Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[Canad13ns]

That’s the thing, of the 14 games he’s played, there may be only a handful of games you can say he’s been bad. He’s played relatively well with what he’s had to work with. It’s the usage and his inability to create any kind of momentum for himself that’s driving me insane. I want to see what looks like when he’s playing with some swagger. I think we saw a bit of that when he was with Monahan last year and guess who he hasn’t been playing with. Lol gluing him to the bench to win games in November to keep us .500 also is mind numbingly stupid.

To me, Slaf has been playing well for a 19 year old who is not yet processing the game at the same speed as the other players and who is still learning how to use his size, balance on his skates, protect his head etc. The good: he sometimes makes a good pass or intercepts a pass, so we see a flash of why he drafted him.

So far this season, he loses most board battles, doesn't seem to even commit in these battles and doesn't use his size effectively. When the puck is in our end, he often glides around with one hand on his stick and doesn't seem to know where he should be; it looks like he's trying to figure it out. In the offensive end, when the puck comes to him with an open lane, he takes too long to get the shot off.

However, he's 19 and in a higher league than he should be. He showed some good things in tonight's game, like winning some board battles. About him being sat at the end of a tight game, I'm fine with it. He can watch and learn from others who know how to defend when the game's on the line. Effective pedagogy involves matching the challenge to the student's level. When he has shown in the rest of the game that he understands defence, positioning etc. and can win board battles, then trying his skills when the game's on the line will be an appropriate challenge and recognition of how much he's improved.

 

[Pegasus75]

'' The good: he sometimes makes a good pass or intercepts a pass, so we see a flash of why he drafted him.''


oh wow so lets celebrate that our 1st overall pick was able to intercept a pass tonight. Meanwhile, Cooley got 3 assists, on pace for a 65+pts rookie season...

 

[Habssince89]

To me, Slaf has been playing well for a 19 year old who is not yet processing the game at the same speed as the other players and who is still learning how to use his size, balance on his skates, protect his head etc. The good: he sometimes makes a good pass or intercepts a pass, so we see a flash of why he drafted him.

So far this season, he loses most board battles, doesn't seem to even commit in these battles and doesn't use his size effectively. When the puck is in our end, he often glides around with one hand on his stick and doesn't seem to know where he should be; it looks like he's trying to figure it out. In the offensive end, when the puck comes to him with an open lane, he takes too long to get the shot off.

However, he's 19 and in a higher league than he should be. He showed some good things in tonight's game, like winning some board battles. About him being sat at the end of a tight game, I'm fine with it. He can watch and learn from others who know how to defend when the game's on the line. Effective pedagogy involves matching the challenge to the student's level. When he has shown in the rest of the game that he understands defence, positioning etc. and can win board battles, then trying his skills when the game's on the line will be an appropriate challenge and recognition of how much he's improved.

The most noticeable thing about his recent small improvement is his boardplay and using his size. Just by doing that, he's finding himself in good position and the chances are coming.

Slaf definitely needs to shoot more, but you can see that they really want his playing away from the puck to be strong first and the plan is to really have him read the game well which will lead to points eventually. They recognize that his success will come from being smart with his size. Working on rounding out his game is slafs best bet to stardom but time will tell.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

'' The good: he sometimes makes a good pass or intercepts a pass, so we see a flash of why he drafted him.''


oh wow so lets celebrate that our 1st overall pick was able to intercept a pass tonight. Meanwhile, Cooley got 3 assists, on pace for a 65+pts rookie season...

Cooley is doing better for sure, but he's also not producing much at even strength. He has 1 goal and 2 assists in 14 games at even strength. Most of his points are coming on the pp where he's averaging 4 min per game on the top unit.

 

[Sorinth]

So far this season, he loses most board battles, doesn't seem to even commit in these battles and doesn't use his size effectively. When the puck is in our end, he often glides around with one hand on his stick and doesn't seem to know where he should be; it looks like he's trying to figure it out. In the offensive end, when the puck comes to him with an open lane, he takes too long to get the shot off.

I feel like he does win a good percentage of his board battles but there's certainly a lot of room for improvement. I do notice that non-committal aspect of his play, and I wonder how much of that is just his natural mindset and how much is not wanting to be caught out behind the play. That part of his play is one reason I think going back to Europe last year would have been a huge mistake as that is something that's quite prevalent in the European game due to the larger ice surface and teams playing the trap so much.

And yeah his biggest issue right now offensively seems to be taking too long to do stuff. It's especially evident when he has time/space to begin with, so it's like he doesn't have a good sense of how quickly that time/space gets closed off at the NHL level. When he's already in tight he does well with his passing game/stick handling but less so with his shot, My feeling is the issue is more experience then it is IQ/talent but it's certainly the big question mark facing him.

