Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[Naslundforever]

Are blocked shots actually a good thing given that they can cause injuries?

for a winger covering the d sure. Close the gap for less acceleration/elevation. It means you did not have the puck though. I can’t understand why they can’t design proper equipment in 2024.

A guy gets a puck to the face or ear does not get any sympathy from me if he was not wearing a full face or ear cover (empathy, of course ouch). Same for all the « heroic » puck blocking. Get out of the way or wear more gear.

Pure tactics, I would only play specialists on the pk to avoid a broken foot personnaly.

 

[Deebs]

Are blocked shots actually a good thing given that they can cause injuries?

They are if you want to win a Stanley Cup

 

[HabsForHire]

His passing skills are elite. He always seems to find someone.

biggest improvement for me is his scanning of the ice more often and being patient with the puck.
protects it, looks and makes simple pass that the rest of the team seems to screw up haha

 

[Rapala]

Are blocked shots actually a good thing given that they can cause injuries?

Blocked shots are a thing. The issue I have with our forwards doing it is they leave far too much gap which WILL cause injuries.
I hate our defensive structure when everyone caves towards our net.
Watch a vintage Carbonneau blocked shot and he is NEVER that far away from the shooter.

 

[Miller Time]

Are blocked shots actually a good thing given that they can cause injuries?

lots of things "can" cause injuries... when looking at the BS leaders of the past 5 years (BkS/60), there's actually not much indicating that high volume shot blockers miss a lot of time.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Are blocked shots actually a good thing given that they can cause injuries?

I still find some posters will grasp at anything to pump him up. He’s going much better, we don’t need to invent things.

We didn’t pick him for his shot blocking ability.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

His passing skills are elite. He always seems to find someone.

He should have way more points. Caufield was ice cold with him early on but Slaf set him up multiple times.

As we’ve said many times - seems extremely coachable. Notice how he’s shooting more now.

The potential for a great player is there. It wasn’t obvious before. It used to come in flashes of what could be. But his play is more consistent and ever improving. 19 years old…

 

[BLONG7]

Blocked shots are a thing. The issue I have with our forwards doing it is they leave far too much gap which WILL cause injuries.
I hate our defensive structure when everyone caves towards our net.
Watch a vintage Carbonneau blocked shot and he is NEVER that far away from the shooter.

Do we even have a defensive structure? Man to man and they are running around like idiots at times, and then the famous collapse down like you mentioned, and it looks like we are killing a penalty.....................just awful in our own end most nights.
They are way too passive on the guy with the puck.............both 5 on 5 and the PK.
And we know our PK isn't working because of the stats which are the raw data that no one in the coaching staff bothers to check?

 

[Heffyhoof]

Shots blocked are dumb (obviously aren't), but I'll ignore the hit part so I can artificially complain again.

 

[LesCanadiens]

New Jersey fans thinking we would flip Slaf for Nemec = lol

Delusional.

And even some Hab fans not only agreeing, but actually saying we could sweeten the pot with a high pick. The main boards are a disaster and wealth of pure dumb-F-ery.

 

[BLONG7]

And even some Hab fans not only agreeing, but actually saying we could sweeten the pot with a high pick. The main boards are a disaster and wealth of pure dumb-F-ery.

The main board......................is just full of haters, it's absolutely insane.
Entertaining at times though!! lol

 

[Kennerback]

He should have way more points. Caufield was ice cold with him early on but Slaf set him up multiple times.

As we’ve said many times - seems extremely coachable. Notice how he’s shooting more now.

The potential for a great player is there. It wasn’t obvious before. It used to come in flashes of what could be. But his play is more consistent and ever improving. 19 years old…

Why he doesn’t have more assist.
1- Caufield was ice cold.
2- To convert, he doesn’t only need to hit the target he needs to hit the right guy, at the right place at the right time.
3- Sorry for the football analogy: even if the run game doesn’t work, you still need to sprinkle run plays so the other team doesn’t get in full pass defense mode. Slaf needs to shoot.
4- A big chunk of NHL assists are not off passes but off rebounds.

 

[Revansky]

His defensive game is a really nice surprise. Things are really going well. I was in the AHL camp last year, but it seems to have work out at the moment. I would have been happy with a 35-40 points production this year, and he's trending towards that.

