Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[Draft]

Not sure what you mean by growing when he is already one of the heaviest players in the NHL. He doesn't show that willingness to engage by going to the net or knocking people down. That doesn't just suddenly come just because he's big. He's closer to maybe being a better Armia than a a real PWF by being a better Anderson.

He hasn't shown it at other levels. This was one of the biggest knocks on him, at league level there has been little to show for.

Sure, I can clarify what I mean by "growing". You'll see it regularly with exceptionally tall athletes or young guys that have just gone through a significant growth spurt. It's partially physical in developing better core and lower body strength but a huge part of it is allowing time for your brain to catch up and not dedicate so much processing power to coordination. It's not *just* about putting on weight or adding muscle. Gotta grow into your body. This is commonplace in volleyball/basketball where big athletes are the norm.

I watched him a lot in his draft year and got loads of flack for comparing him to Armia. However, Slaf played a heavier game at the same age in Liiga and, while inconsistent, would throw his weight around at times. Confidence plays a big role and that appears to be in short supply.

Neither of us needs to get into debating what a PWF is in modern hockey, that's boring and pedantic. Projecting forward in his development, his play style may end up in the same vein as a guy like Rantanen. I don't particularly care how we categorize him. I can say instead: the fanbase hasn't seen a large, physical, toolsy, forward developed in 20yrs. Longer really and I think it shows with all the impatience and frustration.

 

[Bombshell11]

Tonight:

C'tu clair?

 

[River Meadow]

Tonight:

View attachment 762324

C'tu clair?

Better get used to it boys.

Looks like we'll be seeing a lot more 0's from Slafkowsky as Habs management continues to pretend he's NHL ready.

 

[HuGort]

They certainly making a mess of him. Game he doesn't understand. Needs to spend time in Laval. If it breaks him, it breaks him. He's a mess at this level anyway nothing to lose.

Glad Bergevin never made this pick. Can you imagine the backlash on here?

 

[River Meadow]

Like I was suprised of this pick and saw some upside, but this dude is just awful, bad decision making, no instinct for scoring, no work ethic, no board work, and an ego on top of that, dude could atleast work his ass off to show he belongs but somehow thinks he does for no reason at all except the habs blowing smoke up his ass everyday

Yessir.

Let's see some effing HUSTLE.

He plays like he's a 15 year veteran in terms of energy conservation.

LIKE WHAT.

 

[ReHabs]

It’s been ten games.

He’s not better than last year, don’t delude yourself. The emperor does not have new clothes.

Last year was a mistake + a waste. This year is downright embarrassing. 1OA on pace for a 8pt season in his D+2.

If you don’t want to accept last year was a catastrophic mistake that’s perfectly fine with me but you don’t get to call any of the rest of us “haters” because we were prescient and aware enough to see what was going on.

Slaf was my only DND and it was because of his Liiga play. Turns out you shouldn’t waste valuable draft picks on players who can’t produce in their draft year. Wanna gamble on a “project”? Do it with a 2nd round pick not the 1OA.

Kent Hughes has majorly derailed our rebuild. Between not trading away Josh Anderson and his trade for Newhook and rushing Slafkovsky I feel like Hughes doesn’t have a single clue what he wants to accomplish and how. Another GM with a foxhole and no clue.

 

[Habbietat]

first time since being a habs fan im starting to get pissed off at our drafting, same shit every year, how do you get excited for a team that tanks to just pick up players who cant score, not one player drafted has gotten over 80 points in how f***ing long? Does this team hate talent that much? Best players on our team are currently Monahan and Allen, trade both of them and do this properly, I thought we were on the upswing after 2 years of shit but now it feels like we havent hit the bottom yet and as we get rid of the vets this team will get worse when no talent is replacing it

 

[HeussLenfoire]

Crazy how people are talking about development, overtime, 3 on 3, etc. The kid doesn’t lack confidence, he lacks talent, he’s just a bad player who will go down as the worst 1st OA ever. No talent whatsoever, he has never shown the sparkle of magic that may make you believe something.

 

[Pazucha]

AHL -> WJC please or trade

I can already see Marty next 200 IQ move its going to be line of:
Slaf - Dvorak - Anderson
because why not?

 

[SnapVirus]

Crazy how people are talking about development, overtime, 3 on 3, etc. The kid doesn’t lack confidence, he lacks talent, he’s just a bad player who will go down as the worst 1st OA ever. No talent whatsoever, he has never shown the sparkle of magic that may make you believe something.

I agree. Ive been saying before the draft he was not a top4 pick.

Wright, Cooley, Nemec was my top3. And I still believe all 3 will be better players.

Wright showed more in the NHL in 8 games than Slaf in 50s.

They reached with a 1st ov that the guy would become a Iginla/Lecavalier/Rantanen big body forward with skills. But they gambled wrong. Late riser are never good.

 

[BarracudaMtl]

Imagine now that Matvei Michkov becomes a Conor Bedard 2.0...

 

[Andrei79]

I agree. Ive been saying before the draft he was not a top4 pick.

