Player Discussion Juraj Slafkovsky Discussion

[Redux91]

And yet some posters spent pages trying to argue that he has a "low hockey iq"

Ohh keep your eyes peeled boys
He'll be back eventually lol.. they're like cockroaches these guys

Gotta bait him juuuust the right way and they jump on the hook everytime

Been catchin' super slaf haters since back in the ollllll days of '22, *spits* grueling work but gotta feed the kids somehow

 

[JianYang]

I honestly don't even know who to compare him to. He's so unique.

He is so calm with the puck. He makes these passes that I never expect. Like they sometimes actually dont make sense.

He has this awesome ability of gaining the zone, quickly getting boxed out, but uses his size just long enough to make a pass to Suzuki or Cole entering the zone. It's such a nothing play visually, but it creates so many scoring chances.

It's hard to appreciate his game because while he makes spectacular passes, so many more chances come from really smart, simple passes in the neutral zone or just after gaining the blue line.

Yeah I can't think of a great comparison either at his size, especially on the wing.

 

[Adam Michaels]

And yet some posters spent pages trying to argue that he has a "low hockey iq"

The way he lobbed the puck into the space for Cole for his goal, that's a high IQ play. So those who say he has low IQ are off.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Also, can we stop with the worse 1OA forward thing with Slaf?

He's been better than Laf, and I would even argue that he's way more of an interesting 1OA than RNH. Outside D+1, Slaf and RNH's paces aren't extremely different.

Then there is Yakupov who was terrible.

Can we just start believing the player we have and stop trying to have hot takes? Thanks.

whatever. We drafted 1,22,5,5,21 in 3 years and came out with Slaf, Hutson, Rein, Demi and Hage. 2 players with 10A talent that werent picked 10a.

 

[Miller Time]

The way he lobbed the puck into the space for Cole for his goal, that's a high IQ play. So those who say he has low IQ are off.

And the awareness, vision and dexterity required to execute plays like this were visible in his game (albeit far less frequently) from the start... Some posters just don't seem to understand the process of development that athletes go through & how rare it is for unicorn's like Hutson to arrive that can play fearlessly from day 1.

For most, including top talents/prospects, it takes time to learn how to quiet the noise of doubt and uncertainty while adjusting to the speed, skill, pace and violence of the NHL level.

Never a guarantee that they do put it all together, but mistaking hesitancy for low IQ or lack of effort /competitiveness is a common mistake made around here... Lots of that showing up in hot takes about Josh Roy as we speak lol

 

[Le Barron de HF]

One thing is that he also has been less productive on PP so it'd be a step in right direction if he ends up with more points this year on top of more ES points

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Yeah I can't think of a great comparison either at his size, especially on the wing.

Wheeler

 

[Rapala]

One thing is that he also has been less productive on PP so it'd be a step in right direction if he ends up with more points this year on top of more ES points

His PP is still a work in progress. He has yet to learn just how much influence he can have without the puck. It's easy to see he's making strides in that direction.

 

[Kennerback]

One thing is that he also has been less productive on PP so it'd be a step in right direction if he ends up with more points this year on top of more ES points

This season, he lost his halfwall one-timer goals on the PP, first by Dach taking his place, then by Laine forcing Caufield out of the left-halfwall, cementing Slaf as net front. I know Slaf prefers half-wall but his future is net front.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Wheeler

Good comp, especially the playmaking , Blake is another big guy who had his best years only after he turned like 25-26. Started in the NHL at 22

 

[Apfle Strubble]

NHL 1st liners are really good players. Slaf has been playing against them consistently for a little over 80 games. There’s getting used to the speed of NHL and getting used to the speed of the top 80ish forwards in the league

It’s something a lot of fans and amateur advanced statistics creators tend to forget. They see a player produce in a sheltered role and extrapolate the production. Outplaying Justin Kirk or Entwhistle is easier than producing and surviving against Kucherov, Koneckny or Aho. Not being a liability on a first line is a testament in itself. Bedard is one, Caufield was one until this season

 

[salwan]

It hasn't started yet but he did 'secure it', either way he knows he's got 60 million$ on the way no matter what is what the guy meant to say I think

Did that impact his play early in the year?well it's tough to say..
But I GET what he means in a sense

For me, he was clearly just 'overthinking everything' the first few months lol

thank you. Thought it was obvious what I meant.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Would be nice if he can start like this and not need 4 months to get things going

 

[waitin425]

Would be nice if he can start like this and not need 4 months to get things going

Wouldn't it be something if he could be a PPG power forward who is in the top 10 in hits every year?

I mean....it's possible.

 

[Redux91]

Would be nice if he can start like this and not need 4 months to get things going

I don't know though..

Personally I've always hated Mr octobers and novembers
Some people cool off and drift

There's something about second half surges, and hopefully it could spill over into the playoffs if we somehow made it
At least that's the hope

 

[Kennerback]

Would be nice if he can start like this and not need 4 months to get things going

Maybe it starts by not asking him to cut 15 pounds over the summer again (allegedly).

