Player Discussion Juraj Slafkovsky discussion

[sampollock]

His skating is excellent he just needs to move his feet and give a shit.


100% correct. He's not a power forward, but he can be a powerful forward. He can 100% do what you describe. It isn't Brady or Matthew Tkachuk though.

if he turned into a Leclair.... that is all this fan base asks

 

[Skip Bayless]

I will keep repeating till I’m blue in the face…. Slaf’s game needs to be modeled after John LeClair’s

Big body to use for puck protection, winning board battles, and drive to the net - truculence is not in Slaf’s makeup & never will be

To be fair, they said he could emulate certain aspects of Brady Tkachuk's game, which is most likely is the things you listed. I think Slaf could be even better than Tkachuk at puck protection though.

I don't think they want him becoming a rat on top of that. Which to Brady's credit, makes him unique. Slaf is not that guy.

But he can be the kind of player that intimidates the opponent with power. Once he fully develops into a man, he will be scary strong.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

This is a "clear and present" danger of drafting Euro/Russians.. what most fans don't understand, is the majority of prospects from these systems (outside the elite) do not have the same drive as NA prospects.. their personal goals dont include a SC, they dont care (which is fine)..

Old man Cherry had it right from the beginning.. to win a SC you need a roster chalked full of NA players, with a sprinkle of Euros..

You think Slaf played street hockey in Slovakia, going to battle with the kids in the neighborhood? All to win a SC? No ofcourse not.. to them, making the NHL is the goal, getting paid is the goal..

Right now (sadly): the only difference btw Slaf and Mesar is that Slaf is a physical Unicorn, take away his god given physical gifts and he is no different than mesar.. both "expected" a paycheck.

Come on man…

 

[lamp9post]

if he turned into a Leclair.... that is all this fan base asks

Oh, that's all, just a perennial 50 goal scorer? What if he falls short of these low expectations?

 

[CHwest]

This is a "clear and present" danger of drafting Euro/Russians.. what most fans don't understand, is the majority of prospects from these systems (outside the elite) do not have the same drive as NA prospects.. their personal goals dont include a SC, they dont care (which is fine)..

Old man Cherry had it right from the beginning.. to win a SC you need a roster chalked full of NA players, with a sprinkle of Euros..

You think Slaf played street hockey in Slovakia, going to battle with the kids in the neighborhood? All to win a SC? No ofcourse not.. to them, making the NHL is the goal, getting paid is the goal..

Right now (sadly): the only difference btw Slaf and Mesar is that Slaf is a physical Unicorn, take away his god given physical gifts and he is no different than mesar.. both "expected" a paycheck.

For some being around the NA's rubs off on them and they start to care, for others it remains just a job their entire time in the league.

 

[Bobby Holik agent]

If you want Brady Tkachuk my suggestion would be to draft him.

 

[salbutera]

If you want Brady Tkachuk my suggestion would be to draft him.

Too late for that.. still can’t believe the bicep boys club passed on him

 

[River Meadow]

Too late for that.. still can’t believe the bicep boys club passed on him

But,

We needed a big Center

 

[ReHabs]

Seeing this playoff-style game, it is plainly clear what Hughes and Gorton saw in Slafkovsky as an x-factor with his size and mobility. What a shame he's not shown he can sustain his own effort levels to be relied on as such a player.

 

[waitin425]

Seeing this playoff-style game, it is plainly clear what Hughes and Gorton saw in Slafkovsky as an x-factor with his size and mobility. What a shame he's not shown he can sustain his own effort levels to be relied on as such a player.

*yet*

 

[ZUKI]

Too late for that.. still can’t believe the bicep boys club passed on him

Easy to say now. But at the draft, nobody wanted him because "he wasn't good offensively".

 

[ReHabs]

*yet*

What is he waiting for, a golden ticket? White glove butler with an invitation on a golden platter?

He got the keys to the franchise handed to him and doesn't seem to know what to do with them.

 

[River Meadow]

What is he waiting for, a golden ticket? White glove butler with an invitation on a golden platter?

He got the keys to the franchise handed to him and doesn't seem to know what to do with them.

As soon as the planets, and the stars, and the moon, align for Slafkovsky,

It's over for y'all haterzZzZz

 

[Shred]

You think Slaf played street hockey in Slovakia, going to battle with the kids in the neighborhood? All to win a SC? No ofcourse not.. to them, making the NHL is the goal, getting paid is the goal..

And you got guys like Marian Hossa, Slafkovsky’s countrymate, who did his best to find himself on cup contenders three seasons in a row, losing the finals twice with Pittsburgh and Detroit then winning 3 cups with Chicago. Maybe Slaf should model his game after Hossa after all…

For some being around the NA's rubs off on them and they start to care, for others it remains just a job their entire time in the league.

If Gretzky can start rooting for USA, I’m sure some Euros can start caring about the Stanley Cup… lol.

 

[DAChampion]

This is a "clear and present" danger of drafting Euro/Russians.. what most fans don't understand, is the majority of prospects from these systems (outside the elite) do not have the same drive as NA prospects.. their personal goals dont include a SC, they dont care (which is fine)..

Old man Cherry had it right from the beginning.. to win a SC you need a roster chalked full of NA players, with a sprinkle of Euros..

You think Slaf played street hockey in Slovakia, going to battle with the kids in the neighborhood? All to win a SC? No ofcourse not.. to them, making the NHL is the goal, getting paid is the goal..

