Player Discussion Juraj Slafkovsky, the high offensive potential edition.

[Sorinth]

The presumption that inferior competition, will lead to increased production, which ultimately eases some people's anxiety about drafting him 1st overall?

Fan anxiety.

Which ironically if we look at Shane Wright it proves that's not even the case. Wright was also "not ready" for the NHL but did great in his short stint at the the AHL level and increased his ppg at the CHL level by 0.5ppg compared to the year before. But that increased production against inferior competition has done nothing to ease fan anxiety about him.

 

[417]

Which ironically if we look at Shane Wright it proves that's not even the case. Wright was also "not ready" for the NHL but did great in his short stint at the the AHL level and increased his ppg at the CHL level by 0.5ppg compared to the year before. But that increased production against inferior competition has done nothing to ease fan anxiety about him.

Beautiful irony!

 

[Rockomax]

The only downside I can think of is that being in the NHL it kills his confidence. Which I don't think is happening.

In terms of development, if he can handle the pressures and rigor of the NHL, then he can surely develop in the NHL. If he was not getting any ice time that would be a problem, but that wasn't the case with Slaf.

I trust our management and Slaf himself to know what is best for him over everyone here. I love our Board and all, and enjoy a laugh and commentary, but let's face it, we are all a bunch of keyboard gms only.

I hope we are all pleasantly surprised in his off season development. A 50 point sophomore season would be perfect.

50 points is not a realistic expectation. The guy played half a season in which he was pacing for 20 points and was on a cold streak at the end too.

I personally expect 25 to 35 points out of him next season; between 25 and 30 being the most likely imo. Which would still be a considerable growth on his part.

 

[417]

50 points is not a realistic expectation. The guy played half a season in which he was pacing for 20 points and was on a cold streak at the end too.

I personally expect 25 to 35 points out of him next season; between 25 and 30 being the most likely imo. Which would still be a considerable growth on his part.

All depends how much and who he plays with.

And how much work he put in this summer.

 

[Jaynki]

The presumption that inferior competition, will lead to increased production, which ultimately eases some people's anxiety about drafting him 1st overall?

Fan anxiety.

Could not agree more

 

[Jaynki]

The only downside I can think of is that being in the NHL it kills his confidence. Which I don't think is happening.

In terms of development, if he can handle the pressures and rigor of the NHL, then he can surely develop in the NHL. If he was not getting any ice time that would be a problem, but that wasn't the case with Slaf.

I trust our management and Slaf himself to know what is best for him over everyone here. I love our Board and all, and enjoy a laugh and commentary, but let's face it, we are all a bunch of keyboard gms only.

I hope we are all pleasantly surprised in his off season development. A 50 point sophomore season would be perfect.

I agree with pretty much everything. Especially the keyboars gm part.

Just a litte note on confidence, i believe confidence comes before success. Confidence is not result of success. Its quite the opposite. Success, consistency and tangibles results are the consequence of a strong, confident mindset. If playing in the NHL at 18 is enough to kill Slafkovsky confidence, then he won't have the mental skills necessary to handle his status in the Montreal market. I believe Slafkovsky is very confident and he is not affected and he has everything to handle this pressure, which was not the case with Galchenyuk, for example. Also, if anything and for what its worth, i believe the AHL might be a way biggest confidence killer than the NHL. Bottom line, i don't buy the go to AHL and WJC to dominate for confidence..

 

[417]

I agree with pretty much everything. Especially the keyboars gm part.

Just a litte note on confidence, i believe confidence comes before success. Confidence is not result of success. Its quite the opposite. Success, consistency and tangibles results are the consequence of a strong, confident mindset. If playing in the NHL at 18 is enough to kill Slafkovsky confidence, then he won't have the mental skills necessary to handle his status in the Montreal market. I believe Slafkovsky is very confident and he is not affected and he has everything to handle this pressure, which was not the case with Galchenyuk, for example. Also, if anything and for what its worth, i believe the AHL might be a way biggest confidence killer than the NHL. Bottom line, i don't buy the go to AHL and WJC to dominate for confidence..

I think the a big + with this is how current management handled the messaging around Slafakovsky before/during/after the season.

At least for those who chose to listen, they kept repeating that immediate results was never the goal this season.

This is something that previous regimes never understood whenever they employed the same strategy around starting teenagers (namely Galchenyuk/Kotkaniemi) in the NHL. They just let media/fans run with whatever narrative they wanted and like it or not, that bleeds into the player's psyche, at least IMO.

The lines seem to be much less blurry when it comes to expectations that fans/media have towards Slafkovsky and what management/coaching staff have towards Slafkovsky.

 

[Rockomax]

All depends how much and who he plays with.

And how much work he put in this summer.

"all" doesn't depend on those. He still needs to get ice time, which he hasn't had in months, at least no in the context of high pace games.

during his last stretch, he wasn't playing with bad players, yet had what? 0 points in his last 10 games? The kid only has a 39 games under his belt and hasn't really shown that he could be a points producer short term and you expect 50 points out of him as soon as next season?

 

[417]

"all" doesn't depend on those. He still needs to get ice time, which he hasn't had in months, at least no in the context of high pace games.

Read my post again.

Specifically the part that talks about “how much” he will play

during his last stretch, he wasn't playing with bad players, yet had what? 0 points in his last 10 games? The kid only has a 39 games under his belt and hasn't really shown that he could be a points producer short term and you expect 50 points out of him as soon as next season?

Something every single player went through on this team, including their most productive player (Suzuki).

