Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[DAChampion]

They're out there, many posts saying that. Find them for yourself. I'm not your secretary.

A failed rebuttal.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

I have a very serious question, and be honest here.

Considering Mesar had to play in Juniors... 2 years in a row after being drafted....


How much better is Slafkowsky compared to Mesar?


Is Slaf THAT much better than he should be in the NHL, is what I am getting at...

No

 

[lillypad33]

I missed the first period, and it seems that Slaf was benched for most of the 3rd.
In the 2nd, I thought he played quite well. In fact, i think it was Caufield that was taking his line down. Slaf at one point had a forecheck in the offensive zone, and came back to take away a man on a 3-2 for Detroit.
I think he's reading the game quite well, and performing ok.
But....
If MSL is going to continue to bench him in the 3rd period of close games, then I'm in favour of sending him down. Development happens by getting minutes and having the "game" teach you. By taking him out of these key points in time, his development IS being hurt.
Same thing goes with the powerplay. Anderson isn't going right now (although he looked ok last night).... So why not put Slaf on PP1 and have him go to the net?
Final point.... I've heard people say that Slaf's shot is what needs work on the most. I agree. His windup is one of the slowest in the entire league. He needs to work on this. Where is best for him to work on it? I don't know the answer.... Just that he needs the work.

 

[River Meadow]

No

I think that's the answer as well.

Slafkovsky is in the NHL for show since he was taken 1st OA, instead of developing him properly..

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Can you quote the people that have flat out called him a bust. I keep hearing the accusation of “there’s people calling him a bust” from the same handful of posters but I never see you actually quoting anybody calling him that. There’s a difference between being disappointed in a player and flat out saying his career is over, which is what you’re insinuating people are doing when you accuse them of calling him a bust.

Right. They don’t say ‘bust’. They say, he’ll be a third liner, he sucks, we picked the wrong guy.

“But I never said he was a bust!!!!”

It’s stupid.

I have zero problem with posters such as yourself who feel we got the wrong guy and don’t think he’s going to amount to much. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and they could be absolutely right in saying that we got the wrong guy.

But there are so many who wrote players off too quickly. Others who are disingenuous in what they’re saying, those who are concerned trolling… that I have no time for.

There’s a debate to be had. Personally I think that we’re not developing him well. Those discussions are interesting to talk about but you’ve got to pick and choose who to engage with here. Some people are not interested in serious debate.

You are a serious poster. You aren’t here to stir pots. You don’t like the pick - that’s totally cool. There are discussions and debates to be had and I have no doubt that they’d be honest discussions. That’s what this forum should be about. Disagreements are fine and debates are encouraged.

Maybe we didn’t get the right guy. But nobody knows this right now and some people are just way over the top.

 

[Ajhccwrs]

Do people here not read or listen to the team experts? They explained why his development is better suited for the NHL as opposed to the AHL. They have these jobs for a reason. We DONT have those jobs for a reason. SLAF has not looked out of place very much. He certainly hasn't been in the bottom 3 and even maybe bottom 6 forward on the team. We have the luxury to whine and complain all we want. But at the end of the day the guys running the show know more about hockey and development then we could ever dream of. I dont care about your projections or draft pedigree or how he's compared to previous 1st overalls. Thats just dog and poney show nonsense. Also the ignorance to his steady progression is hilarious. Only in habs land I guess.

 

[Paddyjack]

Do people here not read or listen to the team experts? They explained why his development is better suited for the NHL as opposed to the AHL. They have these jobs for a reason. We DONT have those jobs for a reason. SLAF has not looked out of place very much. He certainly hasn't been in the bottom 3 and even maybe bottom 6 forward on the team. We have the luxury to whine and complain all we want. But at the end of the day the guys running the show know more about hockey and development then we could ever dream of. I dont care about your projections or draft pedigree or how he's compared to previous 1st overalls. Thats just dog and poney show nonsense. Also the ignorance to his steady progression is hilarious. Only in habs land I guess.

Like Indiana Jones would say, who are these experts exactly? I have seen enough failures in the past 15 years to know that people in hockey management certainly don't know everything, and contrary to us normal folks, they often ignore common sense because of peer pressure.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

points dont show it yet but hes actually been playing good lately

i can understand why MSL doesnt wanna break the vet line but would love for him to put Slaf with Monahan

Newhook - Suzuki - Anderson
Caufield - Monahan - Slafkovsky
Pearson - Dvorak - Gallagher
RHP - Evans - Ylonen

and bench Armia god dammit

 

[DAChampion]

points dont show it yet but hes actually been playing good lately

i can understand why MSL doesnt wanna break the vet line but would love for him to put Slaf with Monahan

Caufield - Monahan - Slafkovsky

If he's playing well then why doesn't MSL trust him in the third period?

 

[Scriptor]

Only power forwards on that list are Ovechkin and Nash. We didn't think he'd be in their league. We'll just have to see who he becomes. I'm hoping a modern day John Leclair, who can really produce with a top notch center.

Speaking of John Leclair and stats. Pop quiz. At what age did leclair first scorec19 goals? At what age did he first break 20 goals?

Feel free to reply with the answers and tell me if you're still worried about Slaf long term already.

23 for 19 goals and 26 for 20 goals.

Leclair is more the norm, especially for larger-bodied forwards and the time required to develop into their imposing frames.

