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

[Pacciosoftie]

Size and skating combo is deadly. When big boys that skate well get a step on you, good luck



Imagine if Slaf ends up better than Suzuki, Caufield, Dach, Guhle? Premature thinking but you never know.

Well Slaf was drafted 1st overall so it shouldn’t be a surprise if he does end up better. Will he? I’m not sure but I think it’ll take a while.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Imagine if Slaf ends up better than Suzuki, Caufield, Dach, Guhle? Premature thinking but you never know.

Well, if he really develop into a Rantanen type, yeah he will be the best player on Habs team. In my mind, I see him more a Rick Nash career, 70-80 points per season. If he can put more than that, that would be truly amazing, we can certainly have big hope for a 1st overall pick, even if it's not the best draft ever, 2022 have some very good talents, better than 2012 draft to me... it's like 2014 and 2015, 2014 have some good talents but the next draft have generation talent.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

 

[Paddyjack]

I missed a lot of games in the past two weeks so last night was my first in a while and I was pleasantly surprised by his progress. He is certainly not outstanding but he does belong to the NHL. Still saw him do some bonehead plays in the third where an better choice of play would have been a simple puck drop in the back of the zone instead of a cross ice blind pass but other than that he is using his size effectively to protect the puck. Playing with Monahan is a great idea, I'm sure the guy is a good mentor.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Well Slaf was drafted 1st overall so it shouldn’t be a surprise if he does end up better. Will he? I’m not sure but I think it’ll take a while.

1st OA to me is a non factor. You would normally expect to get a star but it's just not the case every draft. Narrative pre draft was the top 5 had 2nd tier values with a possibility they could be better in some cases.

Don't know about you but I don't expect him to be better than Suzuki. We will see cause it's very early

 

[salbutera]

Slaf will eventually be that big body option to balance out Suzuki / Caufield line

 

[Habs Halifax]

For me, the great sign is that he's already so physically strong as an 18 year old. He will only get stronger as he ages. When you add his skill level to that strength, you can see why scouts were excited.

Just look at how much stronger he's gotten from game 1 in October.

Yup, he's on a steep learning curve and hopefully he's on the lower end of that curve and lots of uphill progress to come.

I would imagine that after his 1st season, he has a very good idea of where he stands. Takes a few weeks off to refresh and trains hard for his age 19 season. Possible bust out season

Slaf will eventually be that big body option to balance out Suzuki / Caufield line

Possible yes but it's also possible he ends up playing with a center we don't have at the moment. Could be PLD or Bedard or Beck or someone else.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Slaf will eventually be that big body option to balance out Suzuki / Caufield line

Maybe, maybe not. Barring a miracle of drafting Bedard etc. I could see Dach as the 2nd line and Slaf playing on his wing to form that duo giving you potential of two very lethal top lines if they develop some chemistry. Think they'd be better off doing that than front loading all the talent on the top line when Suzuki and Caufield don't need it to perform.

 

[Redux91]

Little more selfishness would do him some good.

Reminds me of Cole Caufields first 40 NHL regular season games lol
He seemed to JUST want to pass lol we were all freaking out he wasnt shooting
Watch out for Slaf in a couple of years..

 

[Cournoyer12]

How can you not love this kid!!!

 

[Kennerback]

Size and skating combo is deadly. When big boys that skate well get a step on you, good luck



Imagine if Slaf ends up better than Suzuki, Caufield, Dach, Guhle? Premature thinking but you never know.

I don’t know if better than Suzuki and Caufield in the regular season will ever happen, but I think he might be more crucial to win a Cup. When games get tight in the Playoffs, big Power Forward that can score break games open.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I don’t know if better than Suzuki and Caufield in the regular season will ever happen, but I think he might be more crucial to win a Cup. When games get tight in the Playoffs, big Power Forward that can score break games open.

At this point, I like his skill/skating/size package but not sure he is a power forward type. However, I get your point, he won't be pushed around and can hold the puck which is important.

 

[The Real Timo]

Slaf will be good... just keep your head up bud... keep it up. 2 more years and, with proper development, he will be a beast.

 

[Shawnathon]

I don’t know if better than Suzuki and Caufield in the regular season will ever happen, but I think he might be more crucial to win a Cup. When games get tight in the Playoffs, big Power Forward that can score break games open.

This is pure fan fiction. When has he ever done anything you just said? And no, a couple games against poor teams in a misfit tournament don’t count. He had 10 points in Liiga and is on pace for around 20 points this year in the NHL. Never underestimate this franchises ability to buy late season hype when drafting players. Galchenyuk and Kohtkaniemi showed more promise in their D-1 years. Some fans like to drool over this guy because of where he was picked, but he’s a project and a long shot to ever be anything at that. It may come across as negative but it’s just the truth and being honest.

 

[JohnTheBaptist]

He has a style about him that's very unique, the way he moves on the ice. I can't find a proper comparison for him.