Why should we expect Slafkovsky to be the outlier and the one who has to carry the offensive load when no one else is holding their own?

Because he was picked first overall 6 months prior?

Nah

Edit - I also never wrote what I expect out of him, what I wrote is that what he does this coming year is largely dependent on the role he plays.

 

[NotProkofievian]

"all" doesn't depend on those. He still needs to get ice time, which he hasn't had in months, at least no in the context of high pace games.

during his last stretch, he wasn't playing with bad players, yet had what? 0 points in his last 10 games? The kid only has a 39 games under his belt and hasn't really shown that he could be a points producer short term and you expect 50 points out of him as soon as next season?

Last 15, as a matter of fact.

 

[417]

Last 15, as a matter of fact.

Over that same stretch of 15 games (Dec 15 to Jan 15), Nick Suzuki, the Habs leading scorer and recognized best player, had the following stats

2 goals 4 assists for 6 points

Mind you, this was while Nick Suzuki was playing with the Habs best goal scorer Cole Caufield (whose last game was Jan 19).

Cole Caufield's stats over that 15 game stretch was actually the best on the team and read as follows

10 goals 0 assists for 10 points

I'm not even going to bother going into how much quality TOI Slafkovsky had over that stretch.

But isolating a 15 game stretch of a player's rookie year on a terrible team that can't produce offense is...interesting to say the least.

What are we doing here?

 

[junyab]

That Nilan podcast had some great insight and reinforced my thoughts about what HuGo are doing with Slaf.

They wanted to focus on shifting his game from playing a trap style game overseas to playing a completely different game in the NHL, and that they don't have offensive expectations yet.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Over that same stretch of 15 games (Dec 15 to Jan 15), Nick Suzuki, the Habs leading scorer and recognized best player, had the following stats

2 goals 4 assists for 6 points

Mind you, this was while Nick Suzuki was playing with the Habs best goal scorer Cole Caufield (whose last game was Jan 19).

Cole Caufield's stats over that 15 game stretch was actually the best on the team and read as follows

10 goals 0 assists for 10 points

I'm not even going to bother going into how much quality TOI Slafkovsky had over that stretch.

But isolating a 15 game stretch of a player's rookie year on a terrible team that can't produce offense is...interesting to say the least.

What are we doing here?

Does it feel like you're coping right now?

 

[417]

Does it feel like you're coping right now?

I’m just stating facts…and not the type of self serving facts you alluded too earlier.

I’ve got no horse in this race when it comes to Slafkovsky because I still don’t have a handle on what kind of player he’s gonna be. Unlike many here, I don’t need to reach to a conclusion right now, I’m perfectly fine waiting until there’s more data.

So yeah…not quite big guy lol

Coping? Lol

What did Slafkovsky do to you man lol

 

[ottawa]

Still believe in Slaf but can't for the life of me figure out why every habs front office staff doesn't believe in developing early 1st rounders outside of the NHL at least for the 1st year.

Hopefully we're more patient with our 2023 1st rounder

 

[NotProkofievian]

I’m just stating facts…and not the type of self serving facts you alluded too earlier.

I’ve got no horse in this race when it comes to Slafkovsky because I still don’t have a handle on what kind of player he’s gonna be. Unlike many here, I don’t need to reach to a conclusion right now, I’m perfectly fine waiting until there’s more data.

So yeah…not quite big guy lol

Coping? Lol

What did Slafkovsky do to you man lol

 

[417]

 

[The Great Weal]

"Who are you guys going to draft?"-Nilan
"We have to get bigger"-Gorton

Don't love that lol

 

[417]

The problem with the front runner is they never realize when they've actually been lapped.

 

[junyab]

you expect 50 points out of him as soon as next season?

If the Habs management and Slaf do not expect any certain number of points then why should we?

I personally believe almost any number of points are possible, but it doesn't mean I will call it more or less of a success depending on how many he gets, just as long as Habs management are happy with his progression.

 

[junyab]

Still believe in Slaf but can't for the life of me figure out why every habs front office staff doesn't believe in developing early 1st rounders outside of the NHL at least for the 1st year.

Hopefully we're more patient with our 2023 1st rounder

Better coaching, better practices, better teammates, better mentors, better monitoring from management...could be any, all or none of the above. Surely there are reasons, we just aren't privy to them, and that's ok.

 

[Sorinth]

50 points is not a realistic expectation. The guy played half a season in which he was pacing for 20 points and was on a cold streak at the end too.

I personally expect 25 to 35 points out of him next season; between 25 and 30 being the most likely imo. Which would still be a considerable growth on his part.

I don't expect 50 points but I also wouldn't really expect any sort of linear production increases. It's more likely there will be modest improvements due to role/usage and then at some point if/when he figures out how to put it all together there will be a giant increase in production. That's the usual MO for players who have all the tools but don't use them effectively (Assuming of course they do eventually put it all together).

 

[Goalfield13]

He got a nice taste of the NHL last year. I hope he starts in the AHL next season and stays there for the year.

 

[Deebs]

 

[Hins77]

I don't expect 50 points but I also wouldn't really expect any sort of linear production increases. It's more likely there will be modest improvements due to role/usage and then at some point if/when he figures out how to put it all together there will be a giant increase in production. That's the usual MO for players who have all the tools but don't use them effectively (Assuming of course they do eventually put it all together).

50 pts is maybe a bit high imo. Below 30 pts would still be disapointing…. I know, this isnt not only about production, but we are also talking about the first overall pick.