 

[The Great Weal]

Showed some solid things tonight but man the expectations are crazy low. People were trying so hard to try and argue that Carlsson/Fantilli/Cooley weren't that good in the NHL so far either but Calrssons got 6 goals and 7 points in 9 games, Fantilli has 8 points in 13, and Cooley's got 11 in 14 games. So even if these guys aren't "ready", they have the offensive ability to put up some points which is what you want from your highly drafted forward. Not to mention that I believe a couple of people even said Slaf is in that Carlsson/Fantilli tier as well (although I could be misremembering).

 

[Canad13ns]

Please don’t compare Slafkovsky to Tage Thompson…

Why?

How many big guys in the history of the league turned out like Tage?

VERY FEW big (6'4") forwards have been drafted first overall or even in the first round. (Big guys drafted high are usually defenders).

Some of those few have succeeded at 18 -- 1. Rick Nash, 6'4" drafted first overall. 2. Vincent Lecavalier, 6'4" 1st overall. 3. Patrik Laine, 6'5" 2nd overall.

Some big forwards drafted high had delayed success.. .
1. Blake Wheeler, 6'5" drafted 5th overall didn't enter the NHL till 22, didn't start averaging over 20 goals a game till age 27. (Now has 8 seasons over 20 goals).
2. Kevin Hayes, 6'4" drafted 24th overall, didn't enter NHL till 22, now averages 20 goals a year.
3. Pete Mahovlich, 6'5", drafted 2nd overall. Had 32 points in his first FIVE NHL seasons. Broke out when he was 25, suddenly scoring 35 goals, after averaging 4 (and had 5 more 30+ seasons).

Tage Thompson, #26 overall, didn't enter the NHL till he was 21, became a regular at 22, scored 8 goals at 24, and broke out with 38 at 25.

Sure, some big forwards drafted in the first round never pan out at all -- e.g., our old picks, McCarron and Tinordi.

Maybe Slaf will be the next McCarron or maybe he'll be the next Tage Thompson. But we can't know that right now so we have to wait.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Cooley is doing better for sure, but he's also not producing much at even strength. He has 1 goal and 2 assists in 14 games at even strength. Most of his points are coming on the pp where he's averaging 4 min per game on the top unit.

oh cool , how many points does Slaf have on the PP in his second year in the NHL?
Oh btw Cooley is 1 point behind Slafovsky in the nhl with 39 games less played.

Slaf did a great pass and a good forecheck in the second period tho.

Cooley is superior to Slaf let's stop coping with advanced stats like any of Slaf are good to begin with.

Slaf is handled like a grenade since his debut and 0 to none progress has been done since last season.

 

[ReHabs]

VERY FEW big (6'4") forwards have been drafted first overall or even in the first round. (Big guys drafted high are usually defenders).

Some of those few have succeeded at 18 -- 1. Rick Nash, 6'4" drafted first overall. 2. Vincent Lecavalier, 6'4" 1st overall. 3. Patrik Laine, 6'5" 2nd overall.

Some big forwards drafted high had delayed success.. .
1. Blake Wheeler, 6'5" drafted 5th overall didn't enter the NHL till 22, didn't start averaging over 20 goals a game till age 27. (Now has 8 seasons over 20 goals).
2. Kevin Hayes, 6'4" drafted 24th overall, didn't enter NHL till 22, now averages 20 goals a year.
3. Pete Mahovlich, 6'5", drafted 2nd overall. Had 32 points in his first FIVE NHL seasons. Broke out when he was 25, suddenly scoring 35 goals, after averaging 4 (and had 5 more 30+ seasons).

Tage Thompson, #26 overall, didn't enter the NHL till he was 21, became a regular at 22, scored 8 goals at 24, and broke out with 38 at 25.

Sure, some big forwards drafted in the first round never pan out at all -- e.g., our old picks, McCarron and Tinordi.

Maybe Slaf will be the next McCarron or maybe he'll be the next Tage Thompson. But we can't know that right now so we have to wait.

You forgot Hugh Jessiman.

