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

[JohnTheBaptist]

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.

He's been playing with duds up until last game.

I'm convinced you have never actually watched him play.

 

[Shawnathon]

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.

You take the RHD or a Center on draft day. Not a winger. Especially when there’s not much separation on talent. How well are those wingers Gorton selected in NY working out? And Slafkovsky doesn’t seem to be learning like you suggested as it keeps happening.

 

[Habs Halifax]

You take the RHD or a Center on draft day. Not a winger. Especially when there’s not much separation on talent. How well are those wingers Gorton selected in NY working out? And Slafkovsky doesn’t seem to be learning like you suggested as it keeps happening.

NOPE. You take BPA. Drafting by position is stupid. It would be like taking Newhook over Caufield cause Newhook can possibly play center. Come on man

You take the player you feel will improve the most and be the best from the options you have when they are 21+ years. Slaf was drafted cause we feel he was NHL ready and he also has the critical ingredient where he is obsessed to improve.

Your reality of him not learning is just inaccurate. Your eyes may be open but your comprehension is low

 

[Shawnathon]

NOPE. You take BPA. Drafting by position is stupid

You take the player you feel will improve the most and be the best from the options you have when they are 21+ years. Slaf was drafted cause we feel he was NHL ready and he also has the critical ingredient where he is obsessed to improve.

Your reality of him not learning is just inaccurate. Your eyes may be open but your comprehension is low

We’ll see how well this ages a few years from now. You also can’t claim a player is learning when he got clipped doing the exact thing I mentioned just a few games ago. Please.

 

[Egresch]

You take the RHD or a Center on draft day. Not a winger. Especially when there’s not much separation on talent. How well are those wingers Gorton selected in NY working out? And Slafkovsky doesn’t seem to be learning like you suggested as it keeps happening.

Noooo, not again. In last two games he was probably the best Habs player and you start with this sh1t again? Seriously?

 

[JuJu Mobb]

Do people in this thread forget Slaf is only 18.

He was the best player on the ice against Calgary.

 

[Habs Halifax]

We’ll see how well this ages a few years from now. You also can’t claim a player is learning when he got clipped doing the exact thing I mentioned just a few games ago. Please.

There is no glass ball where we know for sure. However, you're missing the point. You are clearly are not comprehending his growth in the 1st two months well. He could stall at some point yes but remember, you started this with a he is not growing narrative which is flawed.

If Slaf ends up a fringe top 6F in a few years, it don't make you right today. There is a shit load of more development to go yet. The debate is growth in the 1st two months.

 

[dinodebino]

I see a lot of over the board ranting and raving on both sides here. I think he’s progressing. He’s doing fine for now. Keep him in Mtl pls. Laval is not the place for him, unless they get rid of the coaching staff.

Let him play with Mony. He will start to get tougher assignments, facing better lines. He fared well yesterday. Keep on truckin’ kid. Just keep the noggin’ high. Stop doing your Evans.

 

[26Mats]

Do people in this thread forget Slaf is only 18.

He was the best player on the ice against Calgary.

With Slaf now playing with Monahan, we may see a change in his game and production similar to the change that happened when MSL took over for Ducharme last year.

Not that dramatic, but a night and day difference.

 

[Redux91]

Do people in this thread forget Slaf is only 18.

He was the best player on the ice against Calgary.

Reading yet another baseless Anti-Slaffer just immediately makes me think of your avatar

 

[Kennerback]

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.

You can be reserved in your appreciation, but this is a minority viewpoint even among people that are not Habs fans. I’m very aware of the AG and KK situations in my evaluation of Slafkovsky. I should be called out hard if S busts’, but you should have your hockey lenses adjusted and be called out just as hard if he becomes a star.

 

[HuGort]

Who could have possibly predicted that?

Who would've thought that Slafkovsky would look good getting real linemates and minutes?

 

[le_sean]

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.

You know lots of 6’4 power forwards that are excellent at controlled zone exits and entries and can lead a breakout by themselves? Or do you know lots of 6’4 power forwards that look just as good on the half wall on the PP as they do cycling the puck down low? And how many of them could do it at 18?

 

[JohnTheBaptist]

You take the RHD or a Center on draft day. Not a winger. Especially when there’s not much separation on talent. How well are those wingers Gorton selected in NY working out? And Slafkovsky doesn’t seem to be learning like you suggested as it keeps happening.

Are you a Habs fan or just here to stir the pot? Literally no one in Habs land agrees with you.

 

[Kennerback]

Him and Lafrenière are two 1OA that I’ve watched a lot of this season. Slaf is faster, has a heavier shot and goes much more in traffic than Lafrenière. I would evaluate their finishing skills as being about the same, I.e I don’t have enough data to say one is better than the other. Slaf is a much better passer. Lafrenière is 20 and losing most of his board battles, Slaf is 18 and winning most of his board battles.

Even though Rangers fans are livid right now about his play, I haven’t given up on Lafrenière and see clear upside. Still Slafkovsky already shows much more promise.

 

[nhlfan9191]

You take the RHD or a Center on draft day. Not a winger. Especially when there’s not much separation on talent. How well are those wingers Gorton selected in NY working out? And Slafkovsky doesn’t seem to be learning like you suggested as it keeps happening.

