The leg injury hurt his rookie season, of course. But how can you STILL, with perfect HINDSIGHT, not acknowledge that in fact Slaf was making progress steadily from the season start to then the Monahan line, and then the final 3 games before the injury playing with Dvorak and dominating shifts, and then this year (career games 40-67) and not realize that the December-January 22-23 slump coincided with the entire team's funk after Monahan went down?? Who expects an 18 year old to put a struggling team on his back?
The thing is, Slafkovsky already played quite a bit at the AHL level (Olympics and World Championships were at least that) and performed remarkably well. That his next step was the NHL was not surprising to people who observe these things for a living, especially since he was not a pipsqueak.
Almost everyone on here agreed with you, in that he should not have been in the NHL last year....................moot point now.
MSL sometimes, reminds me of Slaf in his progression as a head coach.
Yes you have...in bashing and bad player evaluation.
You're saying that your opinion is based on evidence and evaluation of prevailing historical trends rather than blind emotionalism and bias, and thus adapts to changing circumstances and new information?
Cooley would have probably got his chance in the NHL if he had not chosen to do a year of NCAA. Wright at #4 started in the NHL but could not handle 8 minutes per game and was LATER demoted.
You have no idea how to evaluate a player...
No clue who is Slafkovsky.
One thing you were right on is that something in Slaf’s stats before the draft was suspicious. I think that problem still remains. Despite looking amazing otherwise. The coaching staff really needs to work with him on exploiting better scoring opportunities he creates.
No clue how to evaluate a hockey player...
It appears you have no idea how things work...
In the context of previous Habs high draft forwards busting and underwhelming, you cannot tell me I ought to have had high hopes and optimism for this case heading into the season. Especially after MSL insisted that he wouldn't send Slafkosvky down.
I agree. Slafkovsky's small, in close-quarters moves, are impressive. It seems almost every time he touches the puck in tightly contested areas, a good thing happens. He uses his strength, size and reach to gain that extra space to make a play. I love how he uses the boards to make an indirect pass to an area that a line mate is skating into. It's a great subtlety that few young (and older) players have. At first, I thought it was just luck. But when it happened repeatedly, I realized it was planned. The game is obviously slowing down for him.
OK, but you went way too far when you said there was "no reason to be optimistic". That literally means everyone else who thought differently and had optimism was unreasonable.
It's plainly clear there was something extremely dubious about his stat line versus the praise and hype. And, absent looking at old game tape, I deduced (based on general trends and phenomenon) that it was to do with his playmaking abilities.
You also saw me praise him and his growth. And presumably you saw me criticise people who trashed him. Stop trying to make me out to be the boogeyman simply because I don't think a 22pt pace forward is top6 material. You can call a triumph for him if you want, erect a statue to his shootout goal. See what I care. I've been respectful and polite but this is not fair.
I was referring to myself and others who in the context of other recent first round busts and rushed prospects did not feel optimistic and had no reason to feel optimistic. I own this feeling and statement, because I felt it.
He arrived in less a full season of games.
Funny story, Jagr saw Slaf play in his draft year and said he was immediately like who’s this guy? I want him on my team, how can i sign him? And then he learned Slaf was 17 and was about to be drafted for the NHL lol.
