A winger on a ppg line. 75 to 80 points ish?
Okay so anybody who (whilst being upbeat and positive) states they see Slafkovsky as a 30-30 guy, you'd jump down their throat for being irksome and underselling Slaf right?
I expect more than a Chris Kunitz type, maybe if he produces like him (600 points in 1000games) but with a bigger two way, physical impact. That will still be a disappointment relative to the Mackinnons and McDavids of this world tho but we gotta play the cards we are dealt. As for him not being 1st overall, after all, Cooley, Wright or whoever would not score higher or better than him. Thats our shitty luck to have drafted 1st in such a year. It appears, so far, right now, we have made the right selection.
Jiricek, a rookie d-man on an as-bad of a team, is outproducing him. I disagree he was the right selection (and I've been consistent about this) but, again, we'll see. It's nothing worth arguing over. It's like waiting for a stew to finish before saying it tastes good or bad. It's going to take a long time before anybody admits it is the right time to taste. Right now I'm saying I don't like how it looks and smells, you're saying otherwise. So be it. We'll see. I hope it tastes good -- I'm just as hungry as any one else in our cave.
I don't see any point in arguing about where he was projected on draft day, or point totals. What's interesting is how he is developing. Folks saying he just woke up the past month, came out of nowhere haven't been paying attention. He has been getting better progressively, week after week, which is fascinating to me. Been VERY fun to watch a project like this come into his own.
I don't think anyone really knows what his upside is. I'm seeing a guy create multiple scoring chances, a guy that if he can get square to the net, and get his shot off + his already great passing game + his defensive awareness + his emerging physicality... could be a bit of a unicorn.
Maybe a learning for some guys around here, you don't have to be right on these draft day calls, NHL scouts and GM's that do this for a reason, spend 8 hours a day watching puck, get these things wrong all the time. Just watch with your own eyes.
Looking at our last 3 high profile picks, it was clear to me very early that AG and KK were limited, that skating would hold them back. They had very obvious flaws.
I don't see any of those in Slaf, even if the points are slower to come.
He's definitely got unicorn in him. To continue the earlier analogy, a Jumbo Chris Kunitz would be highly sought after by any serious team. If that's his fate, we'd be lucky to have him. Though I don't think he's got a great passing game.
As of right now, even at the ~30 point pace you quote, we see improvements. Your "evidence" is based solely on current point production. Most on here, base their evidence on all the other subjective things they are witnessing.
He's on pace for 22 points not 30. I know we see improvements, I hope it translates to production (I think it will).
The overall picture does not change -- he doesn't play a high-production game, he has not yet demonstrated playmaking skills necessary for a high-production player. Again -- my opinion. But I've watched a lot of hockey and I feel confident about what I'm saying. I watch the same games you do and I've praised his presence in recent games repeatedly because he has improved and so this isn't hockeydb scouting, though I was 100% correct that he wasn't ready for the NHL last year and 100% vindicated off my hockeydb scouting.
Anyway this is all a bit too tedious. There is no debate left. He's developing in the NHL and we have no disagreement of kind between us, just the typical and normal disagreement of
degree. I don't think it's worth bickering if he's going top out at 8pts or 18pts or 80pts. Que sera sera. Feel free to take shots at me every time he picks up a point.
I'd love to speak about Slaf's day-to-day game without everybody assuming I'm coming from the angle of wanting him to fail so as to vindicate me, which is not remotely the case but I understand why I'm perceived that way. So I won't speak about Slaf as much.