Is Slafkovsky the worst #1 pick ever ?

[Leaf Fans]

No actually it was Doug Wickenheiser...at least in terms of what might have been....how the Habs passed on Denis Savard still astounds me to this day.....one of the best players of the 80's and so dynamic.....you can be sure Montreal would have one more Cups if they had taken Denis......

He might be Montreal's worst first overall.

 

[MakoSlade]

probably will be

has there ever been another 1OA whose own fanbase OVERWHELMINGLY didn't even want them prior to the draft?

that's how weak of a prospect he was/is

Was the pick really that unpopular? If it makes anyone feel better, I recall many Devils fans wanted Slaf with the 2nd overall pick.

 

[SirClintonPortis]

He's mishandled being up so young. I do not know what they burned off an ELC year.....

Montreal and 1st overall don't mix.

 

[Barry Tallackson]

Can we please not insult Daigle in this thread? He’s three times the player as Slaf

 

[Brodeur]

Was the pick really that unpopular? If it makes anyone feel better, I recall many Devils fans wanted Slaf with the 2nd overall pick.

After the lottery, it seemed like most of their fan base locked in on Shane Wright since the team had been looking for a franchise type center. Sounded like the Devils would have happily taken Slafkovsky at #2.

I recall looking up Twitter posts about Slafkovsky leading up to the draft since I thought he was a potential pick for the Devils. An inordinate amount were Montreal fans being negative about Slafkovsky as it seemed like momentum was picking up with him possibly being the top pick.

To a degree it reminded me of 2017. Devils won the lottery and I was totally on board with taking Nolan Patrick who started the year as the unanimous #1 like Wright did. Albeit I don't think any Devils fans were going out of their way to denigrate Nico Hischier if they preferred Patrick (and vice versa, although some were concerned with Patrick's injury history).

It's tough, like I've said before there's a certain burden that comes with being the #1 pick. In some years it's unrealistic expectations. Even in Nolan Patrick's draft year, he started off as the unanimous #1 but Bob McKenzie also pointed out that scouts thought Patrick would have gone #5 or #6 had he been a week older and eligible for the 2016 Draft.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Was the pick really that unpopular? If it makes anyone feel better, I recall many Devils fans wanted Slaf with the 2nd overall pick.

Habs fans (myself included) largely wanted the former exceptional player in Wright

We questioned drafting a 10 point player with the 1oa pick and 2 nice tournaments.

When they passed on Wright, I figured there was something about him the Habs didn't like. I was ok with the slaf pick at the time because of this reasoning.

After seeing slaf get shit canned a half dozen times in 30 games last year I really started to wonder what the scouts saw in him. He must have been a dominant u15 player and just hung on to that reputation

 

[Osakahaus]

Cooley and Nemec were right there man. Slafkovsky is just eh. Why the hell would you take him over those two? I dunno man. I hope the Habs develop him but he hasn't shown much. At least Laffy has done stuff.

 

[Breakers]

Slaf - Newhook - anderson

Montreal want might want to ditch that idea like Now.

Small sample size, but that line combination is a dumpster fire analytically

 

[Bombshell11]

I say send Slaf to the OHL and next year allow him to work his way up in to the AHL.

The game is too fast for him and he doesn't know how to use his assets

 

[Frank Drebin]

Cooley and Nemec were right there man. Slafkovsky is just eh. Why the hell would you take him over those two? I dunno man. I hope the Habs develop him but he hasn't shown much. At least Laffy has done stuff.

Cooley would have been a reach. Nemec too. At least if you go by draft rankings

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Slaf - Newhook - anderson

Montreal want might want to ditch that idea like Now.

Small sample size, but that line combination is a dumpster fire analytically

He was on his way to get carried by Dach for the whole season. I don't think Marty wants to play him with Monahan as Monahan plays some tough minutes so we should just send him down , Newhook should play wing he shouldnt be centering Slaf whatsoever

 

[Guttersniped]

The trade to Canada broke Johnny boy. The biggest concern with him is that he has no chemistry with anyone on the team. Huska is trying to force chemistry between Huberdeau and Lindholm. You can't force chemistry between players. They either have it or they don't. Sutter tried Huberdeau with every center on the team last year and there were no sparks with any center. Changing the coach isn't going to change a single thing.

Flames should trade Lindholm and get picks and a young center to play with Huberdeau. Trade him now and not at the deadline because his value is only going to plummet more the longer he plays for the Flames.

 

[beowulf]

Threads like this are so dumb.

 

[Hisch13r]

Get this kid out of the NHL already

 

[Bombshell11]

Threads like this are so dumb.

The NHL is dumb so...you know

 

[Nowotny]

Yakupov?

Patrik Stefan (with Sedin brothers available)

 

[ViD]

Get this kid out of the NHL already

Yakupov was twice the player Slaf is, that’s actually an insult to Nail who scored 17 goals in 48 games in his rookie season.