Right now (sadly): the only difference btw Slaf and Mesar is that Slaf is a physical Unicorn, take away his god given physical gifts and he is no different than mesar.. both "expected" a paycheck.

I think that this is BS from top to bottom.

They all have drive otherwise they wouldn't make it.

But it's easier to have drive as an insulated teenager. The 25, 30, 35 year olds in the NHL have had to deal with real life, family, crippling injuries, etc so yes they think about the paychecks.

 

[waitin425]

What is he waiting for, a golden ticket? White glove butler with an invitation on a golden platter?

He got the keys to the franchise handed to him and doesn't seem to know what to do with them.

When you talk about the "playoff-style" game I assume you are talking about players like Brady Tkachuk. Slaf's numbers are not that far off what Tkachuk did in his first three years.

Franchise handed to him? That's a bit disingenuous but whatever.

Time will tell.

 

[rik schau]

For some being around the NA's rubs off on them and they start to care, for others it remains just a job their entire time in the league.

If anyone rubbed off on me I give them a damn whatfor.lol

 

[BehindTheTimes]

I think that this is BS from top to bottom.

They all have drive otherwise they wouldn't make it.

But it's easier to have drive as an insulated teenager. The 25, 30, 35 year olds in the NHL have had to deal with real life, family, crippling injuries, etc so yes they think about the paychecks.

Complete nonsense.

 

[ReHabs]

When you talk about the "playoff-style" game I assume you are talking about players like Brady Tkachuk. Slaf's numbers are not that far off what Tkachuk did in his first three years.

Franchise handed to him? That's a bit disingenuous but whatever.

Time will tell.

Brady Tkachuk and his career 0 playoff games?

I'm talking about a player who is a protagonist and who is reliable. Suzuki and Caufield we can feel confident they will play as hard as they can in the playofsf and come up when they're called on. Slafkovsky is neither reliable nor a protagonist right now. Maybe in the future, we hope. Maybe he'll do it for another team once the Habs get sick of his lazy, careless play and ship him away. Hopefully, if he does wake up it is with us, and if he never wakes up it'll be with another team.

 

[DAChampion]

Brady Tkachuk and his career 0 playoff games?

I wasn't aware of that statistic -- wow.

He must be so disappointed.

 

[ReHabs]

Brady Tkachuk and his career 0 playoff games?

I'm talking about a player who is a protagonist and who is reliable. Suzuki and Caufield we can feel confident they will play as hard as they can in the playofsf and come up when they're called on. Slafkovsky is neither reliable nor a protagonist right now. Maybe in the future, we hope. Maybe he'll do it for another team once the Habs get sick of his lazy, careless play and ship him away. Hopefully, if he does wake up it is with us, and if he never wakes up it'll be with another team.

I’m sorry, maybe this is very condescending but after so many years of failure and BS going against us… I just don’t see why we should look at the bright side… it is largely delusional to do so

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

If you want Brady Tkachuk my suggestion would be to draft him.

Why didn't you tell us back then????!!!

Dammit!!

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Seeing this playoff-style game, it is plainly clear what Hughes and Gorton saw in Slafkovsky as an x-factor with his size and mobility. What a shame he's not shown he can sustain his own effort levels to be relied on as such a player.

(Debbie Downer music plays in background)

What is he waiting for, a golden ticket? White glove butler with an invitation on a golden platter?

He got the keys to the franchise handed to him and doesn't seem to know what to do with them.

These posts are so bad. And so reminiscent of the posts we used to see on here when Carey Price first joined the team. Remember the 'silver spoon' nonsense from some posters? It was just hilariously bad.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Took a look at how Slaf is actually doing vs his contemporaries.

He’s 1st in points in his class. (Cooley will soon pass him)

Only 8 players from the previous draft have more points

Only ten players from the 2020 draft have more points

Connor Bedard from the 2023 draft has more points.

He’s doing fine. In the 2022 draft the only players I see who might be better right now are Hutson, Cooley and Wright. More may emerge but as of now that’s it. Let’s assume Wright and Cooley turn out better. That makes him the 3rd best and we got Hutson (hands down the best player in the draft) to go with him.

50 points a year isn’t bad at all for a player his age. For reference Suzuki and Caufield were just breaking into the league at the same age. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be disappointed in this season. I think we all expected more. But he’s hardly a disaster. And he could very well end up as the 2nd best in the draft behind Hutson. Cooley looks like he may make that difficult though.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Took a look at how Slaf is actually doing vs his contemporaries.

He’s 1st in points in his class. (Cooley will soon pass him)

Only 8 players from the previous draft have more points

Only ten players from the 2020 draft have more points

Connor Bedard from the 2023 draft has more points.

He’s doing fine. In the 2022 draft the only players I see who might be better right now are Hutson, Cooley and Wright. More may emerge but as of now that’s it. Let’s assume Wright and Cooley turn out better. That makes him the 3rd best and we got Hutson (hands down the best player in the draft) to go with him.

50 points a year isn’t bad at all for a player his age. For reference Suzuki and Caufield were just breaking into the league at the same age. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be disappointed in this season. I think we all expected more. But he’s hardly a disaster. And he could very well end up as the 2nd best in the draft behind Hutson. Cooley looks like he may make that difficult though.

50 pts per season rate so far in his 19 and 20 years old, that's a very solid production.

I'm very confident that Juraj will put 70 pts+ per season when he is going to put all together with consistency.

This guy can already play on top 6, but he have all tools to become a very good 1st line player, with two-way and physical ability.

Beast incoming, for sure.

Just be patient and he will prove that he can become a dominant player in this league.