Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[Captain Mountain]

He has 1 point in 8 games while being spoon fed top 6/first line opportunities. At what point is it acceptable to be concerned? People that hide behind the age argument disappear real fast when players get older and the same predictable patterns stay present.

It entirely depends on what you're actually concerned about.

Production? I tend to be willing to be a lot more patient than worrying about it now (or even at any point this season), just based on how long it takes most players to produce at an NHL level and the expectations of Slafkovsky prior to him being drafted.

On-ice play? I'm not sure I'd be concerned at all right now. People wanted to see what he could do in top 6/first line opportunities. Well, the Slaf, Suzuki and Caufield line has excellent underling numbers and looks good. Montreal hasn't really seen many line combinations either of last two seasons which were better. If you were to gamble on any line the Habs have put together doing something with more minutes, you'd want to bet on that one for now.

Unless you think: (a) an on-ice shooting percentage of just over 3% for the Slaf, Suzuki and Caufield line and a shooting percentage of around 4.5% personally is both sustainable and something to be expected, and (b) Slaf's improved play is not sustainable, then I'm not sure I see the concern. Especially since we can see Slafkovsky improving on the ice.

 

[417]

It entirely depends on what you're actually concerned about.

Production? I tend to be willing to be a lot more patient than worrying about it now (or even at any point this season), just based on how long it takes most players to produce at an NHL level and the expectations of Slafkovsky prior to him being drafted.

On-ice play? I'm not sure I'd be concerned at all right now. People wanted to see what he could do in top 6/first line opportunities. Well, the Slaf, Suzuki and Caufield line has excellent underling numbers and looks good. Montreal hasn't really seen many line combinations either of last two seasons which were better. If you were to gamble on any line the Habs have put together doing something with more minutes, you'd want to bet on that one for now.

Unless you think: (a) an on-ice shooting percentage of just over 3% for the Slaf, Suzuki and Caufield line and a shooting percentage of is both sustainable and something to be expected, and (b) Slaf's improved play is not sustainable, then I'm not sure I see the concern. Especially since we can see Slafkovsky improving on the ice.

It's the last stand…his version of The Battle of Stalingrad, his Waterloo if you will.

 

[V13]

Thank you very much, you said it better than I did. Matheson does it on the PP as well, every player we face knows what we are going to do lol. Caufield has a low shooting percentage because his shots are predictable, and always the same lol.

This team has been predictable on the PP for the last 30 years due to the lack of natural talent upfront. Now it's the Caufield thing , before that it was the big shot from Weber , before that it was the big shot from Subban , before that it was the big shot from Souray etc

I mean i understand that you need to use your best weapons but the Habs more or less always use the same weapon. If you watch the best PP teams and then you watch an Habs PP the lack of offensive creativity is apparent. As you said Habs are too predictable

 

[themilosh]

A winning second line paid at the level of a first line, though.

are they really though? 8 +8 + ELC(RFA) isn;t that expensive first line at all. border line 2nd.. theoretically, you could put Dach on with CC + Suzuki and that would equal $20M 2nd. Slaf can bring the average down for a first line of about $25M = 2 x $10M + Slaf
$45M committed to the Top 6 is a great start.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Agreed with the idea that the 2022 players were hurt by Covid. Slaf looks like a project, but Cooley and Wright do too to some extent.

I think Wright was most affected and ends up getting a real raw deal. He came in at 15 in the OHL as a gifted player, so he does everything not to be mauled by 19 and 20 year olds. Despite that he has a great season relying on his pure skills. His key learning season when he's 16 and more physically ready to learn to play physical he loses completely to Covid.

He's a great skater with a great shot and elite finishing skills. What's preventing from being a solid NHLer right now? He's getting rid of the puck too early and is not very effective taking hits to make plays. He doesn't make enough time and space for himself... I see him as a 30-40-70 but that's going to happen only when he can operate in traffic. Blame his lost 16 year old OHL season.

Is he a great skater?

 

[Naslundforever]

At what point do we panic, set the internet on fire and make a gdt?

I came here figured it was tomorrow thank goodness Siri knows her hockey.

Slaf with the 18 goals 32 assists he should have gotten in the last 2 weeks in a manga-like Slafplosion.

 

[Habssince89]

Is he a great skater?

he's displaying great balance, agility and acceleration. I don't think he's fast but he really can't be labelled slow. I think he's not going to win a lot of races to the puck for potential breakaways, but he seems to be able to cover a lot of ground in small areas, and he's using that quick step to do things like causing the turnover for the CC goal the other night.

