Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[Gustave]

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

Maybe so, but we can’t act like he’s not being used on the second line and getting PP time.

If he needs Suz and Coco to do something, fine I guess. But he gets prime ice time anyway.

I just don’t want the other two to have to babysit and have to step back in the D zone because the other guy can’t hang.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

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.

They are cowards

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 about it for now...

View attachment 762569

hahahahaha cowards , poverty franchise as usual. Haven't won anything in a quarter century and haven't had a measly ppg player since Kovalev but lets trust the organisation right ?

 

[Gustave]

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?

Lost in all this was the potential to trade down in the last two drafts. You are right.

I usually HATE trading down, but when you don’t have something that really gets you going… quantity might be “it” if what you are getting gives you something you need.

But I made my peace with it, Bobrov was in love with him. He wasn’t entertaining that, plus the draft being in MTL.

 

[ReHabs]

This tweet is making the rounds, find this from a former pro hockey player’s mouth no less. Screenshot in case it is deleted.

Tell us more about his Liiga stats being irrelevant? Hmm.

This is not a five alarm fire yet, Slaf has plenty of runway and time, but it’s certainly indicative of the fundamental problem with drafting “projects”: A lot has to go right and there is no guarantee they ever find the toolbox for their many “raw” tools.

Drafting an lug who cannot think and needs to be taught how to play hockey with the 1OA is Patrick Stefan, Nail Yakupov stuff. I mean come on, seriously?

Hockey historians will certainly be talking about Slafkovsky, Bobrov got it right. Let’s hope it’s for the right reasons.

The last holdouts who refuse to admit Slaf is not NHL-level right now have no grounds to preach patience. You can’t have your way both ways. Either his production doesn’t matter and we should expect him to look like an NHLer in the NHL or production does matter and he’s not NHL quality right now (and has never been so far) so he should be sent away and the Habs have to accept their mistake.

You can’t preach patience when the guy doesn’t look like an NHLer and never has at any point. That’s not patience, that’s the opposite. If he looked fine but was not producing it would be a whole different tone of discussion. But he looks awful and checked out and Jake Allen’s quote in the latest Engels about his improved attitude this year indicate a lot of potentially negative things. A 1OA should not be grumpy, checked out, or overwhelmed 10gp into a season. Zero pride and zero swag so early in his career is unbelievable.

 

[The Real Timo]

Even RDS thinks he should be sent down

Canadiens : Juraj Slafkovsky à Laval : « pas une option discutée présentement » | RDS

Slafkovsky a été limité à une aide en 10 matchs cette saison.

www.rds.ca

 

[David Suzuki]

View attachment 762570

This tweet is making the rounds, find this from a former pro hockey player’s mouth no less. Screenshot in case it is deleted.

Tell us more about his Liiga stats being irrelevant? Hmm.

This is not a five alarm fire yet, Slaf has plenty of runway and time, but it’s certainly indicative of the fundamental problem with drafting “projects”: A lot has to go right and there is no guarantee they ever find the toolbox for their many “raw” tools.

Drafting an lug who cannot think and needs to be taught how to play hockey with the 1OA is Patrick Stefan, Nail Yakupov stuff. I mean come on, seriously?

Hockey historians will certainly be talking about Slafkovsky, Bobrov got it right. Let’s hope it’s for the right reasons.

The last holdouts who refuse to admit Slaf is not NHL-level right now have no grounds to preach patience. You can’t have your way both ways. Either his production doesn’t matter and we should expect him to look like an NHLer in the NHL or production does matter and he’s not NHL quality right now (and has never been so far) so he should be sent away and the Habs have to accept their mistake.

he was ranked first on mackenzie’s list how can this be a montreal got too horny over something situation lol

 

[ReHabs]

he was ranked first on mackenzie’s list how can this be a montreal got too horny over something situation lol

McKenzie’s list is a poll of scouts and who they think will be picked when. It doesn’t mean a damn thing else.

