Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[Twisted Sinister]

Although to be fair, concerning the 2022 draft, I wouldn't trade Kirby Dach for any player from that class as of today. And we got him there.

Like, imagine we had picked Kirby Dach 1st overall in 2022 (ignore age considerations). Wouldn't look so bad.

If he can stay healthy, which doesn't seem to be a guarantee by any means.

Dont worry, im fully aware of the Wright bias.

You're being deliberately obtuse. I had 5 guys ahead of Slaf because he played like a dumbass in his draft year and he plays like a dumbass now. Numerous posters that watched Slaf play were sounding the alarm on him in his draft year. It wasn't just Wright. I had Cooley, Jiricek, Cutter, and Nemec ahead of him as well, and though I didn't do it because of consensus, I should have put Nazar and Mintyukov ahead of him as well, cuz that's where my heart was.

If this player can't start seeing the game better than he does and learn to make better decisions, he's going to have a very rough go of it, regardless of his tools. You can have all the tools in the world and still end up as Joel Armia.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

If he can stay healthy, which doesn't seem to be a guarantee by any means.



You're being deliberately obtuse. I had 5 guys ahead of Slaf because he played like a dumbass in his draft year and he plays like a dumbass now. Numerous posters that watched Slaf play were sounding the alarm on him in his draft year. It wasn't just Wright. I had Cooley, Jiricek, Cutter, and Nemec ahead of him as well, and though I didn't do it because of consensus, I should have put Nazar and Mintyukov ahead of him as well, cuz that's where my heart was.

If this player can't start seeing the game better than he does and learn to make better decisions, he's going to have a very rough go of it, regardless of his tools. You can have all the tools in the world and still end up as Joel Armia.

I would rather have drafted Wright, Cooley, Nemec, Jiricek, Korchinski, Minty and Gauthier over Slaf. Would've been fine with any of those.

I really liked all four of the top Ds, although DJ scared me a bit because of the injury.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Instead of galaxy-braining him into learning fancy breathing technics and have him sport futuristic sunglasses on ice, maybe what he truly needs is just... to score goals, to help his psychology.

Folly, I know.

 

[BenchBrawl]

I suspect they fear sending him down, because if he starts struggling in the AHL, that would not only break him but will make management look really bad as Wright is scoring goals in the AHL and Cooley is producing at the NHL level.

And all of this in a context where Michkov is torching the KHL.

 

[Deebs]

I suspect they fear sending him down, because if he starts struggling in the AHL, that would not only break him but will make management look really bad as Wright is scoring goals in the AHL and Cooley is producing at the NHL level.

Don't be scuuuured Kent. They need to do what's best for the franchise and right now, they are killing this kid. It's way worse to kill your top prospect than looking like a fool, so do the right thing and get him in Laval pronto.

 

[FrankMTL]

You're right, and in my saner moments I know the kid has a lot of runway left. But wouldn't it be nice to know we picked the best player, instead of cuddling with the teams that picked the wrong player? Sure, fast-forward a couple of years and Slaf may turn out to be the right guy, but right now he obviously needs to be shifted somewhere else. I don't think the top line is for him (nor is it fair to Suzuki and Caufield), so the logical move is the AHL. Management has to do... something... other than deny the need to do... something.

Speaking of runways, this Bobrov dude better liftoff soon or his reputation will crash and burn. Don't know what he did to earn his position, but he was given two lob-ball drafts and absolutely cannot whiff on them.

I especially agree regarding Nick Bobrov...He was Director of European Scouting for the Rangers from 2016-2021 and didn't exactly hit too many homeruns with his European picks during his tenure. The other drafts during his tenure aren't really mentioned as most of the picks were from North America.

2017- Lias Andersson (7th), Filip Chytil (21st)
2018- Vitali Kravtsov (10th) Nils Lunqvist (28th), Olof Lindbom (39th)
2019- Kaapo Kakko (2nd), Karl Henriksson (58th)

 

[26Mats]

Instead of galaxy-braining him into learning fancy breathing technics and have him sport futuristic sunglasses on ice, maybe what he truly needs is just... to score goals, to help his psychology.

