Is Slafkovsky the worst #1 pick ever ?

[TheRumble]

I don't think he's bad.

I do however think the Habs have a pretty well documented history of highly touted young players not reaching their ceilings with them, going back to the Bergevin era:

Successes - Caulfield and Suzuki although it should be pointed out neither of these players spent time in the Habs development system. Both went from college or the OHL to the NHL and the Habs tried their best to ruin Caulfield in the 21-22 season.

Failures:

Galchenyuk - 30 goal scorer to now out of the league

Drouin - Traded for him and for some odd reason tried to make him a center. His last season in Tampa remains his career high. Also tangentially related is that Sergachev turned into an everyday player under Tampa's system.

Romanov - I actually like the trade of him for a 7th overall pick but he was once their best dman prospect. Very unusual to trade a guy like that so early.

Ryan Poehling - Scored a hat trick in his first NHL game. And now he's just a guy.

Kotkaniemi - Healthy scratched a bunch of times in his final season with the Habs and has become a much better player under Carolina's guidance.

Mete - Went from being Weber's d partner to given up on waivers in three seasons.

Juulsen - Seems to be the concensus that injuries derailed his career so call it a mulligan

 

[Hale The Villain]

Habs took an extremely raw power forward with high upside with 17 points in 49 games in the Finnish league and threw him in the NHL years before they should have.

They are going to pay the price for that. Apparently didn't learn the lesson from rushing Kotkaniemi.

 

[WarriorofTime]

2012 was such a bad draft, lol. The best player is like 5th best on his own team, never been an All-Star and people aren't fully convinced is a number 1 defenseman.

 

[Brodeur]

Gorton and Bobrov draft picks dont look too good so far

Kakko #2
Lafreniere #1
Andersson #7
Slafkovsky #1
Reinbacher #5 over Michkov and Benson

I think most teams would have taken Kakko/Lafreniere. The rumor was that the Rangers offered #7 and #21 to Dallas with the intention of drafting Elias Pettersson at #3?

As others said, it might have been a mistake to rush Slafkovsky in as an 18 year old. Somebody like Mikko Rantanen spent his D+1 year mostly in the AHL. His D+2 season he put up 20 goals and then had a breakout season after. Rantanen was a late birthday and missed the cutoff for the 2014 Draft by six weeks. Comparing stats might not always be apples to apples, but Rantanen put up 9 points in 37 Liiga games as a 17 year old. Slafkovsky put up 10 points in 31.

Sometimes it's tough in terms of expectations when being the #1 pick especially in a year where there wasn't a consensus #1. Patrik Stefan is the butt of many jokes while Pavel Brendl is mostly an afterthought. In a world where Brian Burke was a gambler and didn't trade up, Brendl would have been the #1 pick that year.

 

[Muffin]

Habs took an extremely raw power forward with high upside with 17 points in 49 games in the Finnish league and threw him in the NHL years before they should have.

They are going to pay the price for that. Apparently didn't learn the lesson from rushing Kotkaniemi.

They should've taken the Rantanen approach. Not going to call him a bust yet, power forwards take the longest to develop because they need to grow into their own body.

 

[Apex Predator]

2012 was such a bad draft, lol. The best player is like 5th best on his own team, never been an All-Star and people aren't fully convinced is a number 1 defenseman.

Who’s that? Hampus Lindholm?

 

[nergish]

It was already considered a weak draft at the time...
So it's not like he's a failure or "bust".

He's just a relatively weak 1st OA talent. Still a guy I'd love on my team.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Who’s that? Hampus Lindholm?

Reilly but one more good year out of Lindholm and he surpasses him.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

Ever is a strong word
Depends, when did you start watching the nhl

 

[crowi]

Way too early. He's a big boy, takes time to grow into his body.

He will be a NHL player for a long time for sure. Most things he could improve on can be taught/practiced. At this point his hockey IQ is what I'd be worried about the most.

 

[Kranix]

Bruh

Why isn't your status, "let's go shake their hands"

 

[Wats]

Hope not but wouldn't be surprised. Even Yakupov at least had a good rookie year with 17G/31PTS in 48 games.

Looks fine to me for a 19 year old who missed half his rookie season. Not exactly a star but the draft was not good at all in 2022.

There will be a few stars in that top 10 IMO.

 

[Frank Drebin]

They should've taken the Rantanen approach. Not going to call him a bust yet, power forwards take the longest to develop because they need to grow into their own body.

Rantanen scored a ppg in the ahl at 18, and was an nhl regular at slaf s current age.

Are you suggesting that 40 ahl games in place of 40 nhl games would have made the difference?

Ever is a strong word
Depends, when did you start watching the nhl

35 years ago

 

[FerrisRox]

Seems to have no particular talent, no skill, no speed, big with no big man qualities, doesn’t produce points, his shot is bad, his passing is average… Is he the worst first pick ever ?

Is this for real?

He's big with no big man qualities?

It's pretty clear you haven't watched him this season at all which makes it frankly bizarre that you would post this.