Wright, Cooley, Nemec was my top3. And I still believe all 3 will be better players.

Wright showed more in the NHL in 8 games than Slaf in 50s.

They reached with a 1st ov that the guy would become a Iginla/Lecavalier/Rantanen big body forward with skills. But they gambled wrong. Late riser are never good.

There are a ton of examples of later risers that ended up good. 2017 is filled with such examples. Nemec is another, as he rose even more than Slaf.

 

[ReHabs]

This Eric Engels piece is interesting for the wrong reasons. Debate over Slafkovsky staying with Canadiens rages after loss to Cooley, Coyotes

“He’s fine,” Allen said of Slafkovksy. “He seems great every day. Honestly, compared to last year, his mood is super impressive. He comes to the rink to work every day, and I’ve never seen him down. He’s doing the right things.”

Compared to last year? Hmm. Your guess is as good as mine what that means.

 

[cave troll]

IMO, Gally should have passed to puck to Slaf on that goal. If Slaf scored form that easy position, maybe we'd see the floodgates opening.

 

[Skala24]

I agree with Marc Dumont:

"I’ll keep this short and bitter: the second line is terrible and it’s beyond time St-Louis addresses the situation. There’s no chemistry, and all three players clash when it comes to their style of play.
As for the potential solutions, if Harvey-Pinard is out of action for any length of time, it may be time to give Juraj Slafkovsky an audition on the top line. There’s really nothing to lose by giving him a chance to play with some of the team’s best players, and there’s a lot to gain by removing him from the second line, which has been detrimental to his development. If the Canadiens cannot afford a top-line audition for their first overall pick, the AHL is the only destination that makes sense. I wouldn’t go as far as saying he’s costing the team wins, but it’s clear that the NHL is not the right league for Slafkovsky at the moment, at least not in his current situation. He’s not having fun out there, and it shows. Once a player starts overthinking every single pass and shot, things only get worse. It doesn’t matter what people will say about the AHL assignment, either. Yes, there will be some (justified) criticism around the league, not to mention a bevy of jokes made at the team’s expense, but it’s a small price to pay when it comes to the development of such an important player."

 

[Pazucha]

I agree with Marc Dumont:

"I’ll keep this short and bitter: the second line is terrible and it’s beyond time St-Louis addresses the situation. There’s no chemistry, and all three players clash when it comes to their style of play.
As for the potential solutions, if Harvey-Pinard is out of action for any length of time, it may be time to give Juraj Slafkovsky an audition on the top line. There’s really nothing to lose by giving him a chance to play with some of the team’s best players, and there’s a lot to gain by removing him from the second line, which has been detrimental to his development. If the Canadiens cannot afford a top-line audition for their first overall pick, the AHL is the only destination that makes sense. I wouldn’t go as far as saying he’s costing the team wins, but it’s clear that the NHL is not the right league for Slafkovsky at the moment, at least not in his current situation. He’s not having fun out there, and it shows. Once a player starts overthinking every single pass and shot, things only get worse. It doesn’t matter what people will say about the AHL assignment, either. Yes, there will be some (justified) criticism around the league, not to mention a bevy of jokes made at the team’s expense, but it’s a small price to pay when it comes to the development of such an important player."

MSL had multiple good opportunities to test him on the first line. But I am afraid that this "window of opportunity" is no longer open, kid lost confidence and plays badly.

He needs to regain his game with Monahan or go to AHL if he stays in the NHL and shows improvements than I hope Marty wont pass his next chance to test him with 14 and 22.

 

[Habbietat]

k so I slept on it, and Slafkovsky still sucks

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

View attachment 762046

Superb! Did you do this? If so, you should shoop more often.

 

[cave troll]

So far:
Slafkofsky 49GP 4G 7 A 11 PTS
Cooley 10 GP 1G 7A 8 PTS
What puzzles me is that our top 3 picks in last 2 years are all form Europe.
Seems that Bobrov had the last word on it. A guy who scouted busts and megabusts from Europe in last almost 20 years.
The only guys who didn't bust were Krejci (long time ago) and Chytil.

 

[Habssince89]

Nah. There were people who wanted Cooley yeah but they weren't THAT numerous, and they deserve to have their say not stopping them. I wanted Wright and am not about to start pretending that Cooley was my guy. ok?

to add I remember when F Forsberg broke out and people were mad we didn't draft him at #3

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Basically… Tourigny just said that the plan the Habs have with Slafkovsky is wrong. These are direct quotes.


La LNH n’est pas une ligue de développement. Tu ne joues pas dans la LNH pour te développer. Tu joues dans la LNH parce que tu es capable d’aider ton club à gagner. C’est une ligue de performance. C’est une ligue professionnelle ; les gens paient pour venir voir les joueurs. Le développement, il y a des ligues, pour ça. J’ai coaché dans ces ligues-là, elles sont très bonnes. C’est là qu’on peut faire des essais et erreurs.

André Tourigny

Visiblement lancé, Tourigny a assuré que « tu le vois tout de suite » si un joueur est prêt ou pas à faire le saut, pour de bon, vers le niveau le plus élevé.


