Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[nhlfan9191]

I think the Sedins are a good comparison

they took a little while to break out and Slaf has more size and skill than they did

The Sedin’s were still putting up 30-35+ points at the height dead puck era. We’re going to start getting a better idea of where Slafkovsky is this year. We also need him to be healthy.

 

[KevSkillz4]

If he continue to play with Kirby Dach, I will be very confident to see him put 20g and 50 pts this year.

I really like his pre-season games, Slaf is more faster than last year, more engaged, I'm high hope on him.

 

[armChairScout]

Kraken cut wright and sent him back to ahl

I was a wright over slaf all the way

By the looks of it I’m not sure any of them deserved 1st overall

Maybe pressure on them was to much

 

[Garbageyuk]

It’s crazy seeing the majority of this board all over Slafkovsky for every little mistake and over analyzing everything, and a lot of it isn’t just skepticism and tempering expectations, it’s vitriol in a lot of cases.

Like, this is the guy you all are finally not going to have delusional expectations for? But not only that, you have to shit on the player too? It’s like fans here are projecting their disappointment/embarrassment/frustration over Kotkaniemi and Galchenyuk onto Slafkovsky. Another factor is that a lot of people here wanted to pick Shane Wright and are bitter about looking stupid there, that he didn’t turn out to be the saviour franchise C they were claiming, and are now secretly hoping Slafkovsky fails too so that they can save some face regarding their armchair scouting.

Slafkovsky is bigger, faster, has higher potential, and has a better work ethic and attitude than both KK and AG ever did, but somehow this is the guy that the majority of the fans here have decided isn’t going to be good. He didn’t even get to play a full season last year, had to take 7 months off, and now people here are mad he didn’t blow the roof off in preseason games. He hasn’t even played bad either, but somehow “he doesn’t have top talent” due to his showing in PRESEASON at 19 years old. I can’t wait for him to shut all the haters here up this season.

 

[japhi]

You just called the Sedins big?

6'1 and 6'2, which is big for forwards. Watched them play hundreds of games as young players, they were pretty lanky and once they found their legs were cycle monsters, very hard to knock off the puck. But when they came in the league they were zambonis.

 

[japhi]

I think the Sedins are a good comparison

they took a little while to break out and Slaf has more size and skill than they did

Size for sure, and he is a better skater. Sedins had an insane read on the game and they had a power up bonus playing together.

 

[morhilane]

Kraken cut wright and sent him back to ahl

I was a wright over slaf all the way

By the looks of it I’m not sure any of them deserved 1st overall

Maybe pressure on them was to much

No kid was NHL plug&play in the 2022 draft.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

I voted AHL, but my interpretation is probably different than most.

I interpret the question as what should the starting plan be for Slaf.

I think that any starting plan has to be either AHL or NHL only.

You can start him in the AHL with hopes that he can progress to the NHL, but you should never start him in the AHL with a pre-determined plan to come to the NHL.

The same applies in reverse. If you start him in the NHL it has to be because you feel that's where he is at in his development and are prepared to keep him up all year. None of this "let's give him a taste" before sending him down.

That said you need to be flexible and change as his development changes. If you start him in the NHL and he regresses or you misjudged where he was at, then yes, send him back down.

Likewise, if he's in the AHL and shows he's progressed too far to gain meaningful development, then bring him up.

I voted AHL because I feel that's a better representation of where he's at right now, and would love to see him quickly develop in Laval, but am fine if he stays there the entire year.

 

[Kennerback]

Kraken cut wright and sent him back to ahl

I was a wright over slaf all the way

By the looks of it I’m not sure any of them deserved 1st overall

Maybe pressure on them was to much

I’m rooting for Slaf, but he hasn’t proven anything. That’s OK. The other 2022s haven’t either. Maybe this season one will break out. Cooley has the most momentum, still I want to see him as a 5’10 NHL Center without Bedard superhero skills for half a season before I get a fair read on him. Wright never challenges for loose pucks physically. It incapacitates him, and he won’t be able to use his higher end skills if he doesn’t. I’m not bullish about him.

