Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[Jaynki]

Kid looks dynamite tonight

Surprisingly

 

[417]

You can name exceptions man. You can. But it's not because you do that it makes it the norm. Yes, you always develop in the NHL. I've seen 27 year old player develop. Mark Streit developed in the NHL. But it's not about that. It's not about having already the maturity and developing from there. Almost everybody you named were more mature. Also had the advantage to play in North America. A North American game, on a north american ice, with a north american schedule.

It's not exceptions, in today's NHL with the need for cheap ELCs, you can find some on most teams, every year.

Yes, players get better IN the NHL.

And i’m not debating maturity, that's a separate discussion.

I, we, are talking about players developing in the NHL.

Whether they

- fresh faced 18-19 year olds

- guys who just played minimal AHL games

- guys who played 1-2-3 seasons in the AHL

- guys who have done all of the above and have accumulated 1-2-3 years of NHL experience.

Development doesn't just stop once you reach the NHL.

You can’t honestly believe that, I know you don't.

Bu yes, at one point, you need to get kids in the NHL and have them develop. But you need some basis. Slaf doesn't have any. He has the size. But even the size, how many times do we see players with size evolve later on.

I mean…..i rest my case on that silly saying about the NHL not be a developmental league.

That point stands regardless of what level you think Slaf currently is at.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Are we watching the same game?

Well dynamite is a relative term but I think he looks good. Skating with confidence

 

[eurodin]

Yesterday all this time and space fires it into defenders skates. Today 2 on 1… nothing, a complete flub. I don’t know guys. Is it a confidence issue for a very low iq player? Probably both

Needs to be sent down so he can relearn the game in a prominent role

This guy is a bust. Low IQ player, and he always has this frazzled look. He also get's bodied and looks lazy. All in all not a good recipe. No improvement in the last 12 months. He has got to be one of the the least promising 1st round the Canadiens have drafted in the last 20 years.

 

[417]

Most of the guys you mentioned weren’t interjected into the NHL like Slafkovsky was at 18. The guys you mentioned that were 18 look/looked NHL ready.

Again, the point is less about Slafkovsky and more about players in general...whether you're an amateur in the CHL or in the ECHL, AHL, Europe, NCAA or NHL.

Development doesn't stop and it also doesn't require any specialization in each previous level before you apply yourself in another.

Development isn't linear that way and doesn't "accumulate" in a vacuum that way either.

The issue is fans think how THEY perceive development and evaluate it, is how development is actually tracked and evaluated.

Sometimes it is, most often times it's not.

The Montreal Canadiens coaching staff, like it or not, are not tracking the same "performance indicators" that fans or media have.

You don’t have to be fully developed to play in the NHL, but you do have to be at a certain point of development and that’s where you’re clashing with a bunch of different posters I think. Slafkovsky doesn’t look to be at that point and the disagreement comes from this strategy where a player who is relevitely out classed being able to learn the little things in that environment. The best way to learn is to play and I think the biggest problem with guys who are brought up to quick is they get sheltered and/or lose opportunities quickly to veterans who can do the little things they haven’t had time to learn. If Slafkovsky was showing he could hang, we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all.

I don't agree with this...take Filip Mesar, whose in the CHL right now because he doesn't have room to play a role that suited for him in a top 6 in the AHL, so he's spending his time running up the score against guys he SHOULD be and is better than.

If he's healthy, he'll have 80+ pts this year and everyone will say...wow, amazing development.

But guess what, come camp next year...he's going to be fighting for the same thing he was fighting this year.

The best way to learn is different for every player and trying to apply some perfect cookie cutter approach to EVERY player is not optimal IMO (and no, neither is force feeding them minutes they can't handle).

I disagree with you personally that Slafkovsky "can't hang" in the NHL and I guess, so does the coaching staff.

That doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't be opposed to a stint in the AHL...but it's got more to do with how he's deployed and sorting out his confidence, not for anything that I think he would gain there that would prove to be more valuable than the experience he's currently gaining.

 

[Whitesnake]

I mean…..i rest my case on that silly saying about the NHL not be a developmental league.

That point stands regardless of what level you think Slaf currently is at.

I think this is not what people mean when they talk about development. 'Cause everybody with 2 eyes see players evolve in the NHL. Hence develop. Seems to me that the development talked about is taking a guy not ready....and make him ready. To me the development in the NHL is taking a guy ready....and make him evolve as a player to reach his full potential.

 

[Final Baton]

He's showing some good things tonight (despite the many fanned shots)

He's at least at the right places at the right time.

He's also involved in the play.

 

[417]

I think this is not what people mean when they talk about development. 'Cause everybody with 2 eyes see players evolve in the NHL. Hence develop. Seems to me that the development talked about is taking a guy not ready....and make him ready. To me the development in the NHL is taking a guy ready....and make him evolve as a player to reach his full potential.