« Quand tu n’es pas capable d’exécuter quelque chose qui est normalement ton rôle sans être nerveux, c’est parce que t’es pas rendu là. Je donne souvent le même exemple : même si tu es le meilleur étudiant, tu ne peux pas rentrer en médecine à 12 ans. Tu n’es pas rendu là. Tu ne peux pas rentrer à l’université et recommencer ta première année sept fois en te disant qu’à un moment donné, tu vas l’avoir. Ce n’est pas comme ça que ça marche. Tu vas continuer à te développer, une année à la fois, et quand tu vas maîtriser ta matière, un jour, tu vas être docteur. »

« C’est la même affaire avec la LNH, a ajouté l’entraîneur. Si [un joueur] est nerveux de faire des jeux, qu’il n’a pas confiance avec la rondelle, qu’il a de la misère à dormir le soir parce qu’il n’a pas confiance en lui… Le monde a beau dire “ce n’est pas grave, il est jeune”, mais lui, il faut qu’il vive avec lui-même tous les jours. Il le sait qu’il ne performe pas. Et il est assis à côté d’un gars, dans la chambre, qui sait qu’il a de la misère. Ce n’est pas une position pour se développer. »

Coyotes de l’Arizona | « La LNH n’est pas une ligue de développement », insiste André Tourigny

Le match de jeudi soir, entre le Canadien et les Coyotes de l’Arizona, était le premier entre Juraj Slafkovsky et Logan Cooley depuis qu’ils ont été sélectionnés au premier et au troisième rang, respectivement, au repêchage de 2022.

www.lapresse.ca

Who does Tourigny think he is? Doesn't he know Hugo can't do wrong and that their pom pom wavers know better than everyone because they take their cues from Hugo?

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Not sure what you mean by growing when he is already one of the heaviest players in the NHL. He doesn't show that willingness to engage by going to the net or knocking people down. That doesn't just suddenly come just because he's big. He's closer to maybe being a better Armia than a a real PWF by being a better Anderson.

He hasn't shown it at other levels. This was one of the biggest knocks on him, at league level there has been little to show for.

I still believe there are enough tools that a couple years outside of the NHL might turn him into something but right now he is no where near NHL ready. Even Ylonen is better NHLer right now. Maybe go down to AHL, put up maybe 15 goals/35 points in ~60 games this year. Point/game next season and get called up for good.

Habs should buy tickets to heavy metal and punkrock shows and force him to go into mosh pits.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Most? Man, what?

Slafkovsky was a concensus top 3 pick in his draft year.

I don't think I have seen any final rankings with him outside the top 5.

That's not the definition of a player that everyone saw as "bad" and was loudly crapping on...

Stop it. I was here. We were many who didn't want Slaf. Anyone but Slaf, was often repeated, or a variation of that.

 

[Twisted Sinister]

I agree. Ive been saying before the draft he was not a top4 pick.

Wright, Cooley, Nemec was my top3. And I still believe all 3 will be better players.

Wright showed more in the NHL in 8 games than Slaf in 50s.

They reached with a 1st ov that the guy would become a Iginla/Lecavalier/Rantanen big body forward with skills. But they gambled wrong. Late riser are never good.

Stop it. I was here. We were many who didn't want Slaf. Anyone but Slaf, was often repeated, or a variation of that.

I didn't have him in my top 5...

Imagine now that Matvei Michkov becomes a Conor Bedard 2.0...

Different players, but I think he'll be as valuable for sure. I think the management team shit the bed massively in hiring Bobrov and allowing a culture-based culture (Ha) to take hold as a philosophy. Shit plan that will deprive us of the talent we desperately needed and could have had.

This thread has me like:

I'm here for it.

 

[Colezuki]

I agree with Marc Dumont:

"I’ll keep this short and bitter: the second line is terrible and it’s beyond time St-Louis addresses the situation. There’s no chemistry, and all three players clash when it comes to their style of play.
As for the potential solutions, if Harvey-Pinard is out of action for any length of time, it may be time to give Juraj Slafkovsky an audition on the top line. There’s really nothing to lose by giving him a chance to play with some of the team’s best players, and there’s a lot to gain by removing him from the second line, which has been detrimental to his development. If the Canadiens cannot afford a top-line audition for their first overall pick, the AHL is the only destination that makes sense. I wouldn’t go as far as saying he’s costing the team wins, but it’s clear that the NHL is not the right league for Slafkovsky at the moment, at least not in his current situation. He’s not having fun out there, and it shows. Once a player starts overthinking every single pass and shot, things only get worse. It doesn’t matter what people will say about the AHL assignment, either. Yes, there will be some (justified) criticism around the league, not to mention a bevy of jokes made at the team’s expense, but it’s a small price to pay when it comes to the development of such an important player."

I agree with this, the entire line is trash right now when dach was there they played a cycling game and now it’s all over the place. now that dvo can hopefully come back im hoping they try Monahan in new hooks spot, move newhook back to the wing and move Andy down to the 4th line.

If we’re not doing that send him down