Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[BaseballCoach]

You were one of the good posters I was referring to.

Respect

 

[Benstheman]

Keep going young stud. Can't wait to see him dominate in 3 years from now. Hope the team becomes relevant by this time.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Respect

You definitely are too..

 

[Jaynki]

Might I suggest the same "personality" assesement was completed on Reinbacher. I bet Michkov must have been very low on that personality scale to pass up on the viewable tangibles..

I guess this is why the MTL media always calls it Draft-Luck.. it's not, never has been.. the best run organizations get their man at any part if the 1st round.. or they trade for 3yrs progress Newhook/Dach.

I think its time the MTL media take a breath, relax.. we have the second coming of Sammy Pollock upon us. And guess what, hes a gars de chez nous!!

It can't be understated how important it is to evaluate properly the personality and character of players we acquire in Montreal.

We have seen a plethora of high profile player being overwhelmed by the pressure and constant scrutiny of our market. (And we haver seen players thrive like Subban and Kovalev).

It is very important to acquire the right players for our market, as its not for everybody.

 

[BaseballCoach]

A lot of the people that were “hating” were mostly slamming the development route

Oh for sure. Slamming, slamming and slamming by some, not everyone mind you.

because it makes no sense to keep a player in the NHL if he doesn’t look ready.

NHL executives don't have the same definition of 'not ready' as many of the posters here. Especially if they are not under pressure to win now.

He’s turned it around really nicely but that doesn’t mean the people who didn’t have the benefit of hindsight were wrong either.

Of course they were wrong. Wrong is not such a bad thing to admit to. Wrong does not mean stupid, or illogical, or uninformed, It does not mean one does not have reasons for one's conclusion.

And yet, because many, many factors go into something like development, one can turn out wrong. Happens to the best of us.

 

[waitin425]

Some food for thought....

https://x.com/BartsBytes/status/1747643853094396298?s=20

First 82 games of their career.

Jack had 3 more goals and 8 more points. 2 of those goals were PP goals, how many PP apples did Jack have?

Crazy amount more shots on goal for Jack. Jack had more than 2 minutes of ice time per game more.

Slaf impacts the game in other ways (ie. blocked shots and hits)

Jack is a special player, and a different position. But exponential growth is something that is real and can occur year over year.

Let us pray that Slaf's development on the offensive side of the puck in the next 82 and subsequent 82 mirrors Jack's.

 

[SlafySZN]

Some food for thought....

https://x.com/BartsBytes/status/1747643853094396298?s=20

First 82 games of their career.

Jack had 3 more goals and 8 more points. 2 of those goals were PP goals, how many PP apples did Jack have?

Crazy amount more shots on goal for Jack. Jack had more than 2 minutes of ice time per game more.

Slaf impacts the game in other ways (ie. blocked shots and hits)

Jack is a special player, and a different position. But exponential growth is something that is real and can occur year over year.

Let us pray that Slaf's development on the offensive side of the puck in the next 82 and subsequent 82 mirrors Jack's.

Would like to see how he compares to Rantanen, since they are similar type of player. I know Rantanen was older when he arrived, though.

 

[KevSkillz4]

He is already strong at 19 years old. Imagine him in 2-3 years how strong he will be. How he will know to play with his size. How he will progress his tools. How is two-way game will be very good.

No comparison possible with ex high pick for Habs like Galchenyuk and KK. Not only his tools is more impressive than both, but he have the total package and vision that they don't have.

We all know the high talent of KK, but damm, at same age, Slafkovsky looks like a monster compared to him.

Habs fan need to be hype with him and in 2-3 years, his production will be very very high. I'm 100% confident with that statement, because his tools are too good.

 

[morhilane]

Would like to see how he compares to Rantanen, since their game are a similar type. I know Rantanen was older when he arrived, though.

Ranta first two seasons brings him to 84 games, if we remove the last two games we get:
36 pts (he had 0 in his first 9 games)
18 goals, 18 assits (4 ppg/ 2 gwg) and -32 (the +/- is over 84 games, I think he would be -35 over 82 since he was +3 in the last 2 games)
22 PIM
138 shots / 14.1% sh
17 min TOI
44 blocks/ 29 hits (over 84 games)

 

[BehindTheTimes]

It can't be understated how important it is to evaluate properly the personality and character of players we acquire in Montreal.

We have seen a plethora of high profile player being overwhelmed by the pressure and constant scrutiny of our market. (And we haver seen players thrive like Subban and Kovalev).