 

[BenchBrawl]

The reasonable goal is not for Slafkovsky to be the absolute #1 player of his draft class, but that he can become a core player for a winning team.

The draft was a crapshoot, one guy will blow up eventually, the problem is we couldn't (and still can't) know which one will.

So we picked the one whose assets are rarest; Slaf's combo of skills + size + personality.

The best choice IMO, regardless how it turns out. And I was for Wright but I was wrong.

 

[SlafySZN]

It’s crazy seeing the majority of this board all over Slafkovsky for every little mistake and over analyzing everything, and a lot of it isn’t just skepticism and tempering expectations, it’s vitriol in a lot of cases.

Like, this is the guy you all are finally not going to have delusional expectations for? But not only that, you have to shit on the player too? It’s like fans here are projecting their disappointment/embarrassment/frustration over Kotkaniemi and Galchenyuk onto Slafkovsky. Another factor is that a lot of people here wanted to pick Shane Wright and are bitter about looking stupid there, that he didn’t turn out to be the saviour franchise C they were claiming, and are now secretly hoping Slafkovsky fails too so that they can save some face regarding their armchair scouting.

Slafkovsky is bigger, faster, has higher potential, and has a better work ethic and attitude than both KK and AG ever did, but somehow this is the guy that the majority of the fans here have decided isn’t going to be good. He didn’t even get to play a full season last year, had to take 7 months off, and now people here are mad he didn’t blow the roof off in preseason games. He hasn’t even played bad either, but somehow “he doesn’t have top talent” due to his showing in PRESEASON at 19 years old. I can’t wait for him to shut all the haters here up this season.

Not that secretly to be honest

 

[Goldthorpe]

Of course. What I’m saying is it’s an unrealistic expectation. We had one player have more than 38 points last year. So how is a 19 year old project expected to get 50 points?

Over 82 games, and if he plays all season long with Dach who himself has a great season, and if I squint my eyes, I could see it. But yeah, that's a stretch.

If he scores 15 goals I will be happy.

 

[LaP]

I think he had a good camp overall.

 

[the]

It’s crazy seeing the majority of this board all over Slafkovsky for every little mistake and over analyzing everything, and a lot of it isn’t just skepticism and tempering expectations, it’s vitriol in a lot of cases.

Like, this is the guy you all are finally not going to have delusional expectations for? But not only that, you have to shit on the player too? It’s like fans here are projecting their disappointment/embarrassment/frustration over Kotkaniemi and Galchenyuk onto Slafkovsky. Another factor is that a lot of people here wanted to pick Shane Wright and are bitter about looking stupid there, that he didn’t turn out to be the saviour franchise C they were claiming, and are now secretly hoping Slafkovsky fails too so that they can save some face regarding their armchair scouting.

Slafkovsky is bigger, faster, has higher potential, and has a better work ethic and attitude than both KK and AG ever did, but somehow this is the guy that the majority of the fans here have decided isn’t going to be good. He didn’t even get to play a full season last year, had to take 7 months off, and now people here are mad he didn’t blow the roof off in preseason games. He hasn’t even played bad either, but somehow “he doesn’t have top talent” due to his showing in PRESEASON at 19 years old. I can’t wait for him to shut all the haters here up this season.

I don't come here often due to the horrendous takes I read in this thread but this was a very good post.

Especially the bolded part. You were able to write and express much better than I could what I feel about some of our posters who continuously crap on Slafkovsky.

 

[WeeBey]

Another factor is that a lot of people here wanted to pick Shane Wright and are bitter about looking stupid there, that he didn’t turn out to be the saviour franchise C they were claiming, and are now secretly hoping Slafkovsky fails too so that they can save some face regarding their armchair scouting.

Now that Shane Wright is struggling, and that Cooley's doing well, everyone's pretending that actually it was Cooley that was the clear an obvious choice for 1st overall and that taking Slaf was a reach (even though he topped Bob's list)

 

[Habricot]

If he finishes the season with 20 goals and 50 points it will look very good. Guys able to do that at 19 usually becomes very good players.

