Player Discussion Juraj Slafkovsky discussion

[OnTheRun]

That quote about him being impressed that guys that are competing for playoff spot with their own team are playing this hard at the 4 nation cups while he was really happy drinking a cocktail on the beach says it all about him

The least you could do is to quote things properly. There wasn't any reason to leave out "a-t-il enchaîné en riant." at the end, unless you trying to craft a narrative.

Can someone translate what RDS is saying here?

My poor French and Google translate are giving me nonsense. Something about getting trapped?

Pranked. (He got a "Jureye" sticker on his helmet). It's just RDS wasting bits and bandwidth.

 

[CHwest]

Does it ever work to draft a player hoping he becomes more physical or starts to use his size? It's like the meme of the guy saying flies must be stupid to fall into Venus fly traps but fans fall into this one each time. If a player isn't physical by the time they are drafted they ain't never gonna be physical!

Not even close to being true, players reinvent themselves all the time, some become whatever it takes to stay in the league. Fighters that never fought, fight, scorers become defensive specialists etc. Slaf is stuck in the loop that he is a "player" and management cannot or does not want to convince him that a lot more is required. Some players never get it and drift for a while and then fade. It is frustrating....

 

[OldCraig71]

We're not talking about the same thing, but while we're at it, showing compete every once in awhile is NOT the same thing as having compete. The bros have been competitive from day one, day in and day out. Not Slaf. The unicorn fantasies seem less and less likely. Competition has adjusted from last season, to Slaf's limited bag of tricks. He needs to develop new tricks, new habits and I fear his vision is limited to accomplish this and will always be looking to others, teammates and coaches, to find out what he could do different, which is not a recipe for the unicorn fantasies to come to fruition.

He needs to prove some things to himself and to the people who drafted him. He was drafted first overall I believe they are trying to justify the pick by keeping him on the first line while he is clearly a tier below the production of NS and CC.

I want to see him play with the Dvoraks and Evans of this team, and learn to show some grind and grit even if he isn't producing points. I would send him over the boards on the PK as well. I want them to stop gifting him prime opportunities because once that contract kicks in the pressure will intensify and a 40 point season won't be enough.

In saying this, he still needs time but we always hear that development is about more than points and needs to work on some things against easier competition.

 

[HabsForHire]

That description works only if it's the same person commiting the actions. Hughes had nothing to do with KK and Galchenyuk. Habs are not a monolith.

still rushed....

 

[LaP]

still rushed....

All 1st overall picks are.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

still rushed....

He set the franchise record for points by a 19 year old........you are plain wrong.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

He needs to prove some things to himself and to the people who drafted him. He was drafted first overall I believe they are trying to justify the pick by keeping him on the first line while he is clearly a tier below the production of NS and CC.

I want to see him play with the Dvoraks and Evans of this team, and learn to show some grind and grit even if he isn't producing points. I would send him over the boards on the PK as well. I want them to stop gifting him prime opportunities because once that contract kicks in the pressure will intensify and a 40 point season won't be enough.

In saying this, he still needs time but we always hear that development is about more than points and needs to work on some things against easier competition.

 

[calder candidate]

Slaf is no Thachuck but he is physical and can be hard to play against but Only When he move is feet, he got speed get to the puck carrier, get better positioning and use his body to separate the puck or simply finish a check the issue is that most of the time his feet aren’t moving so he just always 1 sec late and can only wave is stick around and can’t finish is check…

 

[ReHabs]

That quote about him being impressed that guys that are competing for playoff spot with their own team are playing this hard at the 4 nation cups while he was really happy drinking a cocktail on the beach says it all about him

Ehhh - what do you expect him to do, sit through the snow storm and shovel his car out? A break to recharge his batteries and unscrew his head from his behind might not be bad at all.

All 1st overall picks are.

Wanna take a guess where he ranks in eg. Production (PPG) among 1st overall picks? Are you sure you wanna dig this up again?

He set the franchise record for points by a 19 year old........you are plain wrong.

Against how many other players and with what TOI/gp?

And how has he ranked in franchise points by a 20 year old? You must have the stats.

After spinning his wheels and failing for half a season, Slaf was given a spot next to Suzuki and Caufield (Suzuki in red hot form) and stayed there. He did very well in the spot.

I don’t remember Galchenyuk being given such a big chance nor Kotkaniemi. How many 19 year old do we have in Habs history, anyway?

 

[Rapala]

Talking exactly about what my last post was referring to on BPM Sports.
Slaf confirms coming out of a meeting with Nicholas regarding what he needs to work on to progress.

 

[Tabarouette]

Wanna take a guess where he ranks in eg. Production (PPG) among 1st overall picks? Are you sure you wanna dig this up again?

A normal person will look at this chart and be a little alarmed

an hfboard poster will look at this chart and think "well Lafrenière could take off any minute, therefore Juraj is gonna be a ppg guy for sure "

That's a dire group to be a part of, you'd better start skating grand flanc mou

 

[Rapala]

Slaf is no Thachuck but he is physical and can be hard to play against but Only When he move is feet, he got speed get to the puck carrier, get better positioning and use his body to separate the puck or simply finish a check the issue is that most of the time his feet aren’t moving so he just always 1 sec late and can only wave is stick around and can’t finish is check…

Exactly what Adam Nicholas can work on as well as learning when to drive the net. Desire however is not.
So while not being a natural dog Desire can replace some of that nastiness. I'm not sure Slaf has demonstrated the Desire they claimed he possessed this season.

 

[Ozmodiar]

Now he’s slimmed down to 225. Same as Brady Tkachuk. BT an inch taller.

Is that what we’re hoping for here? BT is nastier and has more skill. Maybe Slaf can be a kinder, more gentle version.