It is very important to acquire the right players for our market, as its not for everybody.

I think I am still suffering from post MB syndrome and so tired of hearing about character and culture that I had chosen to ignore it completely, but obviously it does matter.

 

[Jaynki]

I think I am still suffering from post MB syndrome and so tired of hearing about character and culture that I had chosen to ignore it completely, but obviously it does matter.

It's absolutely important. Its just worthless without talent.

 

[DAChampion]

Though it's still too early to be sure, it does look like Bobrov and friends nailed this pick. Good job. It certainly was not obvious at the time, and in fact there were arguably four legitimate choices on draft day.

 

[Redux91]

Though it's still too early to be sure, it does look like Bobrov and friends nailed this pick. Good job. It certainly was not obvious at the time, and in fact there were arguably four legitimate choices on draft day.

And I agree

What gets lost in this whole taking Slaf over 2 C's thing is the very fact that they were ALSO working ON acquiring a Top 6 center (who is clearly better than both C's in that draft anyway) AT the very same time..

So it's not just about not picking slaf and wondering what life could of been with either Wright or Cooley and freaking out about WHO the hell can we find to play with Suzuki-Caufield
We wouldn't even have Dach either


All this other " yeah but Slaf compared to the other #1's!!" Is honestly useless to fret about
That was the draft class
Those were the players available
This is who we took
This is who we thought could become the best player of the bunch

If he becomes that then great, if he doesn't, it might mean being the 2nd, 3rd or 4th best player from an entire class, still pretty good, but I'd allow people to be slightly upset about it

But comparing him and the class to OTHER years and classes is just so weird to me

 

[Goldthorpe]

I think its time the MTL media take a breath, relax.. we have the second coming of Sammy Pollock upon us. And guess what, hes a gars de chez nous!!

People will mock you but I think we have been collectively underestimating Hughes big time. He may be no Pollock yet but he's a damn smart egg.

 

[Goldthorpe]

So there's way too much good vibes right now in this thread... weirds me out to be honest... so here's some potentially unpopular opinion that I kept in my back pocket for signs of the apocalypse like these.

I legitimately believe Slaf could be developed as a C. Now I understand he never played the position, but objectively, he doesn't really lack the tools to do it - just maybe the experience.

I don't think we should be actually testing him there - he's fine and comfortable at W, and playing center is another game, but still... would love to see him try for a few scrimmages.

 

[SlafySZN]

So there's way too much good vibes right now in this thread... weirds me out to be honest... so here's some potentially unpopular opinion that I kept in my back pocket for signs of the apocalypse like these.

I legitimately believe Slaf could be developed as a C. Now I understand he never played the position, but objectively, he doesn't really lack the tools to do it - just maybe the experience.

I don't think we should be actually testing him there - he's fine and comfortable at W, and playing center is another game, but still... would love to see him try for a few scrimmages.

He played center when he was younger

 

[Leto]

So there's way too much good vibes right now in this thread... weirds me out to be honest... so here's some potentially unpopular opinion that I kept in my back pocket for signs of the apocalypse like these.

I legitimately believe Slaf could be developed as a C. Now I understand he never played the position, but objectively, he doesn't really lack the tools to do it - just maybe the experience.

I don't think we should be actually testing him there - he's fine and comfortable at W, and playing center is another game, but still... would love to see him try for a few scrimmages.

Funny you say that. He was asked by some teams (NJ,Vancouver and others) at the combine if he could play center. He has played C in the past.

 

[JoelWarlord]

Another low IQ goal smh

 

[Andrei79]

Another low IQ goal smh

Seriously though, those front net goals are usually hard for young players to get. They're the "playoff" type goals you want to see from your team. That he can do that while still not having harnessed his cannon of a shot from a distance bodes well.

 

[Kennerback]

Another low IQ goal smh

He’s been scoring from very up close and that should be his bread and butter for the rest of his career. But if he can diversify by hitting from higher in the slot… just saying. I don’t want this thread to be all lovey dovey from now on.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Another low IQ goal smh

It was a high IQ assist by Caufield. Slaf cashed in like the money player he is!

 

[Andy]

If he develops his shot, he'll take the next step. He looks f***ing amazing and still has so much room to grow.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

Goatkovsky

 

[Colezuki]

Still a Bambi, but it’s coming next year we take a step

 

[waitin425]

Still a Bambi, but it’s coming next year we take a step

Respectfully disagree. He goes into corners and comes out with the puck more often than not.