Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[ReHabs]

Proof positive that numerous posters have barely watched the kid or if they do, are way too invested in their bias. I always had a chuckle during the offseason when a 'concerned' poster would talk about how slow of a skater he was.

Slaf has never been a slow skater and it is definitely not a weak aspect of his player profile. He’s a very good skater.

I believe Nemec is a great player but you can't compare a forwards time on ice directly to that of a D. There are three pairs of D and three lines of F.

23/4*3 = 17.25 minutes of ice time.

Has Slaf ever played over 17min?

I’m curious if Slaf will be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd among 2022 draftees in terms of career points by the end of the season.

 

[Pazucha]

I believe Nemec is a great player but you can't compare a forwards time on ice directly to that of a D. There are three pairs of D and three lines of F.

23/4*3 = 17.25 minutes of ice time.

I know but still Slaf only played one game over 18 min in two seasons.. which is not great

Now he is on line with Pearson and Evans that means his toi will be around 12 min

 

[Nicko999]

Slaf has never been a slow skater and it is definitely not a weak aspect of his player profile. He’s a very good skater.


Has Slaf ever played over 17min?

I’m curious if Slaf will be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd among 2022 draftees in terms of career points by the end of the season.

By the end of this season?
Should be 1st or 2nd in pts depending on Cooley and on how much Slaf improves his production pace.

 

[DAChampion]

Slaf has never been a slow skater and it is definitely not a weak aspect of his player profile. He’s a very good skater.


Has Slaf ever played over 17min?

I’m curious if Slaf will be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd among 2022 draftees in terms of career points by the end of the season.

I know but still Slaf only played one game over 18 min in two seasons.. which is not great

Now he is on line with Pearson and Evans that means his toi will be around 12 min

You guys are right of course. Slaf should be getting more ice time, and if he can't crack 17 minutes on one of the worst teams in the league which is injury depleted t boot then he might need more seasoning in the AHL.

 

[ReHabs]

You guys are right of course. Slaf should be getting more ice time, and if he can't crack 17 minutes on one of the worst teams in the league which is injury depleted t boot then he might need more seasoning in the AHL.

I've retired the "Slaf to AHL" line of argument for a multitude of reasons. Que sera sera. In terms of his growth as a player, I have many reservations before I'd trust him with regular 15+ minute games even on this bad lineup. He still eats hits more often than he should, even after finishing his pass he's sometimes hit hard. I'd want to see him play with much more control of his own physical presence before giving him bigger minutes. It's a contact sport and he'd be playing against the best hockey players in the world... caution is useful.

 

[Revansky]

I've retired the "Slaf to AHL" line of argument for a multitude of reasons. Que sera sera. In terms of his growth as a player, I have many reservations before I'd trust him with regular 15+ minute games even on this bad lineup. He still eats hits more often than he should, even after finishing his pass he's sometimes hit hard. I'd want to see him play with much more control of his own physical presence before giving him bigger minutes. It's a contact sport and he'd be playing against the best hockey players in the world... caution is useful.

Completely agree. He's beginning to find his footing in the last 5-10 games, and hovering around 15 minutes should help him stay healthy all season long. Would increase his powerplay time though.

 

[Skala24]

I believe Nemec is a great player but you can't compare a forwards time on ice directly to that of a D. There are three pairs of D and three lines of F.

23/4*3 = 17.25 minutes of ice time.

I assume you thought four lines of F

 

[Yasuo]

By the end of this season?
Should be 1st or 2nd in pts depending on Cooley and on how much Slaf improves his production pace.

Lets say Cooley finish the year with 50 points wich i think is realistic. Slaf will need 40+ points to have more career points than Cooley. That also mean 33+ points in the 59 games left for Slafkovsky and we all now it probably won't happen.

 

[DAChampion]

Lets say Cooley finish the year with 50 points wich i think is realistic. Slaf will need 40+ points to have more career points than Cooley. That also mean 33+ points in the 59 games left for Slafkovsky and we all now it probably won't happen.

Do you actually care?

I believe for one believe that Slafkovsky was the best player available, but if he's not developed properly it won't matter.

Imagine giving the best tomato to the worst cook, you won't get the best tomato sauce.

 

[Jaynki]

Teams send young NHL talent to the AHL all the time to season them if they aren’t getting acceptable minutes or opportunity. Besides what popular belief is around here, burying guys down the line up in the NHL to develop isn’t an ideal strategy for a lot of teams. And not every team with a blue chip prospect has the same luxury we have as a rebuilding team where winning isn’t as big of a concern.

100% agree. The last phrase is key.

 

[Sorinth]

You often see 18 year olds in the NHL?

No disagreement from me here. I don’t think it’s a “vague trope”.

Are you claiming that development stops after 18? Because if not then I don't see how the number of 18 year olds in the NHL has any relevance to my statement that lots of players develop in the NHL.

 

[ReHabs]

Are you claiming that development stops after 18?

Why would you think I made this claim? If you think you need to, read my comments again.

