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Player Discussion Juraj Slafkovsky discussion

ReHabs said:
Slaf is not a bust.

Of course it's a mistake -- you draft players so they contribute as soon as possible, not 8 years and many managers/coaches/TEAMS later.

The 'technicality' that completely dismantles your point? Yes, it is a relevant detail. A player who takes too long to get going is not a very interesting player for the team that picked him up.

Time is a valuable resource and teams have compete windows linked to the peaks and performances of their best players -- a player drafted FIRST OVERALL who doesn't get going until he's in his late 20s and a UFA is not relevant to the compete window in which he was drafted.

Hughes did not draft Slafkovsky so Slaf could contribute to the team the next Habs GM assembles.
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The technicality is that he decided to go the UFA route after college. One team 'gave up' on him and it was a deal that contributed in.a SC. I didn't say it'll take until D+8 for Slaf to get 64 pts. My point is that a) player is 20 b) bigger player which take longer to hit their prime.

As for part in bold. Slaf was drafted because they thought he'd be the best player in the draft when it's all said in done. Not the best player in 2023/2024/2025. They clearly know it won't be a linear road.
 
Victoire HuGo said:
Reminder Blake Wheeler, a player with very similar tools only hit 64 pts in his D+8 season. Wasn't in the NHL until his D+5. So how about people take a chill pill.
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What about Wheeler? Bruins deemed him not worthy of extending and dumped him to Atlanta for Peverly. Then they strarted to win Stanley cups while Wheeler won nothing.
 
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Nicko999 said:
There is not a single PPG guy in there.
Demidov might be but he is a question mark still.
Suzuki ideally is a 2C. If he is a 1C, you better have a deep team.
Caufield has never scored 30 goals in a season yet.
Ghule is not a #1D and injury prone.
Slaf is a 50 pts forward, 2nd line forward.
Hutson is very promising, I agree.
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The perfect example of seeing the glass half empty. 🤣 Jesus, the negativity on here when the club is losing is ridiculous.

Slaf will be fine. He was never supposed to be a superstar. He'll be at the same level as Byfield/Cozens.
 
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Kobe Armstrong said:
But at least he's handsome
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and soon to be very rich. Whether he develops on the job or not, he needs to show the fans and the team much more than he is currently. He is a giant teddy bear out there, always happy and smiling on the bench without a care in the world.

It is wonderful that he doesn't allow the spotlight and pressure to get to him but he needs to wake up a bit and realize the contract he signed means that there are big expectations.

He is still young but he needs to give a damn on the ice and stay involved in the play. I would play Heineman in his spot after the break and make him play his way back to the first line. He has been given prime everything and now needs some stern parenting. Play him with Evans and Armia and make him grind it out, pk duties as well. The season is toast, time to start experimenting.
 
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Zalos said:
The perfect example of seeing the glass half empty. 🤣 Jesus, the negativity on here when the club is losing is ridiculous.

Slaf will be fine. He was never supposed to be a superstar. He'll be at the same level as Byfield/Cozens.
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I don't think it's glass half empty. Most of the posters here simply massively overrate our players and prospects and i like to bring a little bit of realism.😀
 
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Nicko999 said:
I don't think it's glass half empty. Most of the posters here simply massively overrate our players and prospects and i like to bring a little bit of realism.😀
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You just choose to look at most of those in a pessimistic light. I could do the opposite and just expect all of them to reach their ceiling

- Demidov becomes a superstar (100+ points per season)
- Suzuki turns into another Bergeron (two-way star forward)
- Caufield has multiple 40+ goals years starting this year
- Guhle turns out to be an excellent #2 as he matures some more and stops getting injured
- Slaf finds chemistry with two other players and he starts using his strength more
- Hutson matures and becomes one of the best offensive D in the league

BONUS: Jacob Fowler turns out to be a star goaltender for us.

See how I just decided to look at the glass half full? I know it's easy to be a downer when the team isn't looking great, but come on!
 