 

[Sagikev]

Can't believe that guy is still going at it

Let it go big man, lâche le morceau, kid's looking great. His physicality is picking up, he's creating plays, he's gaining a step. It's coming together

 

[OldCraig71]

This team has been predictable on the PP for the last 30 years due to the lack of natural talent upfront. Now it's the Caufield thing , before that it was the big shot from Weber , before that it was the big shot from Subban , before that it was the big shot from Souray etc

I mean i understand that you need to use your best weapons but the Habs more or less always use the same weapon. If you watch the best PP teams and then you watch an Habs PP the lack of offensive creativity is apparent. As you said Habs are too predictable

We pass the puck around the outside, we don't have enough fluid movement on our powerplays. Every pp takes a horseshoe shape, right circle back to right D, over to left D, pass to left circle(Caufield) shot. Over and over we do the same thing. We don't have a strong net-front presence and we don't have one of our forwards moving to the center of the ice for a dangerous slot opportunity. It's easy to defend because it's predictable, everyone in the league knows that Caufield is the shot option and yes, there are times when Suzuki will shoot but only against teams with a weak setup in the defensive zone(4 man box). We don't have a defenseman that threads the needle with cross seam passes and we don't have the bomb from the point, we just continue with the same formula.

 

[Kennerback]

he's displaying great balance, agility and acceleration. I don't think he's fast but he really can't be labelled slow. I think he's not going to win a lot of races to the puck for potential breakaways, but he seems to be able to cover a lot of ground in small areas, and he's using that quick step to do things like causing the turnover for the CC goal the other night.

If my memory serves me right he had the fastest skating time at a CHL meeting. He wasn’t moving his legs his last year of Juniors which made him look slower, but he’s hustling more now. Speed is certainly not holding him back. Imo It’s the lack of time and space because he gets rid of the puck too early.

Because they fast tracked him in the OHL, he missed his last year before juniors where he should have been dominating 14-15 year olds physically and getting confortable in his body. He then missed what should have been his normal 16 year old “First Junior season” because of COVID. A 16 year old is strong enough not being killed by 20 year olds like at 15 and he could have tried more physically risky plays instead of always fearing for his health. What he’s lacking he should have learned during those two years. He’s now stuck catching up.

 

[BaseballCoach]

he's displaying great balance, agility and acceleration. I don't think he's fast but he really can't be labelled slow. I think he's not going to win a lot of races to the puck for potential breakaways, but he seems to be able to cover a lot of ground in small areas, and he's using that quick step to do things like causing the turnover for the CC goal the other night.

LOL, we were talking about Shane Wright.

 

[George Lebay]

 

[Shutdown]

not this season, but i think this guy should be killing penalties by the end of next season.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

View attachment 786096

crazy

 

[Habssince89]

He's going to get some pucks to go in eventually, it is plain to see he reads the game well because he's in the right places. I'm excited to see him continue this great growth. Not to mention Caufield will get some goals of his own sooner or later, and you know its going to come in bunches. JS's statline should be helped by that too.

 

[Frank Drebin]

View attachment 786096

Who was that poor fella

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Keep trying harder, the scoring chances are there, the results are upcoming.

Keep trying harder, the scoring chances are there, the results are upcoming.

Lolol, want to make a bet?

 

[Nevins]

I was never a big fan of this draft pick but I have to admit that for the last 2-3 weeks, he has looked like a real NHL player, he prepares plays on his own, he positions himself around the net and he easily wins his battles on the boards. I have difficulty comparing Slafkovsky but he will be a power forward with a physique to be frightening.

 

[jrom]

Who was that poor fella

Morissey, rough night for him

 

[Habssince89]

LOL, we were talking about Shane Wright.

My bad

 

[Egresch]

View attachment 786096

Hit me baby one more time!

 

[waitin425]

Another excellent night for Slafbeastky. Massive Slafhitsky on Josh Morcrushissey. Just need for Slafpointsky's to allay the fears of all the party pooperskys on this threadsky.

 

[morhilane]

View attachment 786096

Thinking back to this hit. In a year or two, half the league players will try to avoid standing near Slafkovsky, which will make them do errors with the puck.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Thinking back to this hit. In a year or two, half the league players will try to avoid standing near Slafkovsky, which will make them do errors with the puck.

Its good karma since everybody tried to kill him when he was 18 lmao.

Something that isn't talked about alot is he has not gotten plastered since the start of the season , I think it was week two where he really got crushed.

Clearly the kid learns fast because he hasn't had his head down at all this season since the first few rough weeks.

we taught him how to breathe and how to keep his head up maybe we can teach him how to shoot

 

[Tyson]

Now we are seeing why he was the 1OA. Still a long way to go but he was trusted to play 20 minutes last night.
Can't wait to see him in 2 years.