Yakupov was the 1OA and madly wrong too.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

I have no problem with the pick , shoot for the stars , I get it , this development tho? A joke and spit in the face to all fans , the fact MSL says he hasn't even considered it is disrespectful

 

[David Suzuki]

McKenzie’s list is a poll of scouts and who they think will be picked when. It doesn’t mean a damn thing else.

Yakupov was the 1OA and madly wrong too.

I always thought it was scouts rankings not a mock draft

and hes yakupov was a bust but that doesn’t mean edmonton was alone in the evaluation

 

[Hoochi Papa]

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

Considering how fragile this management seems to be, Gorton would be scared of taking the blame for picking up his guy. Why not hide in the foxhole and hope hockey fairy sprinkles magical pixie dust over sleeping Juraj. For some reason these miserable tandems rely on each other - remember Bergevin and Therrien?
Everyone thought Marc would surely see how utterly shit Therrien was in his job. BS, he loved his little grinding man.

Slafkovsky had a great tournament against taxi-drivers, pizza delivery guys, shopkeepers and other semi- or quasi-professional players who could never feed their family by playing hockey. In the slow as molasses Liiga, where 40+ Euro League journeymen dominate, he did nothing that should be considered significant. Barely worth a roster spot.

Suddenly Bobrov thinks he's in a sport movie about himself and has the speech of a lifetime with zero substance. Just pompous empty sport phrases that only commentators with multiple concussions would use. Suddenly he's a starter in NHL when he hasn't proved or showed anything. He simply had a good tournament against lifetime beer leaguers.

There wasn't any evidence that he could survive in the NHL. He dangled players who used their sticks to stay upright and months later he plays against the best. He hasn't proved to be worth a top-6 spot in Liiga. We don't know if he's even ready for AHL. And this dumbass management rather crushes him than admits they f***ed up with their plan.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

he was ranked first on mackenzie’s list how can this be a montreal got too horny over something situation lol

Because they just weren't the only ones getting a boner over size. Look at how many of them passed on Caufield.

 

[Frank Drebin]

View attachment 762570

This tweet is making the rounds, find this from a former pro hockey player’s mouth no less. Screenshot in case it is deleted.

Tell us more about his Liiga stats being irrelevant? Hmm.

This is not a five alarm fire yet, Slaf has plenty of runway and time, but it’s certainly indicative of the fundamental problem with drafting “projects”: A lot has to go right and there is no guarantee they ever find the toolbox for their many “raw” tools.

Drafting an lug who cannot think and needs to be taught how to play hockey with the 1OA is Patrick Stefan, Nail Yakupov stuff. I mean come on, seriously?

Hockey historians will certainly be talking about Slafkovsky, Bobrov got it right. Let’s hope it’s for the right reasons.

The last holdouts who refuse to admit Slaf is not NHL-level right now have no grounds to preach patience. You can’t have your way both ways. Either his production doesn’t matter and we should expect him to look like an NHLer in the NHL or production does matter and he’s not NHL quality right now (and has never been so far) so he should be sent away and the Habs have to accept their mistake.

You can’t preach patience when the guy doesn’t look like an NHLer and never has at any point. That’s not patience, that’s the opposite. If he looked fine but was not producing it would be a whole different tone of discussion. But he looks awful and checked out and Jake Allen’s quote about his improved attitude this year indicate a lot of potentially negative things. A 1OA should not be checked out or overwhelmed 10gp into a season. Zero pride so early in his career is unbelievable.

Thats what is so frustrating about this pick and this player. We all knew the the statline was less than impressive for a 1OA, even with the boost from the two tournaments. I just thought that the scouts, the guys that watch and know the game, saw something in him that would have made those stats feel less important. Elite level IQ, vision, skills, defensive awareness, whatever. Now former opponents are coming out of the woodwork saying he was dumb as bricks in his draft year. What the hell.

Like, did these scouts fall in love with a 6'2 195 pound 15 year old who simply physically dominated his peers and he just held on to that pedigree till he was in his draft year?

A good part of last year I spent defending the decision to keep this kid in the NHL. At this point hes taking up a roster spot that belongs to a more deserving player.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I have no problem with the pick , shoot for the stars , I get it , this development tho? A joke and spit in the face to all fans , the fact MSL says he hasn't even considered it is disrespectful

Du crisse d'entêtement. Seems like one of MSL's flaws.