For fun, I've made the below table featuring every forward mentioned in your post, I don't know how Slafkovsky will look when it's done... let's see

Name	Rookie pts, gp, and ppg	Sophomore pts, gp, and ppg
Rick Nash	39pts in 74gp, 0.53 ppg	57pts in 80gp, 0.72ppg
Patrick Laine	64pts in 73gp, 0.88ppg	70pts in 82gp, 0.85ppg
Vincent Lecavalier	28pts in 82gp, 0.34ppg	67pts in 80gp, 0.84ppg
Blake Wheeler	45pts in 81gp, 0.55ppg	38pts in 82gp, 0.46ppg
Kevin Hayes	45pts in 79gp, 0.57ppg	36pts in 79gp, 0.46ppg
Pete Mahovlich	4pts in 34gp, 0.12ppg	10pts in 15gp, 0.67ppg
Tage Thompson	12pts in 41gp, 0.29ppg	12pts in 65gp, 0.18ppg
Michael McCarron	2pts in 20gp, 0.10ppg	5pts in 21gp, 0.16ppg
Juraj Slafkovsky	10pts in 39gp, 0.26ppg	2pts in 14gp, 0.14ppg

I've bolded the lowest figure in each column.

There is a reason why many people are concerned about Slafkovsky's development and it's got nothing to do with a lack of patience. Anybody in denial of his insufficient progress* needs a reality check. We are in unprecedented waters and it is NOT a good thing.

*Many will claim to see progress when they see Slafkovsky making passes or other routine acts. That's not sufficient even if he is 19. He is in his D+2 and the trendline is down not up.

We can sign UFAs who can make passes -- they're called replacement level players (Slafkovsky has been often found as below replacement in the analytic flashcards). The point is to make plays that put points on the board. He's meant to be a scoring line player, so that's what he's meant to accomplish.

The goalposts shouldn't be moved on us: a high drafted forward is meant to score. By their Sophomore season in the NHL they're at least meant to show they can score points even if the consistency is missing. Slafkovsky has not shown this because he has been put in a position to fail by the Habs and has not been permitted to develop as a player and person outside of the NHL. As much potential there is for Slafkovsky to be the next Tage Thompson or Pete Mahovlich (LOL) he has the potential to be one of the worst busts of all time.

The Habs would benefit from acting more cautiously and judiciously toward the development of this player.

 

[Walrus26]

Liked Slaf's game againt the Bruins last night.

I'm sure there are some arcane stats available to demonstrate that he was rubbish, though.

 

[Canad13ns]

You forgot Hugh Jessiman.

For fun, I've made the below table featuring every forward mentioned in your post, I don't know how Slafkovsky will look when it's done... let's see

Name	Age 18 NHL pts, gp, and ppg	Age 19 pts, gp, and ppg
Rick Nash	39pts in 74gp, 0.53 ppg	57pts in 80gp, 0.72ppg
Patrick Laine	64pts in 73gp, 0.88ppg	70pts in 82gp, 0.85ppg
Vincent Lecavalier	28pts in 82gp, 0.34ppg	67pts in 80gp, 0.84ppg
Blake Wheeler	Not in NHL yet	Not in NHL yet
Kevin Hayes	Not in NHL yet	Not in NHL yet
Pete Mahovlich	Not in NHL yet	Not in NHL yet
Tage Thompson	Not in NHL yet	Not in NHL yet
Michael McCarron	Not in NHL yet	Not in NHL yet
Juraj Slafkovsky	10pts in 39gp, 0.26ppg	2pts in 14gp, 0.14ppg

I've bolded the lowest figure in each column.

The way you've labeled the columns hides the age differences in the players.
I fixed it for you. Looks to me like Slaf is being rushed.

 

[ReHabs]

The way you've labeled the columns hides the age differences in the players.
I fixed it for you. Looks to me like Slaf is being rushed.

There's two ways to deal with this data -- either we go by D+1 (18 year old season) and D+2 (19 year old season) or we go by Rookie NHL season and Sophomore NHL season. There is no one 'correct' way to approach this but I didn't hide anything. Since for Slaf, and indeed nearly every Top Drafted Forward since 2000* these two are the same, I've usually gone with D+1 and D+2 but in the list above there were plenty of players who were seasoned outside the NHL because they weren't NHL ready in their D+1 and D+2 seasons and I wanted to show what it's like to see them in the NHL on their ELCs but when they're actually capable of being a part of the NHL team. Essentially to show that Slaf didn't need to be rushed and there was upside to not rushing him.

Those opposed will insist that there is no downside to rushing a player to the NHL and there is great upside. I don't see it supported by any stat. Slafkovsky' under-production is nearly unprecedented. Since he's in the NHL and not going anywhere we have to hope and pray he finds another gear immediately and finishes the rest of the season with a higher clip. Hockey is a discreet game, you're meant to outscore the opposition. Some nice passes and looking engaged is not sufficient, you need your skill forward to put up points.

 

[River Meadow]

You forgot Hugh Jessiman.

Hugh Jessiman, the HUUUUUUGE Specimen!

