Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[NORiculous]

It appears they have a clear, defined plan for Slaf where at certain point in his development he will be brought to other stages. Hughes mentioned last year that they had specific objectives for him, unrelated to point production, and that Slaf met those threshold.

He doesn’t passe the eye test and he sucks on paper. Habs are trying to reinvent the wheel and I am surprised Gorton is putting up with this.

When you pick at the top of the draft, you want offence. The kid isn’t working on his offensive tools in critical learning years. The last guy the Habs did that with was Drouin by putting him at C instead of letting him learn how to create offence.

The plan is wrong… unless you want Slafkovsky to become Turner Stevenson.

 

[NORiculous]

I think most fans here criticize much more the development path than the player himself.

Absolutely. The Slafkovsky criticism is to underline the bad plan he is being brought up with.

We don't know if it would have been better if he was in the AHL last year, in the grand scheme of thing.

That is a totally BS argument.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Holy copium... glimpses? You're holding on to that?

Slafkovsky is unequivocally not NHL calibre at this point. He doesn't belong here. Hence, he is "bad". I know that for some weird reason, you thought it was a good idea for him to start the year in the NHL but it wasn't. He's not cutting it.

He and the Habs will be better served long term if he is sent to the AHL, so that there is an attempt to salavge the mess that's been made. There is some raw talent there, and obviously he was blessed with great size. Let's see him earn ice time against a more reasonable level of competition.

I'm not holding on to anything, that's the reality of a 19 year old in the NHL.. the issue is people are expecting more from a 1OA when we were told, and it was obvious, that the class that year was very weak and they were not getting a traditionally good 1OA.. so yeah, expectations are that you'd see this type of performance on a developmental project at 19 in the NHL.

I never said it was a good idea for him to start the year in the NHL, I just know the reasons why they chose to do it.

He will play where they play him and they'll continue to focus on developing him because him being in the NHL with this group and MSL is different than him being with MT and MB, which is the piece that people seem to be unable to understand.

I'd support a move to the AHL but there's a very low chance they will do it.

 

[Tyson]

I'm not holding on to anything, that's the reality of a 19 year old in the NHL.. the issue is people are expecting more from a 1OA when we were told, and it was obvious, that the class that year was very weak and they were not getting a traditionally good 1OA.. so yeah, expectations are that you'd see this type of performance on a developmental project at 19 in the NHL.

I never said it was a good idea for him to start the year in the NHL, I just know the reasons why they chose to do it.

He will play where they play him and they'll continue to focus on developing him because him being in the NHL with this group and MSL is different than him being with MT and MB, which is the piece that people seem to be unable to understand.

I'd support a move to the AHL but there's a very low chance they will do it.

In the balance of all of this- slafkovsky's confidence is going to wane soon. No way he can play 20 games, have no goals and one assist.

 

[Jaynki]

Can we refrain from using top 50 players' names ALL-TIME when discussing "what he could become", just so we don't pour fuel on the fire right now?

Its not about what he could become. Nobody expect Slaf to have season like Thornton or Draisaitl.

The only parralel is that they have struggled in their first 50 games/first season and they were ''bust'' at some point according to HFHabs standard.

 

[cave troll]

Its not about what he could become. Nobody expect Slaf to have season like Thornton or Draisaitl.

The only parralel is that they have struggled in their first 50 games/first season and they were ''bust'' at some point according to HFHabs standard.

In D+2 Thornton scored 16 goals and had a 41 pts season Afterwards he had 9 pts in11 playoff games.
In D+2 Drai scored 19 goals and had 51 pts in 72 games.

Where do you see Slaf in D+2. Is he able to reach 20 pts?

 

[WeThreeKings]

In the balance of all of this- slafkovsky's confidence is going to wane soon. No way he can play 20 games, have no goals and one assist.

That's the dilemma because sending him to the AHL is also a hit to his confidence. Arpon/Godin were talking about this on their podcast.. going to the AHL is a step back, and Hughes has done it, teams have done it, you can massage the messaging all you want but the player is going to feel they are taking a step back and their confidence will take a hit.

But for me, I think he'll get his confidence back more if he finds a way to produce down there.

I think you give him the next 2 weeks with Dvorak back and see how that changes things, and if there isn't production coming (honestly, Anderson is impacting his numbers but he'd still have 0 goals which is an issue) then if you do send him down - you leave him down for the year. No yo-yo.

 

[NORiculous]

That's the dilemma because sending him to the AHL is also a hit to his confidence. Arpon/Godin were talking about this on their podcast.. going to the AHL is a step back, and Hughes has done it, teams have done it, you can massage the messaging all you want but the player is going to feel they are taking a step back and their confidence will take a hit.

