Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[OnTheRun]

Suzuki and Caufield are missing him

They are stuck with #17, so of course they are missing him.

 

[Andrei79]

He is going to be so damn good... Sees the game at such a high level

He does. It's incredible some of the takes here looking back. I read something about Slaf not even having U16 level IQ. That was such a brutal and inaccurate take that I would be embarrassed to post about hockey after it.

 

[CHwest]

Seems happy enough dishing the puck, hopefully at some point he will make up his mind to go and score a few as well. I see the delays and sneaky good passes he makes, man it's not that hard to transfer that creativity into scoring goals. Just go for it man.

 

[the valiant effort]

He has potential to command all 200 ft of ice like not even a prime Bertuzzi did (or could).

*No, I am not directly comparing him to Big Bert!

 

[Tyson]

There is no doubt now that the Habs made the best pick at #1. Players that big and that skilled are a rare commodity

 

[Jaaanosik]

That short side back pass to Monahan from behind the net says it all.
That was special.

One of many signs he is good at hockey.
He'll be great.

 

[le_sean]

Good thing he had less OT TOI than Dach until this point. Imagine the damage they’d have done if Marty played him more.

 

[japhi]

Good thing he had less OT TOI than Dach until this point. Imagine the damage they’d have done if Marty played him more.

What am I missing, its a 5 minute period and he came on second shift? If he would have started, by that time in the game, his TOI would have been same.

 

[waitin425]

This thread is so much better with everyone on the same page about Slaf. Any debate should be settled by now. (Mod)

It truly is a well deserved love fest for this kid!

 

[SlafySZN]

 

[themilosh]

This thread is so much better with everyone on the same page about Slaf. Any debate should be settled by now. (Mod)

It truly is a well deserved love fest for this kid!

This was the move that solidified Hugo as a braintrust imo. He took the unenviable position of taking a winger instead of the "franchise altering" C everyone wanted incl myself..
It's one of those drafts where people would look back and ask how the hell did Slaf go 4th/5th.. and yet Hugo not only got Slaf, but Dach too..
If it were MB, we would have ended up with Wright, no trades.. and la presse patting his shoulders.

Im still not sold on the Mesar pick, but wth do I know? It's for this reason that Rainmkr was absolutely the right pick at 5. Clearly Hugo has identified a culture, and is building around like minded individuals. Pro and minors... makes for a far more efficient depth system.. when the time is right, we will end up with a 1C via trade/picks/cap space.

We're litterally building from the ground up.. just sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

[KevSkillz4]

View attachment 812047

Thanks god I'm not the only one who see that. I see that in every game on PP. I can't wait to see Lane Hutson on PP.

 

[le_sean]

What am I missing, its a 5 minute period and he came on second shift? If he would have started, by that time in the game, his TOI would have been same.

Until this point, Slaf had less total OT TOI than Dach this season despite Dach being out since Game 2 and the Habs playing like 20 OT games. It’s a surprising and disheartening stat.

 

[LesCanadiens]

Final word? I don’t know what that means. He sucked last year tho.

You state it as an undisputed fact that he was or looked "lost". Like it's the final word. I do not think he was lost at all. I saw a kid who was rarely out of position and very aware. IE, the opposite if lost. He wasn't getting many touches, which is not unusual. That doesn't mean he was lost.

 

[Heffyhoof]

It's gotten a little silly. I've been accused of having past negative takes about Slaf now because I mentioned Marty had demoted him to the second line.

 

[nhlfan9191]

It's gotten a little silly. I've been accused of having past negative takes about Slaf now because I mentioned Marty had demoted him to the second line.

There’s a few posters that keep making sarcastic posts accusing people of running away from this thread because Slafkovsky has turned things around. The truth is you can’t make a post mentioning anything semi critical for debate without getting 5+ posts responding to you in a 10 minute period from people losing their minds on you. Lol it is what it is. People aren’t avoiding because they’re scared of the people I mentioned, they’re avoiding it because there’s no entertaining conversations to be had unless you’re looking to treat it like a fan page.

