Player Discussion Juraj Slafkovsky Discussion

Like everyone else said, when he is on, he is a very dominant player. The issue is consistency but at just 21 yo (recently), it's just normal because even if he is already big, he isn't mature physically. So it's too demanding for him to dominate that way each and every game. He will get there in 2-3 years, just in time when we start contending for a cup.
I'm not drunk still from last night.....but I am delusional after that winning high. We are contending this year!
 
I'm not drunk still from last night.....but I am delusional after that winning high. We are contending this year!
I see you had a pretty fun night.

I don't see us contending this year. But I you never know I guess. One thing that would help us greatly is getting back on track with the PP. The strategy is not working anymore and we just got the most talented player of the organization in the team recently. MSL has absolutely nothing to lose trying him on. Change the dynamic. We have enough talented now to use more than 1 pattern time and time again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: waitin425
100% agree….Slaf was a Beast last night. I was surprised he only got one assist. It looked to me he should have gotten another when he made the first of two passes that started another goal. Anyone see this too?


He should have got an assist here but still doesn’t have one. I guess the Canes player must have passed it directly to Carrier thanks to Slaf’s pressure.
 
Like everyone else said, when he is on, he is a very dominant player. The issue is consistency but at just 21 yo (recently), it's just normal because even if he is already big, he isn't mature physically. So it's too demanding for him to dominate that way each and every game. He will get there in 2-3 years, just in time when we start contending for a cup.
Consistency will come when he realizes there will be games where he doesn't have his full bag of tricks.
He'll learn that he has more than one way to impact a game even if it's just getting in the way of someone.
That is the secret to Suzuki's consistency. I saw it in his sophmore season and called him a future PPG guy.
Getting something out of nothing when your game is off is a great skill to have. Almost everybody here agrees Suzuki had a slow start.
The funny thing is if you look at his stats for Oct. He put up 12 points in 11 games while managing to have a flat +/-.
 
Reading commentary here and rewatching some plays last night I think I have been too hard on Slaf because of his lack of production, and have to change the way I interpret his value to the team.

We don't win without him last night, even if he didn't get off many great shots (and in fact whiffed on a couple key chances) or make many flashy passes he was definitely a menace and dug out key pucks/screened Kochetkov at key times. His play off the puck in the offensive zone is extremely helpful, especially with the build of most of our stars. If he does find his touch with the puck/shooting he'll be elite, and if not he's still a very good and necessary piece to have.
 
Last edited:
I see you had a pretty fun night.

I don't see us contending this year. But I you never know I guess. One thing that would help us greatly is getting back on track with the PP. The strategy is not working anymore and we just got the most talented player of the organization in the team recently. MSL has absolutely nothing to lose trying him on. Change the dynamic. We have enough talented now to use more than 1 pattern time and time again.
Agree. The PP has been a dogs breakfast. My observations over the past 5 or 6 games.

- the drop pass is wearing thin.....but thats been all season.
- teams are playing tighter on Lane along the blue line giving him less time and space to create.
- teams are focusing in on Laine (Tanev did this) and taking away his one timer.
- Suzuki is losing every god damn faceoff.

I'd like to see Demidov given some PP time, but I am honestly not sure who to give that time too. Maybe Laine.....without the one time he is basically useless. With Caufield and Hutson currently the mobile guys moving around, add in a third and see if they can create.

I am hesitant to move Slaf off the PP, but I would have him in front of the net more as opposed to posting up on the post. Last night, Carolina crashed our net all night and were threatening a dirty goal all game. I'd like for us to do that more. When Slaf screened that goal it was the perfect use of his size and body.
 
I'd like to see Demidov given some PP time, but I am honestly not sure who to give that time too. Maybe Laine.....without the one time he is basically useless. With Caufield and Hutson currently the mobile guys moving around, add in a third and see if they can create.
To me that is a no brainer, put Laine on the second unit, this PP otherwise is a waste of time.

Let's see if Marty has the balls to do it.
 
Reading commentary here and rewatching some plays last night I think I have been too hard on Slaf and have to change the way I interpret his value to the team.

We don't win without him last night, even if he didn't get off many great shots (and in fact whiffed on a couple key chances) or make many flashy passes he was definitely a menace and dug out key pucks/screened Kochetkov at key times. His play off the puck in the offensive zone is extremely helpful, especially with the build of most of our stars. If he does find his touch with the puck he'll be elite, and if not he's still a very good and necessary piece to have.
f*** being too hard. Cream puff ass fanbase.

He said it himself, I show up everyone loves me, the next day I dont people hate me.

Just f***ing show up. Slaf can't come in and have a skate like Nick, Cole, Pat, Ivan or Lane can, he doesnt have those skills, hes a luxury grinder. He just needs to show up.
 
Agree. The PP has been a dogs breakfast. My observations over the past 5 or 6 games.

- the drop pass is wearing thin.....but thats been all season.
- teams are playing tighter on Lane along the blue line giving him less time and space to create.
- teams are focusing in on Laine (Tanev did this) and taking away his one timer.
- Suzuki is losing every god damn faceoff.

I'd like to see Demidov given some PP time, but I am honestly not sure who to give that time too. Maybe Laine.....without the one time he is basically useless. With Caufield and Hutson currently the mobile guys moving around, add in a third and see if they can create.

I am hesitant to move Slaf off the PP, but I would have him in front of the net more as opposed to posting up on the post. Last night, Carolina crashed our net all night and were threatening a dirty goal all game. I'd like for us to do that more. When Slaf screened that goal it was the perfect use of his size and body.
Laine is fine on the PP. Its the 4 man box on the right side thats the problem. PKs force the puck on Patty and block the lanes because they know Slaf, Lane and Cole are not actual scoring threats.