I agree that some of our fanbase grossly overrate him, but common man. He’s shown he has some really nice tools. Will he ever get there? Who knows. But guys like Nemec/Cooley/Wright are far bigger projects and much bigger long shots imo.

 

[Andrei79]

I see a lot of over the board ranting and raving on both sides here. I think he’s progressing. He’s doing fine for now. Keep him in Mtl pls. Laval is not the place for him, unless they get rid of the coaching staff.

Let him play with Mony. He will start to get tougher assignments, facing better lines. He fared well yesterday. Keep on truckin’ kid. Just keep the noggin’ high. Stop doing your Evans.

I call them temper tantrums.

Regarding Slaf, I still feel it's difficult to project what his true upside is, but really can't deny he's progressing every week. I missed the CGY though, but the last games I've watched he showed some tantalizing tools. That combination of strength, playmaking, shooting, board play and stick handling is ridiculous. It's one of a kind, but it remains to be seen how much production we'll see out of it.

 

[JoelWarlord]

For a guy with “creativity” and “vision” he sure is underwhelming from a production standpoint.

What kind of raw production do you think fourth-liners have? He's currently 14th in the league in points among players getting 12 or fewer minutes per game right now, and every player ahead of him is playing on a much better and deeper team. Last season the top three scorers among players averaging 12 minutes or fewer per game put up 32, 25, and 23 points. Approximately ~25 points is pretty much the upper limit of what you can produce in a fourth-line + PP2 role, and that's right around what he's on pace for currently.

If you have specific things to point to that concern you I'm certainly open to discussion that his processing speed isn't good enough and there's reasonable debate over whether that will improve enough for him to capitalize on his skills. That's a fine discussion to have, but I really struggle to see why being on an 18G, 9A, 27P pace in a fourth-line role as an 18 y/o rookie playing 11 minutes a night primarily alongside a single NHL fourth liner in Evans and an AHL scrub like Pezzetta should be concerning to me.

You take the RHD or a Center on draft day. Not a winger.

Sometimes you do, and sometimes the winger is the best player on the board. You brought up Lafrenière and Kakko (which is quizzical given the other comment about not picking a winger unless there was a talent gap which there assuredly was on draft day for those two players), but we can trade hand-picked hindsight examples on this question back and forth forever.

Arizona went safe and picked Dylan Strome one slot ahead of Marner. Edmonton went with the consensus #1 pick C in Nugent-Hopkins and passed on Landeskog and Huberdeau. Philadelphia went safe with the defenceman in Cam York and passed on Cole Caufield. Sometimes the winger is the best player available.

 

[417]

I don't know about y'all...but watching Slafkovsky last night one thought came to mind.

How much better it would be if he were doing it against Austria over the Xmas holidays.

 

[kyne]

I don't know about y'all...but watching Slafkovsky last night one thought came to mind.

How much better it would be if he were doing it against Austria over the Xmas holidays.

Easier competition might give him that confidence boost. He was still pretty erratic last night but you can see his potential. With so many forwards on the team, the Habs can do this.

 

[Redux91]

I don't know about y'all...but watching Slafkovsky last night one thought came to mind.

How much better it would be if he were doing it against Austria over the Xmas holidays.

Ok but IF they send him ..
What do you do about all the people coming after you lol
Because you're making a crusade outta this lol

I get not wanting him to go for your own reasons, but to make it sound like its *bad* for him I just can't get behind

 

[26Mats]

I don't know about y'all...but watching Slafkovsky last night one thought came to mind.

How much better it would be if he were doing it against Austria over the Xmas holidays.

Let's see what he does with Monahan game by game and go from there.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Ok but IF they send him ..
What do you do about all the people coming after you lol
Because you're making a crusade outta this lol

I get not wanting him to go for your own reasons, but to make it sound like its *bad* for him I just can't get behind

It might not be bad but it won't be useful.

It would be like taking a break from your Calculus class to go do a grade 9 math quiz.

Slafkovsky continually improves against NHL talent and is not shying away from doing the things that he has done at other levels. There's 0 reason to go to the WJC right now.

 

[Le Tricolore]

Do people in this thread forget Slaf is only 18.

He was the best player on the ice against Calgary.

He's been great. I'm not sure if people expected him to be a point per game player while playing with Evans and Pezzetta, or if they expected him to be a McDavid type of player or what. Of the three 18 year old players who have played for the Habs in the last decade, he's the one who is 1) probably the most green to start the season, and 2) probably has shown the most game to game improvement.

I have no idea what to expect from him going forward this year and into the next few seasons, but so far, I am very happy with the pick.

 

[Redux91]

It might not be bad but it won't be useful.

It would be like taking a break from your Calculus class to go do a grade 9 math quiz.

Slafkovsky continually improves against NHL talent and is not shying away from doing the things that he has done at other levels. There's 0 reason to go to the WJC right now.

I dont think they send him no
Especially if he's gonna play like he did last night for this trip

I just have this nagging feeling HuGo surprise everybody and send him anyway, I don't know why
And I'm worried for 417 lol