 

[Heffyhoof]

There’s a few posters that keep making sarcastic posts accusing people of running away from this thread because Slafkovsky has turned things around. The truth is you can’t make a post mentioning anything semi critical for debate without getting 5+ posts responding to you in a 10 minute period from people losing their minds on you. Lol it is what it is. People aren’t avoiding because they’re scared of the people I mentioned, they’re avoiding it because there’s no entertaining conversations to be had unless you’re looking to treat it like a fan page.

To be fair, he has improved in many areas from the start of the season. His two biggest flaws from the start of the season remain, but they're less glaring now. The obvious one is shooting, but the other is still the speed of his decision making.

I noticed two or three times this game when he'd receive a pass to start the breakout and would be stuck still not skating for about a second or two looking about, make a nice tape to tape pass and then start skating. More experience should help eliminate that.

 

[LesCanadiens]

View attachment 812047

If I could've connected with a punch through the screen. Matheson would've left the game on a stretcher after that moronic play. And I knew he was going to shoot. Because it's Matheson. Slaf WIDE OPEN. No screen, and he shoots it right into the goalies glove.

 

[nhlfan9191]

To be fair, he has improved in many areas from the start of the season. His two biggest flaws from the start of the season remain, but they're less glaring now. The obvious one is shooting, but the other is still the speed of his decision making.

I noticed two or three times this game when he'd receive a pass to start the breakout and would be stuck still not skating for about a second or two looking about, make a nice tape to tape pass and then start skating. More experience should help eliminate that.

He looks like a different player from beginning of the year/last year. It’s amazing what a little confidence does. My main argument in these threads had been if you aren’t going to give him reps in the NHL to build up his game and confidence, he shouldn’t be on the team at all. It does not surprise me when he started getting real top 6 opportunities that he started to get rolling.

 

[LesCanadiens]

Remember when so many pundits questioned his hockey sense? Yeah, good times.

It's strange how different people can see things so polar opposite. I always thought his IQ was good and sometimes looked elite. Now it almost always looks elite.

To all of you saying this thread is too positive. WT ever loving F? What's there to complain about? Does it suck to have a 19 year old uber-skilled 240lb winger??

 

[LesCanadiens]

Throw a mullet on that guy and you've got Jaromir Jagr

 

[Schooner Guy]

He looks like a different player from beginning of the year/last year. It’s amazing what a little confidence does. My main argument in these threads had been if you aren’t going to give him reps in the NHL to build up his game and confidence, he shouldn’t be on the team at all. It does not surprise me when he started getting real top 6 opportunities that he started to get rolling.

Oh good grief! The organization have had a plan all along for his development process and buidling confidence. They've stuck with it and we're seeing his game grow. You would think by reading your post that breaking a teenage prospect in slowly was some sort of novel anomaly.

He's showing terrific progress and he's still a teenager. The organization deserves full props for it. They knew what they were doing all along.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Oh good grief! The organization have had a plan all along for his development process and buidling confidence. They've stuck with it and we're seeing his game grow. You would think by reading your post that breaking a teenage prospect in slowly was some sort of novel anomaly.

He's showing terrific progress and he's still a teenager. The organization deserves full props for it. They knew what they were doing all along.

With the way they did it, I would say Slafkovsky was an exception, not the rule.

 

[Miller Time]

Suzuki and Caufield are missing him

Seriously...

Anderson is painful to watch there. His lack of vision & touch is amplified from seeing what Slaf could do with them...

But I get the move... Makes the "2nd" line far more threatening with Slaf there vs Anderson. Hard to roll with just 1 line.

 

[morhilane]

It's gotten a little silly. I've been accused of having past negative takes about Slaf now because I mentioned Marty had demoted him to the second line.

His demotion looks more like a promotion with CC/Suzuki getting demoted now thought.