 

[sandviper]

NHL 1st liners are really good players. Slaf has been playing against them consistently for a little over 80 games. There’s getting used to the speed of NHL and getting used to the speed of the top 80ish forwards in the league

It’s something a lot of fans and amateur advanced statistics creators tend to forget. They see a player produce in a sheltered role and extrapolate the production. Outplaying Justin Kirk or Entwhistle is easier than producing and surviving against Kucherov, Koneckny or Aho. Not being a liability on a first line is a testament in itself. Bedard is one, Caufield was one until this season

Good post and something to consider. Along with his line mates, Slaf is playing against top line players or top checking lines. Fact he’s performing better now when teams have essentially gelled says a lot about his performance.

Of course, I’d like to see a better start, more consistent effort through the season.

 

[13 Black]

Would be nice if he can start like this and not need 4 months to get things going

Had Slaf played the same way he's been playing since the 4 nations from the start he'd be flirting with 65-70pts right now.

Alas that's not the case but that should come in due time with more maturity and experience and the mindset that comes along with it. I always thought he's going to really explode at around 22-23 years old and still think that way.

 

[DAChampion]

For all of the mean jokes about ReHabs, I'm pretty sure he's just been locked out since the forum crashed.

 

[Saundies]

Slaf just has to believe he's the man and he will take off like a rocket. He's fairly confident in himself at the best of times but he has to believe he's the one to make a difference in the hockey game and play like it. He's 20 and playing with our best players, so I definitely understand his tendency to defer to them a lot but once he starts realizing that he's also a guy who can take over if needed, he'll start taking more chances, shooting more, driving the net more, taking point on the PP more, etc.

In the second halves of these last two seasons he starts to do that and you see the results. But he has to do it all the time to have the best success.

 

[WeThreeKings]

For all of the mean jokes about ReHabs, I'm pretty sure he's just been locked out since the forum crashed.

Nah he did this before. He'll wait for him to go cold for 2 games and come back in yelling about Liiga stats.

 

[ExReHabs]

For all of the mean jokes about ReHabs, I'm pretty sure he's just been locked out since the forum crashed.

Yeah I was locked out because it reverted to my former username and password. Very bad crash.

I posted in the “are you okay?” Thread that the few days away made me realize I’m addicted to posting more than I am to watching hockey. So, I’m gonna take this time to slow down on the posting. Logging back out.

Nah he did this before. He'll wait for him to go cold for 2 games and come back in yelling about Liiga stats.

Slaf’s embarrassing season is being undone — good for the Habs and good for Slaf. What a shame he sucked for so long and cost the Habs valuable points. He must not disappear in the playoffs like he does in the season. It isn’t fair to his team or the fans that this hulking skilled beast chooses to not try. I’m glad he knows he can do better and is showing it.

Those of us who weren’t pathetic about and afraid of calling it what it was were vindicated when Slaf repeatedly emphasized his season was an embarrassment. Now we will happily cheer his success without resorting to ToldYaSo or “serving crow” — there’s no point.

Slaf had to play better and now he is.

He is still a big doubt because he sucks for half the season and those matches matter just as much (if not more) in determining the tone of a season.

Until he confirms he is a reliable player, if not consistent, he will be a disappointment. You can’t rely on inconsistent, unreliable players no matter how badly some of you want to steer and dominate the conversation.

His Liiga stats and your attempt at tone policing are equally irrelevant. Slaf is a Habs player and we all want his success.

Hope this helps

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Slaf’s embarrassing season is being undone — good for the Habs and good for Slaf. What a shame he sucked for so long and cost the Habs valuable points. He must not disappear in the playoffs like he does in the season. It isn’t fair to his team or the fans that this hulking skilled beast chooses to not try. I’m glad he knows he can do better and is showing it.

he's 20 years old

Not fair to his team or fans lmao. So the 20 year old has to be a ppg monster in order for it to be "fair" to the poor fans and the team?

The only unfair thing is people expecting him to be a finished product right now

 

[Shutdown]

he's 20 years old

Not fair to his team or fans lmao. So the 20 year old has to be a ppg monster in order for it to be "fair" to the poor fans and the team?

The only unfair thing is people expecting him to be a finished product right now

the guy you're quoting is pathetic. best thing that happened to him all year was Slafkovsky being overly self-critical which gave him an opportunity to pile on.

 

[Rapala]

I don't know though..

Personally I've always hated Mr octobers and novembers
Some people cool off and drift

There's something about second half surges, and hopefully it could spill over into the playoffs if we somehow made it
At least that's the hope

True but starting next season it's imperative that he has a better off season than this past one.
I didn't get the sense that he put in as much prep work as the previous year. Slaf became very good the minute he stopped thinking and started skating. Unfortunately for him he is probably the easiest guy to pick out when he isn't skating.