That’s another reason for doing it fast when a player isn’t ready. You have to do it anyway because he will rebuild his confidence much faster in the AHL.

The longer they wait… the harder it will hit.

And if he can’t do it in the AHL, there is no way he will do it in the NHL.

So it’s all PR BS to calm fans down on an issue that was miss handled. And you know what? The fans aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel… but management is and they don’t want to admit it.

 

[Jaynki]

In D+2 Thornton scored 16 goals and had a 41 pts season Afterwards he had 9 pts in11 playoff games.
In D+2 Drai scored 19 goals and had 51 pts in 72 games.

Where do you see Slaf in D+2. Is he able to reach 20 pts?

Yes i think he should reach 20 points

 

[cave troll]

Yes i think he should reach 20 points

Yep. Fantastic D+2 for a 1 OA pick.

 

[DarcyWakaluk]

Everybody is assuming that if he goes to Laval, it will be easy for him to get goals, points and dominate...but what if he goes there and he struggles as much as he struggles now in the NHL? I think that's what scares the management the most. At least here, they have the excuse to say it's 'normal' that is struggling.

 

[cave troll]

Everybody is assuming that if he goes to Laval, it will be easy for him to get goals, points and dominate...but what if he goes there and he struggles as much as he struggles now in the NHL? I think that's what scares the management the most. At least here, they have the excuse to say it's 'normal' that is struggling.

Can we send him to his buddy Mesar to play with kids?

 

[Hisch13r]

The only reason Slafkovsky is not in the AHL, is because they realised that theirAmateur scouts were shit and that Slafkovsky doesnt have the tools to produce offensively. If they send him down and he doesnt produce, it will be crazy bad for them. So they rather keep him up with Marty and try to develop him as best as they can to save face.

I said it before and i said it again : never reach for a player who had a hot streak juste before the draft. This is a copy/paste of Puljujarvi whi was red hot before the draft, a big body forward with no IQ.

Holy revisionism on Puljujarvi. Puljujarvi was seen as a top 3 prospect literally the entire season. Tied for 2nd with Chychrun in Bob’s preseason rankings. He ended up 3rd at seasons end and was picked 4th. He didn’t rise late because of a hot streak. He wasn’t a reach. He literally went wire to wire a top 3 pick and was picked lower than expected (granted 1 pick but certainly not a reach)

Elite prospect Matthews tops McKenzie's ranking

Next June, the best young amateur players in the world will be made available at the 2016 NHL Draft. Follow the first TSN Ranking of the season - a compilation based on input from various scouts around the National Hockey League.

www.tsn.ca

Final 2016 Ranking - Matthews goes wire to wire as TSN's top prospect - TSN.ca

Auston Matthews - the big centre from Scottsdale, Ariz., who played this season in the Swiss League - went wire to wire as TSN's No. 1 prospect for the NHL Draft and leads a deep crop of prospects for the seven Canadian NHL teams to select in the Top 12.

www.tsn.ca

 

[Ajhccwrs]

Imagine the whining and complaining if we took Connor Wright instead of Slaf last year. Lmfao people just like to complain.

 

[cave troll]

Imagine the whining and complaining if we took Connor Wright instead of Slaf last year. Lmfao people just like to complain.

Why? Wright got humiliated at the draft day, then he was sent to juniors to complete the humiliation.
Now he is in AHL with a PPG. He has a steady development and will probably get a call form Kraken in this season.
Slaf is going in the opposite direction, from NHL to minors soon without any clue abut if he's capable of doing something at AHL level.

 

[Mrb1p]

Imagine the whining and complaining if we took Connor Wright instead of Slaf last year. Lmfao people just like to complain.

Probably because he'd be in the NHL struggling just the same.

Stop blaming the symptom and start looking at the illness.

 

[Scriptor]

In D+2 Thornton scored 16 goals and had a 41 pts season Afterwards he had 9 pts in11 playoff games.
In D+2 Drai scored 19 goals and had 51 pts in 72 games.

Where do you see Slaf in D+2. Is he able to reach 20 pts?

The D+2 for Slafkovsky will realistically start kicking in sometime after Christmas, considering the time missed due to injury and subsequent rehab last season.

Under this scenario, we should be seeing improvement later on in the season.

I'm willing to hold off, personally, before going bat-$shit crazy, burning down the house and asking form management to be flogged 600 lashes per negative in Slafkovsky's +/-.

At 21, I believe that Slafkovsky will be an interesting player and start to be a tangible contributor to the team's success.

Time will tell, but we should wait before sounding off all the alarms.

