Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[HuGo Sham]

There's good arguments to be made to keep him up or send him down.
Unless they plan on letting him play and fail and learn playing with suzuki and Caufield for instance, where he can play his 18 mins a night - I think they should send him down.
My worry is Hughes and Gorton with the deadly sin of pride and doubling down on keeping him around instead of admitting a development error

 

[Skip Bayless]

If Slafkovsky struggles to produce in the AHL, god forbid, then the organization will be in the crosshairs for the situation. That does not mean the Habs are worried about this possibility, yet Hughes did raise the question himself at one point if my memory serves correct.

Yes, Hughes did say that.

I just find it funny that;

Beta Wright, Wright the virgin = Dominating the AHL

Chadkovsky = If sent to the AHL, his entire existence would crumble




Something ain't clicking.

 

[RationalExpectations]

Did you watched him in Liiga?

I did and I warned everybody when he was drafted

That being said, a bust he is not yet, MTL has time, people should not have unrealistic expectations regarding what he can become in the future. He was not dominating Liiga 2 years ago and I don t see how he could dominate the NHL right now.

 

[Miller Time]

There's good arguments to be made to keep him up or send him down.
Unless they plan on letting him play and fail and learn playing with suzuki and Caufield for instance, where he can play his 18 mins a night - I think they should send him down.
My worry is Hughes and Gorton with the deadly sin of pride and doubling down on keeping him around instead of admitting a development error

the 18min/night part is a bit unrealistic...

2022 drafted players - zero forwards over 17min/night (2 with more than slaf)
2021 drafted players - 2 over 17 (4 with more than slaf)
2020 - 2 over 17min (12 with more than slaf)
2019 - 4 over 17min (11 with more than slaf... 2 of which are teammates )

i don't think people realize how long it takes for forwards to be playing 17+min/night regularly.

from the past 4 draft classes (excluding 2023), there are 8 fwds total in that space, 1/2 of them are from the 2019 class so in their D5 season.


as much as i'd like to see him play with Suzuki at ES, i get the rational of not putting him there.
What i really would like to see is giving him some PP1 time with Suzuki/Caufield... that would help get some points on the board an alleviate some of the fan/media consternation

 

[RationalExpectations]

is it Brobov who pushed for Mesar also? for me choosing Mesar instead of Kulich (which was the OBVIOUS choice at that time) is as bad as choosing Slaf over Cooley.

I'm starting to have serious doubts that he his an upgrade to Timmins....sounds more like a downgrade to me so far.

There was nothing obvious between Mesar and Kulich at the time. Totally different styles of players. The worry with Mesar was that he would remain a perimeter player while for Kulich it was his impact when he was not scoring.

 

[417]

He’ll be playing on the top line, with Roy against easier opponents. Plus he’ll get first unit PP time… much better opportunity to put up numbers.

And yeah, I think numbers are important right now.

Sure about that?

 

[nhlfan9191]

Sure about that?

If he isn’t, it’s because he isn’t playing good enough to be on the top line. That’s a separate issue that would further proof how far he was from being NHL ready if that happens. This is what I’m guessing management is afraid of happening.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Well congratulations the situation is no longer fans/local media chatter but league wide humiliation

Arizona twitter last night
The hockey news today

Awesome

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Sure about that?

If they send him down it should be with those instructions.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

I worry that all of the new publicity around his lack of success will be seriously damaging to his mind in the long run

This is some of the worst handling of a prospect I’ve ever seen I think

 

[417]

If they send him down it should be with those instructions.

Fair but odd those would be the instructions without even attempting it yourself…but that's neither here nor there at this point.

He needs a confidence boost and it has to be in a setting where he's being depended on while on the ice and that's not happening in Montreal right now.

 

[Beaker]

He no longer has that preseason swagger. I’m not very hopeful. I think AHL is bound to happen soon if this continues. Call him back around the time Dach returns (if he can produce at a lower level).

 

[Habs]

Fair to say Slaf may have more success as an underwear model than a NHL player at this point
Kid needs the AHL so bad

 

[Kimota]

Play him with better players first and then send him to the AHL if that doesn't work out.

 

[Whitesnake]

When you pick a guy that plays that type of hockey that high....you just need to be sure. Guys like that were available later on. See Snuggerud at 23 or McGroarty at 14.

And the way to be sure as far as development is concern is NOT to do something that is ONLY done to exceptional players...when you know that your player isn't. ESPECIALLY since you stress out that this pick is for 4-5 years...not now.

Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that we don't tank. I have no confidence in Bobrov in Cie to do the right thing. Maybe when other teams remove players out of their list....it will help those guys....as sad as it sounds to say....

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Fair to say Slaf may have more success as an underwear model than a NHL player at this point
Kid needs the AHL so bad

Or a talent agent

 

[HuGort]

Bernstein was on 690 today, compared Slaf to LA Kings Byfield. Said this is first season Byfield has shown anything. Last season he scored 3 goals in 52 games for Kings. Byfield is 22, spent parts of 3 seasons in AHL. No harm in sending Slaf to minors.

 

[Habs]

Or a talent agent

Even twitter is turning on Barbs and Kent today, we all see the kid is toast up here, we all say Barbs was a failure of a scout in NY too

 

[OnTheRun]

When you pick a guy that plays that type of hockey that high....you just need to be sure. Guys like that were available later on. See Snuggerud at 23 or McGroarty at 14.

And the way to be sure as far as development is concern is NOT to do something that is ONLY done to exceptional players...when you know that your player isn't. ESPECIALLY since you stress out that this pick is for 4-5 years...not now.

Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that we don't tank. I have no confidence in Bobrov in Cie to do the right thing. Maybe when other teams remove players out of their list....it will help those guys....as sad as it sounds to say....

It's true for the 32 teams in the league.
And who is to say the Yotes did not have Slaf at #1 the same way the Devils did?

 

[Whitesnake]

I am good with that. I’ve always felt we rushed him.

What I don’t like is how over the top folks are in their criticisms. Hes not nearly as bad as he’s been portrayed.

But yes, I’d have put him in the AHL and I think he’d benefit fro. It, esp since we seem to think he’s allergic to Nick Suzuki for some reason.

Well....I think he's bad. But I'm not even talking about pointswise. He's lost. Sometimes, he makes me think also of Gallagher mid-shift...he looks so done before the shift ends. He has no idea where to position himself defensively and offensively.

Something he does good right now are most of his passes. Sometimes he's too obvious but that's understandable. True that the touches are fine right now for a guy. But the rest is bad.

But I don't blame HIM. I don't blame the pick even though I wanted Cooley. I blame the fact that he's in the NHL right now. And he didn't put himself here.

 

[Whitesnake]

It's true for the 32 teams in the league.
And who is to say the Yotes did not have Slaf at #1 the same way the Devils did?

I'm talking about huge guys that take later on to develop. I'm talking about an average top 5 draft compared to other drafts. In history, looking at McKenzie list, I don't remember a list who was so divided. Geez, at this point, I would have looked if it was not possible to trade the 1st pick.

Arizona wants the 1st? Badly? Great trade the 1st for the 3rd and 13th. Pick Cooley and if you want a big guy up front..Snuggerud or McGroarty.

Can you imagine that?

 

[Habs]

When you pick a guy that plays that type of hockey that high....you just need to be sure. Guys like that were available later on. See Snuggerud at 23 or McGroarty at 14.

And the way to be sure as far as development is concern is NOT to do something that is ONLY done to exceptional players...when you know that your player isn't. ESPECIALLY since you stress out that this pick is for 4-5 years...not now.

Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that we don't tank. I have no confidence in Bobrov in Cie to do the right thing. Maybe when other teams remove players out of their list....it will help those guys....as sad as it sounds to say....

Is Barbrov on a long-term deal or can we boot his ass out of here whenever?

 

[Gustave]

Well congratulations the situation is no longer fans/local media chatter but league wide humiliation

Arizona twitter last night
The hockey news today

Awesome

That’s because fans of NHL judge players by what they do and if they belong in the league.

When you cannot hang, you stick out like a sore thumb for everyone to see. That’s why you usually don’t send your prized prospects, or any prospect for that matter, into the NHL to be exposed. He will get thrashed on the ice, in the stands and yes… inside the dressing room.

What Hugo are doing to him is not right. It’s reckless. Last season was a mistake, this season is a terrible decision made so they save face. It’s stupid.

Do what’s best for your prospect and develop him. Patience usually mean…. Don’t throw him to the wolves, and work with him on his game in an environment with less pressure. Not into the NHL when he’s not ready.

 

[DarcyWakaluk]

So for those who wish that they will send Slaf down to Laval, forget about it, MSL just confirmed today that they're not even thinking having this discussion for now...

 

[BehindTheTimes]

The hunt for that second point continues.