 

[Sorinth]

Why would you think I made this claim? If you think you need to, read my comments again.

Because I said I quite often see players develop in the NHL and your response was to question that I often see 18 year olds in the NHL implying that the two groups are the same.

So since you apparently didn't mean that implication, then please explain how/why the frequency of 18 year being in the NHL has any bearing on whether the NHL is a development league?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Lets say Cooley finish the year with 50 points wich i think is realistic. Slaf will need 40+ points to have more career points than Cooley. That also mean 33+ points in the 59 games left for Slafkovsky and we all now it probably won't happen.

Honestly, it doesn’t matter at this stage.

That being said, 50 points (if he gets there) for Cooley in his first year is awesome. Good for him to be able to do that on Arizona.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Proof positive that numerous posters have barely watched the kid or if they do, are way too invested in their bias. I always had a chuckle during the offseason when a 'concerned' poster would talk about how slow of a skater he was.

I’ve seen something similar posted before. He doesn’t look particularly fast.

Not saying that I think he’s slow. I just didn’t notice how fast he was I guess. Some guys - Russ Courtnall for example - are fast and look fast. Courtnall by the way wasn’t as fast as Claude Lemieux, another guy I didn’t realize was as fast as he actually was.

Anyways… I’m sure none of you care about this post but I figured I’d put it here anyway.

 

[Goldthorpe]

Slaf is a good skater, but he's playing in the same team as Anderson, who is pretty much as big and one of the fastest skater in the NHL (at least in his prime), and some kind of unicorn in his way too, so I get why people would think Slaf is "slow".

 

[dinodebino]

Kid has no chance tonight, playing essentially on a 4th line.

 

[Kennerback]

Slaf is a good skater, but he's playing in the same team as Anderson, who is pretty much as big and one of the fastest skater in the NHL (at least in his prime), and some kind of unicorn in his way too, so I get why people would think Slaf is "slow".

A lot of the tall skaters are deceptively fast. Pronger said he was shocked early on how fast Mario Lemieux really was. He misjudged the speed of his strides and he just blew by him along the boards.

 

[Habit11]

Kid has no chance tonight, playing essentially on a 4th line.

When I look at the 2nd line tonight I have to seriously ask if Bergevin and Therrien are still running this team? Honestly, what is this team doing? Ylonen too keeps being relegated to barely playing and the guy has shown more offensive skill than the entire 2nd line combined. Extremely bizarre for a team that is apparently rebuilding.

 

[Kennerback]

He’s playing with Pearson and Evans because of an injury. How is that settling a kid up for success? If he overcomes something like that, fair play. But there’s not much to gain from that.

Could MSL have grown as impatient as fans with Slaf’s constant flubs when he has the puck in the slot?

 

[Habit11]

Could MSL have grown as impatient as fans with Slaf’s constant flubs when he has the puck in the slot?

The same MSL who has all the patience in the world for Anderson and his 0 goals and a whopping 2 points this year to show for it?

 

[Kennerback]

The same MSL who has all the patience in the world for Anderson and his 0 goals and a whopping 2 points this year to show for it?

Anderson is having an impressive streak of bad luck. He had the same streak I believe his last season in Columbus. He’s getting shots on net and chances.

Slaf’s been looking very good, but he doesn’t seem the scoring.type at all. I think Anderson might still score tonight. I’ve come to expect Slaf not to score.

If you have one critical shift tonight and you absolutely need a goal, who would you put between Slaf and Anderson? I would probably still go with Anderson.

 

[Naslundforever]

Anderson is having an impressive streak of bad luck. He had the same streak I believe his last season in Columbus. He’s getting shots on net and chances.

Slaf’s been looking very good, but he doesn’t seem the scoring.type at all. I think Anderson might still score tonight. I’ve come to expect Slaf not to score.

If you have one critical shift tonight and you absolutely need a goal, who would you put between Slaf and Anderson? I would probably still go with Anderson.

Slaf for sure. I get the Dadonov syndrome when Anderson has the puck I look at hf nowadays.

 

[Kennerback]

Slaf for sure. I get the Dadonov syndrome when Anderson has the puck I look at hf nowadays.

Anderson scored 27 goals before. I have Slaf pegged at 12 maybe. Once Anderson starts scoring, he´ll leave Slaf way behind. That’s not to say Slaf can’t make tape to tape passes or start something offensively. Just not score goals.

 

[Naslundforever]

This isn’t even a thing. This is something you’ve made up. Where is there “Dadonov syndrome.” Please explain.

When Dadonov had the puck he’d dangle into the o-zone and turn it over. Over time I developped the Dadonov syndrome (I eventually would lose interest when he had the puck, convinced nothing would ever come of it despite the sparkles).

Anderson scored 27 goals before. I have Slaf pegged at 12 maybe. Once Anderson starts scoring, he´ll leave Slaf behind. That’s not to say Slaf can’t make tape to tale passes or start something offensively. Just not score goals.

He has infinitely more this year. And other than the slow release from the slot I would have him ahead of Anderson in the line up tonight, and in OT.