The positive right now is that the lack of point production is not due to a lack of effort, an entitled attitude or stubbornness from the player and that the team sees no reason to start losing patience while developing the kid.

The best way touring the kid into micro-analyse and disparage him the way fans recurrently doing. Thankfully, the media hasn't gone full-blown in the same direction... yet!

Another player was quoted as giving this as the best advice to Slafkovsky right now (just forget which one): Avoid social media.

The hot takes on this and other forums about Slafkovsky, so far, justify this extremely sound advice.

 

[Mrb1p]

The D+2 for Slafkovsky will realistically start kicking in sometime after Christmas, considering the time missed due to injury and subsequent rehab last season.

Under this scenario, we should be seeing improvement later on in the season.

I'm willing to hold off, personally, before going bat-$shit crazy, burning down the house and asking form management to be flogged 600 lashes per negative in Slafkovsky's +/-.

At 21, I believe that Slafkovsky will be an interesting player and start to be a tangible contributor to the team's success.

Time will tell, but we should wait before sounding off all the alarms.

The positive right now is that the lack of point production is not due to a lack of effort, an entitled attitude or stubbornness from the player and that the team sees no reason to start losing patience while developing the kid.

The best way touring the kid into micro-analyse and disparage him the way fans recurrently doing. Thankfully, the media hasn't gone full-blown in the same direction... yet!

Another player was quoted as giving this as the best advice to Slafkovsky right now (just forget which one): Avoid social media.

The hot takes on this and other forums about Slafkovsky, so far, justify this extremely sound advice.

There we go now his draft year is delayed lmaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The lengths people will go to man

 

[WeThreeKings]

Why? Wright got humiliated at the draft day, then he was sent to juniors to complete the humiliation.
Now he is in AHL with a PPG. He has a steady development and will probably get a call form Kraken in this season.
Slaf is going in the opposite direction, from NHL to minors soon without any clue abut if he's capable of doing something at AHL level.

At least be honest that if we picked Wright at 1, you'd be complaining just the same:

"What a 1 OA, 2nd year and he's in the AHL"

The draft year wasn't good, there's merit that Slaf shouldn't have been the pick, there's merit he should have started in Laval or be there now.

There isn't merit to just shouting 1st overall to try to diminish what he is.. we all knew the 1st OA was not going to be a franchise player. That wasn't on the table.

We picked Slaf

Nemec is in the AHL
Cooley is in the NHL now and is the best case for 1OA.
Jiricek is in the NHL and looking less ready than Juraj.
Wright is in the AHL.

Not all draft classes are equal, not all 1OA are equal.

 

[Jaynki]

Why? Wright got humiliated at the draft day, then he was sent to juniors to complete the humiliation.
Now he is in AHL with a PPG. He has a steady development and will probably get a call form Kraken in this season.
Slaf is going in the opposite direction, from NHL to minors soon without any clue abut if he's capable of doing something at AHL level.

Slaf is going in the minor soon?

 

[Redux91]

View attachment 761114

I reeaally don't like you,

But this was funny lol..

 

[Tyson]

Slaf is going in the minor soon?

Great question- is it too late to salvage this kid?


I know it's wayyyy too early to call Slaf a bust but it is becoming increasingly concerning with each passing game.
He just isn't showing enough.

Some players who bust are directly responsible but the majority of young players who don't pan out are more of a direct result of management totally mishandling the development of that player.

I feel bad for Slaf, I really do.

 

[TennisMenace]

Please send him down….please…..we need to develop him….it appears he’s not learning much.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Everybody is assuming that if he goes to Laval, it will be easy for him to get goals, points and dominate...but what if he goes there and he struggles as much as he struggles now in the NHL? I think that's what scares the management the most. At least here, they have the excuse to say it's 'normal' that is struggling.

This would only stall the problem, but it will come roaring back if he doesn't make headway in the next 18 months. Might as well get it over with and test him in the A. If there's no production, at least they'll know what they're dealing with and ascertain how much more time and effort they want to put into him.

 

[Whitesnake]

I don't know why people keep talking about goals and points. IT'S NOT ABOUT THAT. If the guy is implicated, at the right place, does the little things, is strong, can anticipate....and STILL ends up with 5 points total...I WON'T CARE. He stays!

But it's not about that. He,s often all over the place. Often on the toes of a teamate which means somebody else is open. Doesn't shoot. Takes the wrong decisions in all 3 zones. It's going too fast. And it's okay. He wasn't playing against tough opposition all of his life. He was parachuted in the best league in the world at 18.

He needs to take it a little more slowly. Build confidence. And that's at BEST in the AHL. Geez, he could even go back in Juniors but obviously, we won't do it. And not in Europe either where he needs to be acclimated to smaller ice surface.