 

[JohnTheBaptist]

This is pure fan fiction. When has he ever done anything you just said? And no, a couple games against poor teams in a misfit tournament don’t count. He had 10 points in Liiga and is on pace for around 20 points this year in the NHL. Never underestimate this franchises ability to buy late season hype when drafting players. Galchenyuk and Kohtkaniemi showed more promise in their D-1 years. Some fans like to drool over this guy because of where he was picked, but he’s a project and a long shot to ever be anything at that. It may come across as negative but it’s just the truth and being honest.

Wrong. Comparing him to Galchenyuk or Kotkaniemi is just being blind. He does things those 2 could never do. It's not about points right now, the eye test doesn't lie.

 

[Shawnathon]

Wrong. Comparing him to Galchenyuk or Kotkaniemi is just being blind. He does things those 2 could never do. It's not about points right now, the eye test doesn't lie.

I keep hearing this from the fanbase but never get an answer on what he’s doing that’s special. He looks like just about every other prospect that’s out of his element at the NHL level. If he doesn’t learn to keep his head up, he’s going to get Lindros’d out of the league before his career even starts.

 

[JohnTheBaptist]

I keep hearing this from the fanbase but never get an answer on what he’s doing that’s special. He looks like just about every other prospect that’s out of his element at the NHL level. If he doesn’t learn to keep his head up, he’s going to get Lindros’d out of the league before his career even starts.

Tell us you never watched him play without telling us you never watched him.

 

[Shawnathon]

Tell us you never watched him play without telling us you never watched him.

And you proceed to do exactly what I mentioned. Lol tell me what parts of his game have been special in the 18 games he’s played with us. Don’t duck around it.

 

[Habs Halifax]

He has a style about him that's very unique, the way he moves on the ice. I can't find a proper comparison for him.

Comparisons are difficult cause no two players are a like. Best I can think about is Rantanen

 

[Redux91]

This is pure fan fiction. When has he ever done anything you just said? And no, a couple games against poor teams in a misfit tournament don’t count. He had 10 points in Liiga and is on pace for around 20 points this year in the NHL. Never underestimate this franchises ability to buy late season hype when drafting players. Galchenyuk and Kohtkaniemi showed more promise in their D-1 years. Some fans like to drool over this guy because of where he was picked, but he’s a project and a long shot to ever be anything at that. It may come across as negative but it’s just the truth and being honest.

That you, Pat Healy ..?

 

[schwang26]

I keep hearing this from the fanbase but never get an answer on what he’s doing that’s special. He looks like just about every other prospect that’s out of his element at the NHL level. If he doesn’t learn to keep his head up, he’s going to get Lindros’d out of the league before his career even starts.

I want to give it a lot more games in the top 6 before calling him the next great power forward. Last night was his best game by far, but I need to see that over a longer period. Honestly even a 50-60 point 25 goal second liner is definitely not a bust, even for a first overall (as long as he does it consistently).
I think it's ridiculous to say he could be better than Suzuki or even Caulfield. Assuming Suzuki is a point per game guy, there's very few power forward type guys who put up those numbers.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I keep hearing this from the fanbase but never get an answer on what he’s doing that’s special. He looks like just about every other prospect that’s out of his element at the NHL level. If he doesn’t learn to keep his head up, he’s going to get Lindros’d out of the league before his career even starts.

Be honest... are you watching each and every game?

Head up? You saw like one or two plays where he got hit and think he never learned from it?

Special? Why does it have to be special? Are you comparing him to McDavid or Crosby? That may be your problem.

Rewind back. Heading to draft day, the top 5 was projected to be all 2nd tier talent with a possibility they could be better. The obsession to improve is likely why we took Slaf. It's a calculation on how he improves from 18-21+ years vs others we could have drafted.

If you watched all games in the 1st two months, you would clearly see his confidence/momentum growing. You seem to want bust out and modest game/game growth is meh.

 

[JohnTheBaptist]

And you proceed to do exactly what I mentioned. Lol tell me what parts of his game have been special in the 18 games he’s played with us. Don’t duck around it.

Puck protection, speed, vision, creativity, deadly wrist shot, physical play, great attitude, physical specimen, great defensive skills.

He's the full package. Chucky was a 2 trick pony with attitude and drug problems. Kotkaniemi.. well just look at him this season, he's been getting worse every year since his rookie season.

 

[Shawnathon]

I want to give it a lot more games in the top 6 before calling him the next great power forward. Last night was his best game by far, but I need to see that over a longer period. Honestly even a 50-60 point 25 goal second liner is definitely not a bust, even for a first overall (as long as he does it consistently).

You’re a villain around here if you go against the cheerleaders.

Puck protection, speed, vision, creativity, deadly wrist shot, physical play, great attitude, physical specimen, great defensive skills.

He's the full package. Chucky was a 2 trick pony with attitude and drug problems. Kotkaniemi.. well just look at him this season, he's been getting worse every year since his rookie season.

People were saying the same things about Kohtkaniemi and Galchenyuk when they were young too. Minus the size. It’s just sad seeing people consistently falling for it. For a guy with “creativity” and “vision” he sure is underwhelming from a production standpoint.