Cooley is doing better for sure, but he's also not producing much at even strength. He has 1 goal and 2 assists in 14 games at even strength. Most of his points are coming on the pp where he's averaging 4 min per game on the top unit.

Would Slafkovsky put up those numbers if he were on the PP for the Coyotes?

 

[RationalExpectations]

The way you've labeled the columns hides the age differences in the players.
I fixed it for you. Looks to me like Slaf is being rushed.

Not a great View for Slaf either lol… scoring 5to 6x less per game than those guys in their sophomore seasons

 

[cave troll]

Please don’t compare Slafkovsky to Tage Thompson…

Why?

How many big guys in the history of the league turned out like Tage?

Also, when comparing with Thompson, people omit the most important thing for his break out ----> his trade.
Comparision with Thompson started this year when people realized our 1OA will never deliver like 1OA is supposed to do, so now the hope is that he will become a good NHL player in 5 years.
Also it's more comforting comparing him to Tage than to McBust or Jessiman, or even better with the player from the same league , with the same frame and even better stat in his last Liiga year - Vesalainen.

 

[Lshap]

Yes, I saw a nice pass here and there. But what struck me most of all about Slafkovsky's game was his panic when handling the puck. He expected to be mugged and so he passed/cleared the puck quickly – usually too quickly. He didn't make the best play or the bold play, he made the fearful play – get rid of the puck and hope for the best.

To me, it looks like the game is moving too quickly for this kid. If so, he won't develop if he's simply coping.

 

[cave troll]

The way you've labeled the columns hides the age differences in the players.
I fixed it for you. Looks to me like Slaf is being rushed.

Sure he is. But can you name us at least three 1OA who came to NHL 3 years after being drafted.
When I look at 1OA, I see that 95+% of them went to NHL straight after being drafted and 90% of them succeded.
So, is Slaf a 1OA material or just a young big guy who one day could become a good NHL-er?
If we look at him as 1OA he is a big disappointment heading into bust territory. If he look at him as just one regular big guy who fight for an NHL spot, then I'll say, he's OK for now.
But, the question comes..on who we wasted the 1OA?

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

I agree. We have ourselves a player. For 19 and under 60 games and a Euro to boot, his game is starting to mature. Long gone are the head-down hits against. I can't wait to rub it in hard once the stat sheet starts to catch-up. And it will. I won't let anyone off the hook.

is this sarcasm? he had an OK game but he also got absolutely clobbered again ,did you watch?

im the kids biggest fan but this post is pure homerism

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

He's protecting leads like a dinosaur coach. I'm not sure why he keeps Caufield with two offensive blackholes thought. Might as well put 3 defensive forwards if that's the plan.

Logic bruh, you put the guy who seemingly has great playmaking ability, all these intangibles with parabolic growth, with your best scorer. Duh. Goals go in. Ding ding ding.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Sure he is. But can you name us at least three 1OA who came to NHL 3 years after being drafted.
When I look at 1OA, I see that 95+% of them went to NHL straight after being drafted and 90% of them succeded.
So, is Slaf a 1OA material or just a young big guy who one day could become a good NHL-er?
If we look at him as 1OA he is a big disappointment heading into bust territory. If he look at him as just one regular big guy who fight for an NHL spot, then I'll say, he's OK for now.
But, the question comes..on who we wasted the 1OA?

your point is flawed because all of Cooley Nemec and Wright would also be disappointments for 1st overalls so what's your point? I don't see how you would be happy to use our treasured first overall on any of these dudes

 

[morhilane]

Logic bruh, you put the guy who seemingly has great playmaking ability, all these intangibles with parabolic growth, with your best scorer. Duh. Goals go in. Ding ding ding.

You think Dvorak and Evans have great playmaking abilities????

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

You think Dvorak and Evans have great playmaking abilities????

1-sarcasm
2-you didnt name the player with parabolic, exponential growth

 

[cave troll]

your point is flawed because all of Cooley Nemec and Wright would also be disappointments for 1st overalls so what's your point? I don't see how you would be happy to use our treasured first overall on any of these dudes

Good thing is that reality started to kick in.
Nobdody is comparing him to other 1OA now, since people are realizing Slaf will have the lowest impact in NHL of all 1OA in decades . After a month, people started to compare him with late blooming lower picks with big size.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Good thing is that reality started to kick in.
Nobdody is comparing him to other 1OA now, since people are realizing Slaf will have the lowest impact in NHL of all 1OA in decades . After a month, people started to compare him with late blooming lower picks with big size.

Right its sad but we have to move on

 

[DAChampion]

I wonder if Hughes is going to wait until the end of Slafkovsky's second season to send him to the AHL, like Bergevin did with Kotkaniemi.