Folly, I know.

If they keep him up, he should be playing with Monahan, RHP, or Suzuki, i.e. someone with vision and hockey sense. Not Anderson and Newhook at C. It makes no sense.

 

[Kennerback]

I mean Slaf isn't a lost cause, just like Kotkaniemi wasn't a lost cause, however, I think much more is expected of a 1st overall pick. Blame it on the scouts or blame it on the management who rushed him, but a few people f***ed up along the way. I'm just waiting to see when one of them will break and admit that it's not working at the moment.

It’s easier for me to project Slaf being successful than I could Kotkaniemi because he seems to have a great package, stickhandling, etc… But KK had much less glaring issues to tidy up. For example, probably the reason Slaf never ever shoots is that he’s fully aware that his shot takes as long to activate as an old lawnmower. If this isn’t fixed, he’ll never score more than a dozen goals in a season.

 

[BenchBrawl]

My greatest fear with this management, from what I saw, was that they seemed inclined to galaxy-brain themselves. Overthinking things and drinking their own kool-aid (Bobrov's speech). They remind me of analytic guys in that regard.

I'm afraid this could turn out to be a reality, not only my paranoia.

 

[FrankMTL]

It’s easier to project Slaf being successful than I could Kotkaniemi because he seems to have a great package, stickhandling, etc… But KK had much less glaring issues to tidy up. For example, probably the reason Slaf never ever shoots is that he’s fully aware that his shot takes as long to activate as an old lawnmower, If this isn’t fixed, he’ll never score more than a dozen goals in a season.

I remember Kotkaniemi having a bomb of a shot but his release was extremely slow too.

My greatest fear with this management, from what I saw, was that they seemed inclined to galaxy-brain themselves. Drink their own kool-aid (Bobrov's speech) or overthink things. They remind me of analytic guys.

I'm afraid this could turn out to be a reality, not only my paranoia.

Ah yes, Bobrov's famous speech before the 2022 draft.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Not picking Michkov was unforgivable, AND it had the unfortunate side effect of putting MORE pressure on Slafkovsky's shoulders to produce offense.

If we had Michkov now, we would feel better about Slaf becoming an all-around middle-sixer in 5 years.

 

[NotProkofievian]

This whole ''promote him to play with our best players with more minutes per night or get him off the team'' idea is certainly one of the takes of all time.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

It’s easier to project Slaf being successful than I could Kotkaniemi because he seems to have a great package, stickhandling, etc… But KK had much less glaring issues to tidy up. For example, probably the reason Slaf never ever shoots is that he’s fully aware that his shot takes as long to activate as an old lawnmower, If this isn’t fixed, he’ll never score more than a dozen goals in a season.

For me it's actually the opposite. I had a much easier time projecting KK's IQ because he made a ton of good passes and garnered assists from the getgo. He made a lot more playmaker's passes and while his shot could take a while to load off, it was already a pretty good shot. Filling his frame and gaining leg muscle would go a long way in fixing a lot of his deficiencies. Opposingly, Slaf is much more physically mature, but seems way more behind the play than KK ever was.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Well, Kotkaniemi is 23 years old and just starting to hit his stride now. So in that sense, it's worth being extremely patient with Slafkovsky. We all know big guys like that, who aren't prodigies, often hit their stride in their mid-20s. Slaf is 5 years away, let's just accept it.

Slaf may have less talent than Kotkaniemi, but he's also much stronger physically. That he doesn't use his size today at age 19, is not overly concerning. Even if he's big, he still has the bones of a 19 years old. Wait till he's 23, then he will TRULY be much stronger than 99% of the league.

 

[NotProkofievian]

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

Not stopping whom? You're not even addressing them.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Kotkaniemi is hitting his stride in his SIXTH SEASON.

Slafkovsky is in his SECOND SEASON.

Patience is a virtue.