While I would be jumping all over the place if it happened, its a bit unrealistic .. i would say anything between 35 and 45pts would be realistic and a good first full season.

 

[MasterD]

Now that Shane Wright is struggling, and that Cooley's doing well, everyone's pretending that actually it was Cooley that was the clear an obvious choice for 1st overall and that taking Slaf was a reach (even though he topped Bob's list)

Which means nothing.

 

[Captain97]

Which means nothing.

It means a lot actually. The player at the top of Bob's list is a consensus of 10+ scouts from different organizations and has accurately predicted the 1st overall pick for something like 17 years.

Picking the top of Bob's list is never a reach amd is hard to to condemn considering a majority of surveyed teams agree.

 

[ReHabs]

It means a lot actually. The player at the top of Bob's list is a consensus of 10+ scouts from different organizations and has accurately predicted the 1st overall pick for something like 17 years.

Picking the top of Bob's list is never a reach amd is hard to to condemn considering a majority of surveyed teams agree.

No one cares now.

Many defend Slafkovksy being a remarkably weak 1OA by correctly claiming the 2022 NHL Draft was strange or weak. So since it is oft-repeated, it’s time to accept what that really means.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Now that Shane Wright is struggling, and that Cooley's doing well, everyone's pretending that actually it was Cooley that was the clear an obvious choice for 1st overall and that taking Slaf was a reach (even though he topped Bob's list)

There was a group of people who did want Cooley. Myself included. There’s no pretending involved. When all the questions came up about Wright, taking the next best center seemed logical. You also couldn’t go wrong with Nemec. There was no obvious choice but both those players potentially filled big needs in the organization. Wingers are a dime a dozen and can be sorted in time. It was obvious what was going to happen when Slafkovsky was ranked at the top of Bob’s list. Clearly a lot of scouts saw something fans like myself still to this day haven’t seen. I just hope it wasn’t mainly based on tournaments where anomalies happen all the time.

 

[windycity]

Kraken cut wright and sent him back to ahl

I was a wright over slaf all the way

By the looks of it I’m not sure any of them deserved 1st overall

Maybe pressure on them was to much

Yeah I was Wright or Cooley, then Nemec

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Yeah I was Wright or Cooley, then Nemec

I had all three ahead of Slaf but I can't remember if I had Jiricek ahead of Slaf as well.

I was on the Wright train from day one as I spent time around him when he was with Don Mills and just believed in his talent and still do but he seems to have become more socially awkward as he got older. He is a good kid and I am confident he will be a good NHLer but if I had interviewed him at 18 as HuGo did I likely would have went with Nemec who I had as a close second. In the mock draft I took Cooley 2nd OA but switched to Nemec afterwards.

Given the access to interviews I likely would have come away from the last two 1st rounds with Nemec, Kulich and Dvorsky......time will tell how that stacks up against Slaf, Mesar and Reinbacher. Interesting that I still would have taken two Slovaks lol

 

[Egresch]

Yeah I was Wright or Cooley, then Nemec

Cmon, there is no OR and THEN. You can pick only one player and you would pick Shane Wright.

 

[BaseballCoach]

He needs to produce to be effective, but I think he was cut because he needs to use his body not just his stick in 1 on 1 puck battles. He also needs to improve his faceoffs.

Nobody ever gets cut to work on their faceoffs.

Wright got cut because he still can't manage a regular NHL shift.

It may be a necessary evil to send him down, but hardly a developmental superboost.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Very reassuring game tonight. The compete, stamina, skill and positioning (on offense) were all very good and well above what you usually see from 19 year olds. Hope this is a sign of things to come as he looked ready. He clearly has a nasty side that'll grow with time.

For some, this is a real problem. Development occurs by dominating a league. But if he is ready, the clueless leaders will put him on the Habs in order to win now. If he makes the team however, he will stop developing.

Better he play in Oshawa this year, Trois-Rivieres next year, and Laval at 21. Then after dominating one league per year, bring him up to the NHL in 2025-26, so he can walk away with the Calder and Rocket Richard trophies the same year.