Well people need to use their words more wisely, because when you say “the NHL is not a developmental league” it implies, no, it flat out says that development doesn't happen at that level.

It's demonstrably false.

As for the deployment, I think that points to the coach not being ready for the player more than the player not being ready personally. Because he’s deployed players in those same positions who were demonstrably worse in the same situations (see Josh Anderson).

That's more to do with comfort, than readiness.

The only reason people say Slafkovsky isn't ready, is because he was drafted 1st overall and they have an expectation of what 1st overalls who start in the NHL @ 18 "should" be doing.

But just ignore his draft status for a second and even his age...to suggest that there are 13 or 14 better performing forwards on this roster is just a plain lie.

 

[Mrb1p]

He's showing some good things tonight (despite the many fanned shots)

He's at least at the right places at the right time.

He's also involved in the play.

Agreed. His puck skills are still bad though.... AHL.

 

[Hacketts]

1st: a diaster
2nd: one of his best periods, period.

Going to be a process, slowly but surely.

 

[Kennerback]

He's showing some good things tonight (despite the many fanned shots)

He's at least at the right places at the right time.

He's also involved in the play.

His shot release needs a ton of work. For example, what are shooting lanes. But that 2nd period was really good.

 

[Final Baton]

Agreed. His puck skills are still bad though.... AHL.

Yeah his passing decisions and shot release time are still very very rough. No doubt

 

[417]

1st: a diaster
2nd: one of his best periods, period.

Going to be a process, slowly but surely.

Wild theory...but maybe he learned something from that 1st period that motivated him for the 2nd.

WIld I know, apparently these things don't happen IN the NHL...must be a full moon.

 

[Final Baton]

His shot release needs a ton of work. For example, what are shooting lanes. But that 2nd period was really good.

Agreed

 

[Toene]

I think this is not what people mean when they talk about development. 'Cause everybody with 2 eyes see players evolve in the NHL. Hence develop. Seems to me that the development talked about is taking a guy not ready....and make him ready. To me the development in the NHL is taking a guy ready....and make him evolve as a player to reach his full potential.

Well put. Caufield had the shot to play in the NHL even before being drafted, but he needed to work on his all-around game so he could be a net positive when he stepped in.

 

[417]

His shot release needs a ton of work. For example, what are shooting lanes. But that 2nd period was really good.

We could say the same about every forward or Dman on this roster not named Caufield/Suzuki/Monahan/Pearson.

Alright done for the night lol i'll let y'all enjoy the rest of this period

 

[Final Baton]

We could say the same about every forward or Dman on this roster not named Caufield/Suzuki/Monahan/Pearson.

Alright done for the night lol i'll let y'all enjoy the rest of this period

His shot release is definitely sub-sub-par though. For like 75% of his attempted shots, an oponent manages to put his stick in the way. The stat in question placed him bottom 5 league-wide at the end of last year. And he hasn't improved this aspect much, if at all.

 

[Mrb1p]

We could say the same about every forward or Dman on this roster not named Caufield/Suzuki/Monahan/Pearson.

Alright done for the night lol i'll let y'all enjoy the rest of this period

Appeal to mediocrity I guess? None of the players on this team save the ones mentionned and Slaf are important.

 

[Whitesnake]

Well people need to use their words more wisely, because when you say “the NHL is not a developmental league” it implies, no, it flat out says that development doesn't happen at that level.

It's demonstrably false.

As for the deployment, I think that points to the coach not being ready for the player more than the player not being ready personally. Because he’s deployed players in those same positions who were demonstrably worse in the same situations (see Josh Anderson).

That's more to do with comfort, than readiness.

The only reason people say Slafkovsky isn't ready, is because he was drafted 1st overall and they have an expectation of what 1st overalls who start in the NHL @ 18 "should" be doing.

But just ignore his draft status for a second and even his age...to suggest that there are 13 or 14 better performing forwards on this roster is just a plain lie.

I'm not sure how relevant it is that there are 13 or 11 or 9 forwards better than him. We are not at win now mode. But we are most definately at develop your jewel the best way possible so we could get to win now one day.

 

[austin316]

Wish we had Cooley

 

[417]

I'm not sure how relevant it is that there are 13 or 11 or 9 forwards better than him. We are not at win now mode. But we are most definately at develop your jewel the best way possible so we could get to win now one day.

Back at it tomorrow! I promise lol

 

[NORiculous]

Wish we had Cooley

I wish the Habs had Bedard… but let’s turn to the next draft.

 

[Sorinth]

I highly doubt that's a common occurence.

I doubt it's all that common for guys to actually be hurt by being "rushed". People just assume that every player who plays in the NHL at an early age and then doesn't have a good NHL career was hurt because they were rushed. But that assumption is more then likely to be wrong in most cases.

 

[The Great Weal]

If he keeps playing like how he did after the 1st period tonight, the points will come. I hope he builds off of that.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

He made some passes tonight, that's crazy! I remember Joe Thornton passing like that