I hope Slafkovsky will score 17 in the next couple of seasons

 

[Nipsey]

He’ll have a NHL career longer than Yakupov but this was a worst pick. Yakupov at least had elite skill. Slafkovsky at best was always going to be a low end 2nd liner/middle six piece his production in liiga was horrid. They got fooled by some international tournaments and now can’t put their egos aside and do what’s best for his development.

 

[Monsieur Miz]

He’ll have a NHL career longer than Yakupov but this was a worst pick. Yakupov at least had elite skill. Slafkovsky at best was always going to be a low end 2nd liner/middle six piece his production in liiga was horrid. They got fooled by some international tournaments and now can’t put their egos aside and do what’s best for his development.

I remember when they said he was the best pick because he played against "grown men" which made him ready for the big league.

For a big guy, he's soft as shit. Reminds me of Latendresse.

 

[yada]

For f***s sake this is ridiculous. Mans played less then 50 games. Relax its way too early and i would feel the same way if he went pointless over 82 games this year.

 

[WTG]

Patrik Stefan (with Sedin brothers available)

The 1st overall pick was traded specifically so that Vancouver could pick the twins 2-3 that was the handshake deal. Stefan would have not gone first overall if that trade did not happen. I don't think it's fair to judge Stefan as a first overall pick or "best in his draft class".

 

[swiftz]

Habs passing on Cooley will hunt them for a long long time they had a true #1 center in their hands as they wanted none of Wright but instead they ended up choosing the worst #1 overall pick of the last 10 years a 6'4 guy with nothing elite in his arsenal, who was injured 3 times in 39 games in his rookie year and who looks completely lost on the ice. Gorton, Bobrov and Lapointe are just plain terrible.

 

[LaCarriere]

He has four goals in 47 games, as a 1OA. That’s bordering on his being a complete and total stiff.

4 goals in 48 games now. And his first goal was just 5 games into his career (0.20 goals per game).

Since then he's gone for 3 goals in 43 games (0.07GPG).

For a winger that went #1OA... that's beyond horrible production. I know montreal is not giving him much to work with, but that still doesn't make it horrible.

 

[ijuka]

Patrik Stefan (with Sedin brothers available)

He wasn't really the first pick, he was effectively third overall.

As has been said, that first pick was conditional on them not picking the Sedins. It's not a true first pick. The Sedins for all intents and purposes were #1 and #2 of that draft.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

He's mishandled being up so young. I do not know what they burned off an ELC year.....

Montreal and 1st overall don't mix.

Montreal and top 3 picks do not mix:

- Galchenyuk: bust
- Kotkaniemi: Did not work out at all in Montreal
- Slafkovsky: Not trending the right way

Going back 20 years to 2003, they seem tohave a terrible track record in the first round. I honestly do not know if it is worse than most or not. Put in bold those who became core players for the Habs.

2003 - 10th overall: Andrei Kostitsyn (good player at times, underwhelming career for his potential and bad pick considering how legendary that draft is)
2004 - 18th overall: Kyle Chipchura (NHLer, did nothing with the Habs)
2005 - 5th overall: Carey Price (hall of famer for sure)
2006 - 20th overall: David Fischer (never played a game in the NHL)
2007 - 12th overall: Ryan McDonagh (great player, never played a game in the Habs org, was traded for Scott Gomez)
2007 - 22th overall: Max Pacioretty (great player, played for the Habs a a long time)
2009 - 18th overall: Louis Leblanc (bust)
2010 - 22th overall: Jared Tinordi (journeyman, did nothing with the Habs)
2011 - 17th overall: Nathan Beaulieu (journeyman, did very little with the Habs)
2012 - 3rd overall: Alexander Galchenyuk (NHLer, underachieved for his talent and flamed out)
2013 - 25th overall: Michael McCarron (journeyman, did nothing for the Habs)
2014 - 26th overall: Nikita Scherbak (bust)
2015 - 26th overall: Noah Juulsen (bust)
2016 - 9th overall: Mikhail Sergachyov (great player, only played one season for the Habs, was traded for Jonathan Drouin)
2017 - 25th overall: Ryan Poehling (journeyman)
2018 - 3rd overall: Jesperi Kotkaniemi (fine player, disappointed as a Habs and was offer sheeted)
2019 - 15th overall: Cole Caufield (so far, so good. Definitely a core player for the Habs at the moment)
2020 - 16th overall: Kaiden Guhle (so far so good, too early to make a judgement though, less than 82 games played)
2021 - 31th overall: Logan Mailloux (too early too tell)
2022 - 1st overall: Juraj Slafkovsky (too early too tell, seem like a very underwhelming first overall pick)
2023 - 5th overall: David Reinbacher (way too early too tell, seems like a reach, but time will tell)

Out of 21 first round picks, only 3 guys became core players for the Habs. 2 picks (Sergachiev and McDonagh) ended great players... but not on the Habs. Both were actually part of horrendous trades in retrospect. The stretch from 2009 to 2018 is especially bad. 2019 to 2023 might not end up bad at all though.