Look at how much better PP2 is because Gallagher is a threat to score in the paint.

Slaf plays one quadrant of the net instead of playing the width of the net.

Im also unsure what Cole does on the PP. His role is extremely ambiguous. He doesnt play well inside the slot, he doesnt play well around the net and hes not a particularly good player on either half-boards.

They should swap Demidov with either and have Nick or Ivan play the bumper. Ive never seen Ivan play bumper he usually plays right halfboard but these two players are so smart they can do whatever.

Something like

Net Nick
Laine SLaf Ivan
Lane

This is basically the scheme the Caps have been running since 05.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: nicehiss
f*** being too hard. Cream puff ass fanbase.

He said it himself, I show up everyone loves me, the next day I dont people hate me.

Just f***ing show up. Slaf can't come in and have a skate like Nick, Cole, Pat, Ivan or Lane can, he doesnt have those skills, hes a luxury grinder. He just needs to show up.
Oh don't worry I yelled at him so loudly when he botched the Caufield set-up that I scared my dog. I was mostly implying I need to change what I expect him to bring to the team. I will still criticize him for lack of consistency, but I might not be furious if he doesn't pick corners like Caufield as long as he uses his size like...not Caufield.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Mrb1p
Slafkovsky showed last night why it doesn't make sense to just look at his point totals to evaluate him. When he's on his game he can do lots of dirty work on the boards and in front of the net to create offence that won't show up on the scoresheet.

Looking forward to see how he performs in the playoffs.
 
Oh don't worry I yelled at him so loudly when he botched the Caufield set-up that I scared my dog. I was mostly implying I need to change what I expect him to bring to the team. I will still criticize him for lack of consistency, but I might not be furious if he doesn't pick corners like Caufield as long as he uses his size like...not Caufield.
If he plays like the Slafsquatch he doesn't need to put up points necessarily, he can just cause chaos and keep opponents honest and anxious. An inverse Shea Weber -- remember when players would avoid his corner because of his presence? But that requires him to be hard and tough against the boards, to be active and hungry with his stick, to be alert and present. How often did he play this way this season? Less than 15 games, franchement.

Slafkovsky showed last night why it doesn't make sense to just look at his point totals to evaluate him. When he's on his game he can do lots of dirty work on the boards and in front of the net to create offence that won't show up on the scoresheet.

Looking forward to see how he performs in the playoffs.
The question has always been what do we want to see from him as a baseline and when he's off his game. I think his defensive play is fine, he's just gotta use his body more when his hands aren't working. He didn't do that enough this season and he had too many off games in the first place so it was doubly annoying.

With that said, there's no way Slafkovsky will disappoint in the playoffs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: waitin425
If he plays like the Slafsquatch he doesn't need to put up points necessarily, he can just cause chaos and keep opponents honest and anxious. An inverse Shea Weber -- remember when players would avoid his corner because of his presence? But that requires him to be hard and tough against the boards, to be active and hungry with his stick, to be alert and present. How often did he play this way this season? Less than 15 games, franchement.
Indeed, which is why I said earlier in this thread that I hope he develops some hatred for every team, since he plays differently when he's ticked off. Maybe over time he'll become a jaded old man and have that attitude innately :laugh:
 
Indeed, which is why I said earlier in this thread that I hope he develops some hatred for every team, since he plays differently when he's ticked off. Maybe over time he'll become a jaded old man and have that attitude innately :laugh:
That might explain a lot of my psychology
 
  • Haha
Reactions: waitin425


He should have got an assist here but still doesn’t have one. I guess the Canes player must have passed it directly to Carrier thanks to Slaf’s pressure.

In the reverse angle from near the end boards it looked like Slaf clearly passed back to Carrier. They showed that during the game. I can't find it anywhere though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DemidovSZN
If he plays like the Slafsquatch he doesn't need to put up points necessarily, he can just cause chaos and keep opponents honest and anxious. An inverse Shea Weber -- remember when players would avoid his corner because of his presence? But that requires him to be hard and tough against the boards, to be active and hungry with his stick, to be alert and present. How often did he play this way this season? Less than 15 games, franchement.


The question has always been what do we want to see from him as a baseline and when he's off his game. I think his defensive play is fine, he's just gotta use his body more when his hands aren't working. He didn't do that enough this season and he had too many off games in the first place so it was doubly annoying.

With that said, there's no way Slafkovsky will disappoint in the playoffs.
Rehab....I apologize for baiting you yesterday - sometimes your arguments become a bit much. This type of argument and evaluation above is completely fair and reasonable.
 
If he plays like the Slafsquatch he doesn't need to put up points necessarily, he can just cause chaos and keep opponents honest and anxious. An inverse Shea Weber -- remember when players would avoid his corner because of his presence? But that requires him to be hard and tough against the boards, to be active and hungry with his stick, to be alert and present. How often did he play this way this season? Less than 15 games, franchement.


The question has always been what do we want to see from him as a baseline and when he's off his game. I think his defensive play is fine, he's just gotta use his body more when his hands aren't working. He didn't do that enough this season and he had too many off games in the first place so it was doubly annoying.

With that said, there's no way Slafkovsky will disappoint in the playoffs.
My 2 cents is that you were pissed we didn’t draft a Demidov at 1OA in 2022.
 
Rehab....I apologize for baiting you yesterday - sometimes your arguments become a bit much. This type of argument and evaluation above is completely fair and reasonable.
He's just dog whistling.

Making stuff completly up or just straight up slandering when Slaf has a "down" game and then comes back to say things like "I just said he needs to work more" when he shines, just to keep up appearences.

The worst type of person, not even strong enough to stand up in what he "believes".
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Ad

Ad