think a few months of 12 min a game will crush his potential. If he played 15 min. would anyone mention it?

Can't compare Galy/KK development situations to Slaf situations IMO. Apples n oranges in both playerssituations.
Difftent n better development resources now available and utilized (by far) , better staff awareness of the players needs, better staff period esp when understanding players in the modern game.......( successful agent with many players in the game so he gets the new generation vs. MB. Old school coaches vs. Young progressive Allstar player coach who saw the game from the inside in every way a player can.
 
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BehindTheTimes said:
I know he’s 18 and showing some positive signs, but imo his growth would be accelerated with more reps. It’s the single, most important factor in a players development.
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Simply untrue. It crucially matters - reps againt whom?

If a guy has trouble hitting a major league curveball, he won't learn by being sent down down to a league where the curveballs are both less biting and more erratic, and he can get lots of reps against fastballs, and ESPECIALLY where even the fastballs are mostly a bit less fast.
 
Catanddogguitarrr said:
I feel you're concern if Slaf become a KK 2.0. I wonder if Laval with a lot of ice time would be better for his developpment. But 80% of Habs fan will cry wolf if that happen. F*** the fans, Habs management have to do for the best and forget the critics!
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NHL, AHL,… Doesn’t matter. If he doesn’t f*** up off the ice, in the end whatever they do, MSL and HuGo will end up looking like geniuses because he will break out and become a star. You might delay it a bit, but I don’t think you can f*** up Slafkovsky’s development. His size, speed,skill, shot package is already there. Truth is, Therrien and anyone else would also get him there.
 
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BaseballCoach said:
Simply untrue. It crucially matters - reps againt whom?

If a guy has trouble hitting a major league curveball, he won't learn by being sent down down to a league where the curveballs are both less biting and more erratic, and he can get lots of reps against fastballs, and ESPECIALLY where even the fastballs are mostly a bit less fast.
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You’re wrong, practice makes perfect in every discipline in life. Doesn’t have to be against the the best at the earliest stage in his development possible.

There is literally no risk in sending him down and unnecessary risk from keeping him up. Many prospects have been ruined from rushed development, virtually zero have been ruined by taking the slow, tried and true approach, none. He’s not Crosby or McDavid, he’s going to end up eating supper at the Lindros table if he doesn’t keep his head up. Those habits can be taught in the A where he will have a bit more time to process and the habit will be formed by the time he reaches the big leagues.


In short, I don’t think you have any idea what you are talking about here. We are rushing a kid because he’s too tall for other leagues, it’s a f***ing joke the way he is being used.
 
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