Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[the valiant effort]

Both a 1993 draft card and 1995-1996 rookie card have Big Bert at 6’3” 227 lol. Took him almost a decade to put his potential game together, which was of course greatly helped by Naslund’s emergence.

Maybe Bertuzzi rounds out his pro game earlier if he doesn’t come in under Milbury’s delusional Islander regime.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

3 of the 4 goals he was on, or he did important work that didn't end up in points.

Harris' goal, Slaf caused the turnover.
Caufield's pp goal. Slaf kept it and got it down low to Suzuki, who got it to Monahan, to Caufield to the back of the net.

 

[BenchBrawl]

For the record, I wasn't suggesting Slafkovsky was as good as Eric Lindros, in case that wasn't clear. Few players in history were as good as young Lindros.

Still, it's so rare to see a teenager have an impact physically in the NHL, and Slafkovsky is already there.

 

[Jeune Poulet]

Did you just respond to yourself?

And that wasn't even the craziest thing that happened there.

 

[sandviper]

Just could not figure out why he never learned to keep his head up. Man between Stevens and Kasparaitus they brutalized him.

Think it was the big man syndrome… he was always the biggest and most physical guy on the ice and was used to being the bully. I agree those two always dished it out to him.

Slaf doesn’t go around beating guys up, not the same as Lindros, but he hopefully continues to learn to be aware on the Ice for these hits.

 

[Tyson]

Think it was the big man syndrome… he was always the biggest and most physical guy on the ice and was used to being the bully. I agree those two always dished it out to him.

That actually makes alot of sense

 

[sampollock]

needed to pick up Slaf in my dynasty yahoo league. a leafblower fan scooped him.. he will drop him then I pounce

 

[waitin425]

needed to pick up Slaf in my dynasty yahoo league. a leafblower fan scooped him.. he will drop him then I pounce

A leaf fan grabbing Slaf in Yahoo but coming on here to trash him no doubt! lol

 

[sampollock]

A leaf fan grabbing Slaf in Yahoo but coming on here to trash him no doubt! lol

friend of mine, I know his tactics, figures I will trade for him now.. I will wait it out. leafblower fans are fickle

 

[_vivelequebec_]

He’s no Lindros and that’s a good thing. His brain and body were jello before he was 30.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I am 48 years old and I remember Lindros in the Juniors so well.

That basterd was at 6.5 and 230 pounds at the draft.

He was a f..beast and a lot more stronger at 16 than Slaf is now.....can you believe it.

In fact nobody have seen a beast like Lindros before or after.

Everybody remember and talk about when Stevens crushed him..and Kasparatis after that...and it was basically the end of wreckmachine Lindros...

...but before that ....Lindros crushed everybody... he was a force.

Hard to compare sports..but Lindros was like a kind of Mike Tyson in the sens that Tyson was heavyweight champion at only 20 years old and everybody feared him...even before the fights started.

Tyson lost at 24 years and never been the same after..

Lindros at 18 was stronger than 100% of 25 years old NHL players.

I had a dinner one day with Patrice Brisebois and he told us that all defensemen were feared of Lindros at the time.

I think it was Pierre Page who used to call him Darth Vader.

 

[417]

Just saw someone say that Slafkovsky looks like Manny from the move Scarface and now I can't unsee it lol

 

[Adam Michaels]

Just saw someone say that Slafkovsky looks like Manny from the move Scarface and now I can't unsee it lol

 

[Habs10Habs]

Just saw someone say that Slafkovsky looks like Manny from the move Scarface and now I can't unsee it lol

@Runner77 made a picture for me putting Suzuki's head on Tony and Slaf on Manny. I have it saved on my laptop, it's hilarious.

 

[DAChampion]

View attachment 795650

 

[waitin425]

Holy crap....Slaf thread was on the second page. What's going on?

Hey everyone who said....Slaf was skating with his head down and injury prone...therefore AHL for him.....did you check out Bedard last night? Do the same rules apply to him? A friend wants to know.

 

[Jaaanosik]

Holy crap....Slaf thread was on the second page. What's going on?

Hey everyone who said....Slaf was skating with his head down and injury prone...therefore AHL for him.....did you check out Bedard last night? Do the same rules apply to him? A friend wants to know.

These are 'mind' games.
I hope Bedard does not have a concussion.
He will have to adjust 'his mind' otherwise more hits will come.

All young players have to adjust, Slaf included, hopefully he's learned...

 

[Nicko999]

I was looking at Sebastián Aho draft year Liiga stats trying to figure out why the dude fell to the 2nd round and they are similar to Slaf's.
Doesn't mean Slaf will ever be as good as Aho but it's an interesting observation.

 

[SlafySZN]

I was looking at Sebastián Aho draft year Liiga stats trying to figure out why the dude fell to the 2nd round and they are similar to Slaf's.
Doesn't mean Slaf will ever be as good as Aho but it's an interesting observation.

It always depends how many minutes they get and their role as 17 years old. Plus liiga is a defensive league. Aho probably had limited ice time on the bottom lines like Slaf for most the season

 

[le_sean]

For the record, I wasn't suggesting Slafkovsky was as good as Eric Lindros, in case that wasn't clear. Few players in history were as good as young Lindros.

Still, it's so rare to see a teenager have an impact physically in the NHL, and Slafkovsky is already there.

He’s definitely turned the corner a lot quicker than most thought. It took KK until he got to Carolina to stop looking like Bambi on the ice. Slafkovsky did it in less than a full season.

We even saw it with Dach last year. He wasn’t falling over everywhere, but there was a clear revelation in his head at one point where he seemed to say “damn I’m stronger than these guys” and looked like a new player.

 

[LesCanadiens]

He’s definitely turned the corner a lot quicker than most thought. It took KK until he got to Carolina to stop looking like Bambi on the ice. Slafkovsky did it in less than a full season.

We even saw it with Dach last year. He wasn’t falling over everywhere, but there was a clear revelation in his head at one point where he seemed to say “damn I’m stronger than these guys” and looked like a new player.

Yeah, it was all about the timing of the game, IMO. And I believe that is the main reason they kept him in the NHL. They saw that he had the IQ already. And could make really quick decisions. He needed to get used to how fast NHL'ers can close the gap and lay a hit, so he could brace himself and/or take his head out of target range. I think they also realized how dedicated he was to learn and that he was quick to learn. For all those reasons, I believe they didn't think AHL playing time would help him one iota. He was already physically mature enough, smart, strong and skilled enough to play vs NHL'ers.

 

[Kennerback]

These are 'mind' games.
I hope Bedard does not have a concussion.
He will have to adjust 'his mind' otherwise more hits will come.

All young players have to adjust, Slaf included, hopefully he's learned...

I don’t buy into the fact taking hard hits automatically means a player is not NHL ready. You learn to adjust. Hockey is a contact sport. What’s more worrisome in his case is that he broke his jaw. 99 times out of 100 it doesn’t happen on that type of hit. It’s pure bad luck.

 

[Jaaanosik]

I was looking at Sebastián Aho draft year Liiga stats trying to figure out why the dude fell to the 2nd round and they are similar to Slaf's.
Doesn't mean Slaf will ever be as good as Aho but it's an interesting observation.

This is BS.
As good as ... in what?

 

[SlafySZN]

 

[Nicko999]

This is BS.
As good as ... in what?

Lol... Aho had 49 pts in the NHL in his rookie season at age 19.

He's been a PPG forward for the past couple of years and he seems to have taken an extra step this season.

He is also a very good 2 way center.

Slaf has long ways to go. Slaf reaching Aho's level would be amazing but we need to be realistic as it's likely he might not.