When management came out and said they gave Slaf specific things to work on outside of production last season, the stuff in the videos you showed are the things I think they were referring too. It’s actually good that he is catching on and learning those things. If somebody was doubting if Slaf can or cannot be a regular in the NHL, that would be a good indicator that he will be good enough to at least hold a roster spot at this level. The problem is people are looking for flashes of this “unicorn” we’ve all heard about and we haven’t seen any of that yet.
and, further, many don't seem to grasp that much of what they have asked him to do requires a lot of thinking... far more than is conducive to playing on instincts, and that can give the appearance of being a bit lost, slow, akward et. Assuming the team is accurate in their assessment, the parts of his game that are being rebuilt will eventually become more comfortable and allow him to move back into a much more instinctual processing, just at a highel level of impact.
It's a dip that, if well executed, will contribute to an even bigger long term gain... as long as teh player has the mental fortitude to stick with it. Slaf's commitment to it, despite the dip in his performance and all the negative chatter from fans and media, is reassuring imo. Shows how committed he is and how bought in to the approach the team laid out for him.
The unicorn stuff will start to show up, in spades, once he's through the dip... i think we've seen glimpses of it, and the team certainly has.
Future is bright !