Slaf answered my question…

 

[OldCraig71]

It's good to read information about what the Habs want from him but will he do it? He must understand Montreal's pressure cooker and how the media and fanbase will expect much more from him at 7.8 million a year. He says what he needs to work on but he isn't consistently showing it on the ice.

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

Talk is cheap, time to show us he has some Brady Tkachuk in him. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[LaP]

Talk is cheap, time to show us he has some Brady Tkachuk in him. I'll believe it when I see it.

He doesn't need to be BT and will never be BT and if that's the plan they should trade him now. Don't try to change the player trade him if he is not what you want.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

A normal person will look at this chart and be a little alarmed

an hfboard poster will look at this chart and think "well Lafrenière could take off any minute, therefore Juraj is gonna be a ppg guy for sure "

View attachment 979182


That's a dire group to be a part of, you'd better start skating grand flanc mou

A normal person would realize that not all drafts are created equal. A normal person would realize that you don't get to choose between Bedard, Slaf, Cooley and Wright when Bedard isn't in the draft.

Everyone knew it was a weak draft. Comparing Slaf vs... McDavid is stupid. Right now there are three players from that draft who could wind up being better than Slaf. (More may emerge in the future as well.)
Cooley, Wright and Hutson. To me the clear cut best player in that draft is going to be Lane Hutson and we got him.

So that leaves Cooley and Wright. Let's just assume that they both wind up better. That means we got two of the best four players in the draft.

What's there to be upset about?

Slaf still has more potential than either one of those two. He may not hit the upside but the combination of size and talent wasn't available anywhere else in the draft. I'm still good with this pick.

Totally possible that those other guys (esp Cooley) blow the doors off. If so, oh well. We still got the best player in the draft. Still have a guy who at minimum will be a solid player with size.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Talk is cheap, time to show us he has some Brady Tkachuk in him. I'll believe it when I see it.

You'll be waiting a long time. Lane Hutson isn't Brady Tkachuk either... it doesn't matter.

Slaf will be who he's going to be. I think he'll have some snarl to his game but he's never going to start a fight two seconds into a game. That's not who he is and nobody should expect it.

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

He doesn't need to be BT and will never be BT and if that's the plan they should trade him now. Don't try to change the player trade him if he is not what you want.

If he's not what they want they shouldn't have drafted him in the first place. He doesn't need to become a carbon copy of BT and he won't like you said, he just needs to stop being so soft and easy to play against, to use his frame more. Apparently he's willing to work on that, we'll see.

You'll be waiting a long time. Lane Hutson isn't Brady Tkachuk either... it doesn't matter.

Slaf will be who he's going to be. I think he'll have some snarl to his game but he's never going to start a fight two seconds into a game. That's not who he is and nobody should expect it.

I don't expect him to start fighting and become the third Tkachuk brother, learning how to use his big frame more (not necessarily hits but in puck protection) and showing a minimal amount of grit would be a good start. I don't think that's too much to ask.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I don't expect him to start fighting and become the third Tkachuk brother, learning how to use his big frame more (not necessarily hits but in puck protection) and showing a minimal amount of grit would be a good start. I don't think that's too much to ask.

I agree. And I think you will see that in the future. It's disappointing we haven't seen more of it this year.

 

[Victoire HuGo]

I guess I'll wait and see but IMO he's more like Matthew than Brady. The only aspect I want him to copy more from Brady is crashing the net but I'd hate to see Slaf start fighting all of a sudden 4-5 x a year.

 

[Tabarouette]

A normal person would realize that not all drafts are created equal. A normal person would realize that you don't get to choose between Bedard, Slaf, Cooley and Wright when Bedard isn't in the draft.

Everyone knew it was a weak draft. Comparing Slaf vs... McDavid is stupid. Right now there are three players from that draft who could wind up being better than Slaf. (More may emerge in the future as well.)
Cooley, Wright and Hutson. To me the clear cut best player in that draft is going to be Lane Hutson and we got him.

So that leaves Cooley and Wright. Let's just assume that they both wind up better. That means we got two of the best four players in the draft.

What's there to be upset about?

Slaf still has more potential than either one of those two. He may not hit the upside but the combination of size and talent wasn't available anywhere else in the draft. I'm still good with this pick.

Totally possible that those other guys (esp Cooley) blow the doors off. If so, oh well. We still got the best player in the draft. Still have a guy who at minimum will be a solid player with size.

Half of what there is to be upset about is irrational, no one is hiding that

we completely missed the mark on a couple of high picks and then got the worst draft year ever to draft 1st overall, it's unbelievably frustrating

But outside of that frustration, I am frustrated watching this bum drag his feet. I never expected him to be a Tkatchuk, but I do expect him to think faster than a goldfish

 

[SlafySZN]

Slaf answered my question…

Tkachuk doesn’t have more skills at all, though.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Half of what there is to be upset about is irrational, no one is hiding that

There's very little to be upset about. It's entirely possible we got the two best players in the draft and a few others who might wind up being top ten.

We all knew it was a weak draft but it looks like we got the only superstar as well.

we completely missed the mark on a couple of high picks and then got the worst draft year ever to draft 1st overall, it's unbelievably frustrating

Not when you consider that we also got Hutson.

But outside of that frustration, I am frustrated watching this bum drag his feet. I never expected him to be a Tkatchuk, but I do expect him to think faster than a goldfish

I get it. He's been disappointing. But there's so much potential here.

 

[SlafySZN]

I guess I'll wait and see but IMO he's more like Matthew than Brady. The only aspect I want him to copy more from Brady is crashing the net but I'd hate to see Slaf start fighting all of a sudden 4-5 x a year.

I agree. Matthew is more of a passer type, like Slaf is if we have to choose one of the two brother lol. Brady is forecheck and net front mostly.