 

[calder candidate]

He isn’t look bad but he isn’t getting enough time and touches, if he is being bench or sheltered you look at the schedule and pick spot where he can sent down to Laval and call back up the next day. Get him extra minute and touches.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

If he's playing well then why doesn't MSL trust him in the third period?

not sure St-Louis hasnt answered my call yet hes probably still sleeping

 

[ReHabs]

Only power forwards on that list are Ovechkin and Nash. We didn't think he'd be in their league. We'll just have to see who he becomes. I'm hoping a modern day John Leclair, who can really produce with a top notch center.

Speaking of John Leclair and stats. Pop quiz. At what age did leclair first scorec19 goals? At what age did he first break 20 goals?

Feel free to reply with the answers and tell me if you're still worried about Slaf long term already.

Slaf isn’t a power forward and doesn’t play like a power forward and never played like a power forward…

John LeClair was drafted in the 80s. Why do you think he’s relevant to today? Can’t find a more relevant player? Try Danius Zubrus, Hugh Jessiman, Joel Armia, Josh Anderson, etc.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

If he's playing well then why doesn't MSL trust him in the third period?

Good question.

Why didn’t he put him with more skilled players earlier too?

I don’t like how we’re handling him.

 

[Jaynki]

Slaf isn’t a power forward and doesn’t play like a power forward and never played like a power forward…

John LeClair was drafted in the 80s. Why do you think he’s relevant to today? Can’t find a more relevant player? Try Danius Zubrus, Hugh Jessiman, Joel Armia, Josh Anderson, etc.

You forgot Pierre Engvall

 

[26Mats]

Slaf isn’t a power forward and doesn’t play like a power forward and never played like a power forward…

John LeClair was drafted in the 80s. Why do you think he’s relevant to today? Can’t find a more relevant player? Try Danius Zubrus, Hugh Jessiman, Joel Armia, Josh Anderson, etc.

Yes, a modern day version of Leclair...

Slaf isn't and will never be a power forward??? Well, we can come back to this thought as Slaf progresses. Imo there's not a shadow of a doubt he's a power forward.

 

[ReHabs]

You forgot Pierre Engvall

Too light

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Like Indiana Jones would say, who are these experts exactly? I have seen enough failures in the past 15 years to know that people in hockey management certainly don't know everything, and contrary to us normal folks, they often ignore common sense because of peer pressure.

Valid point. I appreciate that the experts are paid to do that job but that doesn’t mean they can’t be wrong.

To be fair though, it’s a new regime. You can’t blame the new GM for the old GM’s failures. But you still make a good and valid point here.

 

[River Meadow]

Do people here not read or listen to the team experts? They explained why his development is better suited for the NHL as opposed to the AHL. They have these jobs for a reason. We DONT have those jobs for a reason. SLAF has not looked out of place very much. He certainly hasn't been in the bottom 3 and even maybe bottom 6 forward on the team. We have the luxury to whine and complain all we want. But at the end of the day the guys running the show know more about hockey and development then we could ever dream of. I dont care about your projections or draft pedigree or how he's compared to previous 1st overalls. Thats just dog and poney show nonsense. Also the ignorance to his steady progression is hilarious. Only in habs land I guess.

Very respectfully,

Decades upon decades of mediocrity for the Montreal Canadiens, brought to you by Les Experts.

Can you explain that?


Thank you so much.

 

[Dach Vader]

A failed rebuttal.

You can't be serious. Bro, the information is right infront of you.

I've read less than 10% of this entire thread and he's been called a bust, useless and a million other things.

I just spent 2 mins quickly skimming through two pages from a few weeks ago.

 

[ReHabs]

Yes, a modern day version of Leclair...

Slaf isn't and will never be a power forward??? Well, we can come back to this thought as Slaf progresses. Imo there's not a shadow of a doubt he's a power forward.

I wouldn’t define Rick Nash as a PWF so I guess if you see Slaf as a Rick Nash, then sure.

Rick Nash, at the end of his D+2 season, scored 2.7 times more points than Slafkovsky has so far in his D+2 season.

You can't be serious. Bro, the information is right infront of you.

I've read less than 10% of this entire thread and he's been called a bust, useless and a million other things.

I just spent 2 mins quickly skimming through two pages from a few weeks ago.

Half of those comments are criticizing the player without projecting his fate. Do you expect people to not criticize a crappy performing player now? Get real.

The lebowski meme is a joke, calm down.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Watch how fantili plays , that's who slaf should be like...

 

[morhilane]

If he's playing well then why doesn't MSL trust him in the third period?

I don't think it's a trust thing, since the 4th line barely played in the 3rd and Armia/Pezz were benched before Slaf was and then Evans took the last two shifts with CC/Dvorak. Also, Slaf had the same amount of shifts at 5v5 as Suzuki, Gallagher and Monahan. One less than Anderson and Caufield.

 

[Dach Vader]

I wouldn’t define Rick Nash as a PWF so I guess if you see Slaf as a Rick Nash, then sure.

Rick Nash, at the end of his D+2 season, scored 2.7 times more points than Slafkovsky has so far in his D+2 season.


Half of those comments are criticizing the player without projecting his fate. Do you expect people to not criticize a crappy performing player now? Get real.

The lebowski meme is a joke, calm down.

I've seen you say more than once that nobody has called him a bust. How can you say that?

You're the most active name in this thread. "He's a bust." You're allowed to think that but stand on it.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Like Indiana Jones would say, who are these experts exactly? I have seen enough failures in the past 15 years to know that people in hockey management certainly don't know everything, and contrary to us normal folks, they often ignore common sense because of peer pressure.

Bergevin was an expert , timmins was an expert , gainey was an expert , ducharme was an expert , therrien was an expert .........................