Jeff Gorton Top 10 picks:

JURAJ SLAFKOVSKY​

ALEXIS LAFRENIÈRE​

KAAPO KAKKO​

DAVID REINBACHER​

LIAS ANDERSSON​

VITALI KRAVTSOV​

You know that Jeff Gorton isn't the Montreal Canadiens General Manager, right?

 

[Ducer]

It's only his second year playing hockey in north america.

 

[Nicko999]

Thread would make more sense if it was worst forward picked #1.

I have Yakupov and Stefan as the 2 worst. Still too early to tell but Slaf has 1 pt in 5 games so far. Not a very good start.

Not sure what people are expecting. Look at those La Liga draft year stats. Usually you get picked late in the 1st round with those stats.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

I think most teams would have taken Kakko/Lafreniere. The rumor was that the Rangers offered #7 and #21 to Dallas with the intention of drafting Elias Pettersson at #3?

As others said, it might have been a mistake to rush Slafkovsky in as an 18 year old. Somebody like Mikko Rantanen spent his D+1 year mostly in the AHL. His D+2 season he put up 20 goals and then had a breakout season after. Rantanen was a late birthday and missed the cutoff for the 2014 Draft by six weeks. Comparing stats might not always be apples to apples, but Rantanen put up 9 points in 37 Liiga games as a 17 year old. Slafkovsky put up 10 points in 31.

Sometimes it's tough in terms of expectations when being the #1 pick especially in a year where there wasn't a consensus #1. Patrik Stefan is the butt of many jokes while Pavel Brendl is mostly an afterthought. In a world where Brian Burke was a gambler and didn't trade up, Brendl would have been the #1 pick that year.

Yea agree Laf Kakko and Slaf went where they were projected but still it sucks for the teams that get the chance to draft #1 overall and get no game breaker specially a team like us who hasnt seen offensive power in over a decade

But like i said before i havent given up on Slaf yet he shows flashes on some shifts then looks clueless on the other one still young tho so no need to panic

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Definitely disappointing so far for a number one pick. But still too early to call him the worst ever. I doubt he ever becomes a true star but could still turn into a very useful player. Will have a better idea in a year or two.

 

[McJedi]

If he becomes a decent middle six winger that gets you 17-24 goals per year, he’s hardly the worst.

Maybe the Habs used a 1st overall pick to get someone you’d normally want around 14th overall. Ideal? No. End of the world. Hardly.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Personally I think European top 10 picks should generally be in the AHL as teenagers, which they have the option to do. I still recall Mikko Rantanen paying his dues with the San Antonio Rampage and spending a year developing.

Montreal tried to give him the first overall "red carpet" treatment of NHL right away, but he is really closer to a typical top 10 pick than a typical first overall due to the bad draft class. They put him in the NHL before he earned a spot based on merit due to marketing. We'll see if the trial by fire approach works for him, but it's risky. I thought they would learned their lesson after Kotkaniemi, who they also rushed to the NHL as an 18 year old before he was ready.

 

[Coffees]

For really big players it takes longer to develop. How many times it has to be repeated?

You’re correct, he’s going to be fineb

 

[capfit9]

Is this for real?

He's big with no big man qualities?

It's pretty clear you haven't watched him this season at all which makes it frankly bizarre that you would post this.



You know that Jeff Gorton isn't the Montreal Canadiens General Manager, right?

What exactly do you think he does in Montreal ?

 

[UED]

I think our 5th rounder LW prospect is a better LW prospect than Slafkovsky atm and never really penciled Slafkovsky into our future lineup including on draft day. The reasons we took him were so, so dumb that there was just no way such idiocy from our management would ever get rewarded and we're seeing it. He happened to be a left winger which was "perfect" for Caufield and Suzuki(Suzuki should never even be on the first line, why are we even taking this 2nd liner into consideration when picking 1st overall??) and he had 7 goals and 0 assists in a lucky run in a fake tournament(like he's gonna be scoring 7 goals and 0 assists every 7 games...). We didn't take him because he had a generational shot or was a playmaking wizard or a future Selke winner or skated like an F1 car or anything normal for a 1st overall, we just liked the idea of having a good left winger to pair with our 2nd line center and sorted the rankings by position and took the first left wing we found..it's not even a joke that's what actually happened.

Tage Thompson made it clear that apparently anyone can unbust at any point but there's no way to predict that so not holding my breath. At least Lafreniere was the obvious pick who dominated every league and tournament at every age point and then suddenly stopped dominating in the NHL, I don't blame the Rangers for him at all. Slafkovsky's claim to fame is one tournament where he had zero assists and wasn't even over PPG, we're expecting a consistent PPG player out of a guy who went exactly PPG in the best 7 game run of his life in a level lower than the NHL and which he will never reproduce?

 

[ole ole]

Is this the worst thread ever? If you look back the last 25 years, you'll find more worse #1 picks.

Only time will tell.

 

[Elvs]

Have you watched Cooley? He's incredible.

That's all in hindsight. Let's not pretend there was a large community on these boards ready to pick Cooley #1 had the choice been theirs. Definately most people on here had Wright pegged #1.