Just need to work on his shot and get a bit quicker with his decisions making, but things are trending well. Nice to see a top pick developing well !

 

[Jaynki]

The potential for a great player is there. It wasn’t obvious before.

It was always obvious. It was just always dismissed to fit the agenda.

 

[DAChampion]

It was always obvious. It was just always dismissed to fit the agenda.

I think it was dismissed due to PTSD among the Habs fandom.

That said I think that Habs' drafting began to improve prior to Slafkovsky.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

It was always obvious. It was just always dismissed to fit the agenda.

Disagree. He had the tools. The question was the toolbox. He was inconsistent last year and looked out of place this season until he was moved to the first line. Since then he’s vastly improved.

The word I used for him before was ‘mystery box.’ Now he’s demonstrating not only consistent play but steady improvement.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I think it was dismissed due to PTSD among the Habs fandom.

That said I think that Habs' drafting began to improve prior to Slafkovsky.

It was a development problem. Notice that TT’s later picks are panning out because they’re being developed properly.

 

[Jaaanosik]

Disagree. He had the tools. The question was the toolbox. He was inconsistent last year and looked out of place this season until he was moved to the first line. Since then he’s vastly improved.

The word I used for him before was ‘mystery box.’ Now he’s demonstrating not only consistent play but steady improvement.

He did not play that bad before he was moved to the first line.
If Anderson converted some chances Slaf set up for him then Slaf would have more points and the discussion would be different from the beginning.
That's how it appears to me.

 

[Guy Larose]

I think it was dismissed due to PTSD among the Habs fandom.

That said I think that Habs' drafting began to improve prior to Slafkovsky.

If there's PTSD just because of a hockey team, maybe it's time for some to go touch grass...or snow in many cases right now.

 

[DAChampion]

If there's PTSD just because of a hockey team, maybe it's time for some to go touch grass...or snow in many cases right now.

I'm missing the term in an insensitive manner, but even so you're probably right.

 

[Habssince89]

The positive I can say about his shooting is that while its obvious his release from out in the slot or further needs to be improved because he has less time at NHL level, but I've noticed his finishing in right around the net (like his goal against boston earlier this year, or the recent one where CC batted the puck into the slot) to be very good.

The more Suzuki and he develop chemistry, the more I see NS try to feed him when he's right on top of the goalie, and its produced results. He still needs to round out facets of his shooting, but he's starting to find some niches that produce goals in ways we've been lacking for years. I think a big part of our PP improving is his ability to draw respect from PKers because they know he's a goalmouth threat.

 

[LesCanadiens]

The positive I can say about his shooting is that while its obvious his release from out in the slot or further needs to be improved because he has less time at NHL level, but I've noticed his finishing in right around the net (like his goal against boston earlier this year, or the recent one where CC batted the puck into the slot) to be very good.

The more Suzuki and he develop chemistry, the more I see NS try to feed him when he's right on top of the goalie, and its produced results. He still needs to round out facets of his shooting, but he's starting to find some niches that produce goals in ways we've been lacking for years. I think a big part of our PP improving is his ability to draw respect from PKers because they know he is goalmouth threat.

100%. Tim Kerr carved a great career out of almost exclusively doing just this. And to think, Slaf is the same height as Kerr, but already 15lbs heavier and only 19. I can see Slaf at around 245lbs once he actually fills-out into his man-size. He's going to be a problem in front of the crease. A big problem. That's why I think he has such a high ceiling as far as point production. Great passer and will score quite a lot standing on top of the goalie. We already see signs of him dangling and using power moves to get into scoring position. He's a decent skater. If he ever figures out that wrist/snap shot from high in the slot....OH MAN.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He did not play that bad before he was moved to the first line.

He wasn’t good. He looked pretty lost.

If Anderson converted some chances Slaf set up for him then Slaf would have more points and the discussion would be different from the beginning.
That's how it appears to me.

There may be some truth to that but his play took a massive jump when he was moved up.

 

[the valiant effort]

 

[Jaaanosik]

He wasn’t good. He looked pretty lost.

There may be some truth to that but his play took a massive jump when he was moved up.

That's the point, he did not look lost.
Slaf kept setting up Anderson for many chances to score.
Slaf kept playing quite solid hockey prior to moving to the first line.