 

[ReHabs]

A good part of last year I spent defending the decision to keep this kid in the NHL.

Genuine question: why? What did you see?

 

[Frank Drebin]

Genuine question: why? What did you see?

On the ice? Nothing . I just thought that having access to the best coaching (with his best interest in mind) facilities, linemates, nutrition,etc. would benefit him more than "lighting up a lesser league" offensively.

I also thought he'd rapidly improve, which he hasn't.

 

[Whitesnake]

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

Unless proven otherwise, we've replace one country club by another.

 

[OnTheRun]

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?

I can imagine a lot of thing, what's the point tho?
And why the Habs the are picking Cooley at #3 now? Was Nemec #2 on their list? If they had Wright at #2... Then that make him the guy they pick at #3, no?

Or do my imagination has to be limited to the best possible outcome granted to me by the power of two years of hindsight?

 

[ReHabs]

Unless proven otherwise, we've replace one country club by another.

Hughes traded to acquire his former client and his son’s hockey friends.

I think it’s been proven they’re relying on “known people”.

 

[Whitesnake]

Lost in all this was the potential to trade down in the last two drafts. You are right.

I usually HATE trading down, but when you don’t have something that really gets you going… quantity might be “it” if what you are getting gives you something you need.

But I made my peace with it, Bobrov was in love with him. He wasn’t entertaining that, plus the draft being in MTL.

The day that you skip Shane Wright when people had already his jersey for Slaf....is the day you could have done whatever with that pick.

 

[Whitesnake]

I can imagine a lot of thing, what's the point tho?
And why the Habs the are picking Cooley at #3 now? Was Nemec #2 on their list? If they had Wright at #2... Then that make him the guy they pick at #3, no?

Or do my imagination has to be limited to the best possible outcome granted to me by the power of two years of hindsight?

Am I the one who asked first a What if question? You talked about Arizona being interested in him. Not me. AS far as who goes at 3, well I guess we won't know....but since Nemec went No2, it's Wright vs Cooley. Hopefully they would have went Cooley.

Not sure what the power of hindsight has something to do with it. Again, I'm on record saying my pick was Cooley. But I'm not not even there with Slaf. Fine with the pick. But let him develop slowly. How is that an hindsight issue to let develop kids?

 

[David Suzuki]

Because they just weren't the only ones getting a boner over size. Look at how many of them passed on Caufield.

cool that’s irrelevant to the point i was making though if you actually read the tweet and my reply

 

[Hins77]

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?

I don’t think Arizona wanted Cooley badly. Like you said. The top 5 was really divided and I don’t think, new jersey, arizona, seattle wanted that much to overpay for the first pick…

 

[River Meadow]

I was concerned with Timmins. I think it was time to go. It was. But geez am I more concerned with Bobrov.....seems to be a bonafide Grant McCagg.....

Bobrov speaks very well.

He would be a tremendous politician.

 

[OnTheRun]

Am I the one who asked first a What if question? You talked about Arizona being interested in him. Not me. AS far as who goes at 3, well I guess we won't know....but since Nemec went No2, it's Wright vs Cooley. Hopefully they would have went Cooley.

Not sure what the power of hindsight has something to do with it. Again, I'm on record saying my pick was Cooley. But I'm not not even there with Slaf. Fine with the pick. But let him develop slowly. How is that an hindsight issue to let develop kids?

Nay you said they would benefit from other teams taking names off the board, and I said it's true for every other teams.

And somehow that ended into an alternate reality scenario.
In our reality the only thing we know for sure about the Yotes pick is they had Cooley ahead of Wright, we do not know where Slaf and Nemec were on their list. So you have a potential case of a team getting helped by names taken off the board here.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

McKenzie’s list is a poll of scouts and who they think will be picked when. It doesn’t mean a damn thing else.

Yakupov was the 1OA and madly wrong too.

Yakupov was 1st in a terrible draft. It’s also worth noting that he started off really well.