 

[HuGort]

If Hughes that afraid sending him to Laval will bust his confidence. Trade Slaf even up for Lafreniere? At least, you know you have at least a mid-liner with upside.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

If Hughes that afraid sending him to Laval will bust his confidence. Trade Slaf even up for Lafreniere? At least, you know you have at least a mid-liner with upside.

I don't think Montreal is the type of scenery change Laf needs.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Well, Kotkaniemi is 23 years old and just starting to hit his stride now. So in that sense, it's worth being extremely patient with Slafkovsky. We all know big guys like that, who aren't prodigies, often hit their stride in their mid-20s. Slaf is 5 years away, let's just accept it.

Slaf may have less talent than Kotkaniemi, but he's also much stronger physically. That he doesn't use his size today at age 19, is not overly concerning. Even if he's big, he still has the bones of a 19 years old. Wait till he's 23, then he will TRULY be much stronger than 99% of the league.

Thing is KK came in and he was almost good enough. Not quite and being not quite good enough caused him to needlessly struggle to try and find himself a place in the NHL. He seems to be finding it, but it's worth asking what all those years were for IMO.

KK does a lot of things well, but his offensive game is stunted and his game is basically now a ''lunchpail'' game with higher hockey IQ. Get pucks deep, make hits, create offense in the chaos. He will likely never run a power play in the NHL. I think that might have something to do with the fact that he had never been given a powerplay to run outside of the U18s. Who knows maybe if he had dominated Liiga one more season, then dominated the AHL, played a couple WJCs, would he have come into the NHL worse than he already was at 18? Or would he have come into the league with a bigger bag of tricks?

 

[BarracudaMtl]

Supposedly we chose Slaf for his physical and mental maturity....

The player should be aware that it's for his own good and if well..if he takes it badly...hopefully it will stir up that rage of wanting to blow everything up in the AHL.



I don't think at this exact time it's a good idea to throw him to the wolves and move him up on the first line. Caufield and Suzuki aren't on fire either and Slaf isn't going to change that much.

 

[Le Tricolore]

This whole ''promote him to play with our best players with more minutes per night or get him off the team'' idea is certainly one of the takes of all time.

It's more that people want to see him playing with players who can get the best out of him. Anderson doesn't know how to use his linemates, and Newhook is not a centre.

 

[rahad]

Still can't believe we won the lottery one year too soon. How f***ing infuriating.

Is more like winning the first 1OV in year with out any 1OV talent. No one will be complaining with Owen Power (2021) with the Habs. Our luck is just bad. Every year, you know who will be the first overall pick. 2022 has the only year you could not do it.

 

[ReHabs]

Is more like winning the first 1OV in year with out any 1OV talent. No one will be complaining with Owen Power (2021) with the Habs. Our luck is just bad. Every year, you know who will be the first overall pick. 2022 has the only year you could not do it.

Yeah it’s bad luck the Habs drafted the guy who scored ten league points in his draft year.

It’s bad luck they rushed him to the NHL and let him struggle until he got hurt with a massive injury.

It’s bad luck they kept him in the NHL despite him not playing well.

All bad luck, never anybody’s responsibility.

 

[Naslundforever]

I'm glad big media is starting to get on the Slaf to the AHL bandwagon. Hopefully HuGo feels more presure about their decisions with Slaf and take corrective actions real fast.

Poor kid seems like the emotional type, real hard on himself (from the mouth of teammates), so embarrassing himself like he is right now must sting. I don’t remember a single play from him this year I thought he looked like a nhler or that would keep anyone guessing his next move. He needs a loooooot of time downstairs (one stretch pass for a pro hockey player is not a claim to fame, it should be baseline).

Last night I followed him (could not help myself) and he literally made no plays all night.

What’s with his cap hit if he gets called back up? I forget who posted that.

 

[Film Noir]

RHP injury sucks but it might wake them up and try him with Suzuki and Caufield. Anything but to free him from the two brain dead speedsters.

Why should we allow him to fail upwards? It sets a wrong example. I say bump him to the 4th line and if he still can't find the puck on the ice, send him to Laval.