ReHabs said:
You brought him up and insisted he's a positive comparable to Slaf. No one else thinks Blake Wheeler is a good case study for our story with Slafkovsky. Incoherent.
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Yeah I brought him up because of how long it took him to become an impact player. Both big wingers with draft pedigree, superb vision and both were inconsistent. Where in my comparable did I go hey let's analyze his playoffs performance or do a deep dive on the decision the Bruins did when traded him?
 
Victoire HuGo said:
Yeah I brought him up because of how long it took him to become an impact player. Both big wingers with draft pedigree, superb vision and both were inconsistent. Where in my comparable did I go hey let's analyze his playoffs performance or do a deep dive on the decision the Bruins did when traded him?
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If you don't want it discussed, I guess next time don't bring up something irrelevant. Slaf as Blake Wheeler is a very bad outcome for the Habs.
 
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ReHabs said:
If you don't want it discussed, I guess next time don't bring up something irrelevant. Slaf as Blake Wheeler is a very bad outcome for the Habs.
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Okay so let me understand this right.

Complain about party life with barely any details. Check
Ignore his dominance last year. Check
Ignore that he's 20 years old. Check
Ignore that his peers are not on a linear path either. Check
Bring up Galchenyuk and KK because they are top 3 players of the Habs in last decade therefore all the same player. Check
Don't talk about how he averages over 2 hits per game but nah he's soft and not physical. Check
Don't talk about how bigger players are known to struggle with consistency. Check.
Use Slaf as scape goat when only a handful of players are playing well since the TOR game. Check

Don't bring comparable players because their career needs to be an exact copy paste for it to be relevant. But please bring up KK and Galchenyuk


Is that a good summary?
 
Good GMs still make mistakes but know when to cut their losses on their mistakes instead of doubling down on them.

This was always a risky pick but I can't blame them for swinging for the fences in that draft class. But the question will be whether Hughes is willing to do what we know he needs to do with this bust.
 
Victoire HuGo said:
Reminder Blake Wheeler, a player with very similar tools only hit 64 pts in his D+8 season.
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Slaf will be considered a bust if the Habs have to wait until 2032 for him to be productive.

When a team drafts first overall, they're not picking the player so that he contributes in the very distant future.

2032 is very far away. By that point Suzuki, Caulfield, and Guhle might all be retired, President Vance will be running for re-election, my youngest will be in third grade, we might have Mars colonies, and my body mas index might have reached triple digits. We shouldn't have to wait that long.
 
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Victoire HuGo said:
Good to know one player is responsible for winning. The guy had 21 pts in 17 GP in WPG's WCF run. That loser
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He isn't. He was just one of the players they deemed a non needed expensive surplus and was traded. He was not the only one. They were perfectly aware which of their player are the key players and which are expendable. That's what made them a powerhouse for a decade.
Since you point out Wheeler, his first PPG season came after 10 years in HNL.
Also, he was a No5 pick. How about we talk about 1OA and 2OA in that draft? They are also 2 big guys, but somehow it didn't take them 10 years and didn't give a shit about conference finals. They came to win.
 
EtLeBut2 said:
Good GMs still make mistakes but know when to cut their losses on their mistakes instead of doubling down on them.

This was always a risky pick but I can't blame them for swinging for the fences in that draft class. But the question will be whether Hughes is willing to do what we know he needs to do with this bust.
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I think as long as Slaf doesn't regress, he will have positive trade value because GMs are stupid and obsessed with size and draft reputation. I hope at the right time, if Slaf still has issues with his effort levels and consistency, Hughes will do the needful.

And yes swinging for the fences probably wasn't the wrong move in the general sense but I don't think this player was the right profile for such a swing. He had NO reputation as a consistent producer. ZERO. AND he was never a big hitter/mean/nasty/snarling/whatever powerforward type.

Victoire HuGo said:
Okay so let me understand this right.
[...]
Is that a good summary?
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I'll remain polite and just say no, you haven't summarised it right.
 
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ReHabs said:
I think as long as Slaf doesn't regress, he will have positive trade value because GMs are stupid and obsessed with size and draft reputation. I hope at the right time, if Slaf still has issues with his effort levels and consistency, Hughes will do the needful.
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When a team waits too long to trade disappointing top-5 players, they risk ending up with only Josh Anderson and Christian Dvorak to show for it.
 
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