Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[JohnLennon]

 

[muzion]

Lurking this board, I read that he is an uncoordinated, slow, weak on the puck, unskilled, low hockey IQ player with no vision, and that he is going to flop hard .

All of this typing into the void, about the consensus no. 1 ranked player according to Bob McKenzie's list. Wild stuff. Other options were Shane Wright who disgusted scouts with his lack of aggressiveness, Cooley who is another small player who a decent amount of people thought he might move to the wing, and defensemen who we already had too many of. Whether or not he ends up being the best of the lot, the new management group swung for the fences, which was always the right thing to do unless they traded down.

 

[ReHabs]

After 39 generally awful games: It’s just 39 games!

After 1 good game: hahaha suck it haters, he’s a beast!!

Okay chaps, do you ever wonder what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot? For instance, do you think it would be fair or right for those of us skeptical of Slafkovsky’s presence in the NHL to post 5 pages of barely hidden sneering after a single bad game?

We all want his success and if last year’s experience contributed to his success, then all the better. We need him to be a big time player for us!

 

[TheBuriedHab]

Member when sportsnet said he wasn't an NHLer a week ago? I member

 

[Guess]

I was wondering how you were going to spin his performance last night into something negative.

I think he's making a reasonable point, it's nice to be happy for his success but it's just one game, he will still have growing pains so we should expect both more good and bad, and hopefully he reaches that ceiling that we all know he has!

I wanted him to stay in the AHL but if he can stay on one line consistently and get decent ice time like he had today I would be happy. Just like Suzuki and Caufield helped Dach acclimate, now Dach is helping the projects.

 

[The Great Weal]

Hope he keeps it up, his line has been awesome.

 

[Hostile Offer]

He looks so much comfortable out there than last year.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Keep it up kid, really liked the physicality and relentlessness tonight. This guy has all the tools to become a forecheck beast, also showed some nice flashes on the rush, was more decisive with the puck... Night and day from the player I saw at this time last year.

It's called development or learning and he did some even while not on the ice for months. The truth be told, I called out in his final three games last year with Dvorak that he was beginning to generate things on many shifts and he was starting to 'get it' - but unfortunately he had no points to show for it, and his freak injury then allowed the narrative that he did nothing good all year to sound more believable, except to those who watched closely such as his coaches and NHL pundits who were calling out the same progress.

Sure Cooley had a highlight reel goal in preseason, and no doubt has nice tools, but Slaf's tools are impressive too. There are only two other forwards on the team who could have made all the plays Slaf made on the first Newhook goal - Dach and Newhook. Everyone else and I mean everyone, lacks either the footspeed, muscle or IQ to do everything he did on that one goal. Interestingly enough, these three talents are the prize Hughes recruits, along with Matheson on the back end. Four talents to add to the Suzufield duo and perhaps Guhle who was still in Junior when Hughes arrived and rushed him to the NHL (LOL), four guys that have added multiple dimensions of talent to the roster, within 18 months, making us a much more dangerous team if not closely checked.

 

[MadMslm]

Not sure I would call it a monster performance but this is definitely his best showing yet in this jersey and hopefully more to come.

There’s still moments where he is lost on the ice (which I wonder if it’s related to the non existent system more than him) or his processing of the game is a bit behind.

His assist tonight was just perfect. It was a perfect placement in movement where most players would have either hit the goalie with that pass or pass it behind Newhook.

He also deserves an assist for his great play on Newhook’s second goal. He read the play well and created the turnover that made that play possible. Also seemed less hesitant with the puck. Won multiple battles tonight which helped Dach keep possession.

Definitely passed his first test of the season, we can only hope this boost his confidence.

With that size and hands he should never be scared of being more assertive with the puck. We’ll see where he stands in 10 games, but he was definitely one of the bright spots tonight and if he keeps it up he will never go to the AHL.

 

[BaseballCoach]

After 39 generally awful games: It’s just 39 games!

It was actually about 15 bad games, mostly coinciding with the team funk after Monahan went down. Hard to expect an 18 year old raw rookie to put the team on his back when Suzuki and Dach lost their mojo and Matheson was mostly out, and the whole team looked like an AHL squad for 6 weeks.

After 1 good game: hahaha suck it haters, he’s a beast!!

Okay chaps, do you ever wonder what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot? For instance, do you think it would be fair or right for those of us skeptical of Slafkovsky’s presence in the NHL to post 5 pages of barely hidden sneering after a single bad game?

We all want his success and if last year’s experience contributed to his success, then all the better. We need him to be a big time player for us!

You have a point that he may not play this way every game. OF COURSE. But we are seeing that he CAN, and that THIS is the place he is learning and improving. where his talent is starting to be noticed.

I and others are not sneering at you or being condescending - for myself my point is to cheer us fans up a bit that the kid has real talent and let's be patient and allow him the opportunity to continue learning - here on the big stage - for the benefit of our team.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Potential and consistency. Now we know he can impact the game in the NHL and he does have talents/tools, the next biggest and more important step is finding that consistency.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Good game tonight, no doubt about it.

 

[Colezuki]

After 39 generally awful games: It’s just 39 games!

After 1 good game: hahaha suck it haters, he’s a beast!!

Okay chaps, do you ever wonder what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot? For instance, do you think it would be fair or right for those of us skeptical of Slafkovsky’s presence in the NHL to post 5 pages of barely hidden sneering after a single bad game?

We all want his success and if last year’s experience contributed to his success, then all the better. We need him to be a big time player for us!

I mean, no, it’s not 1 good game because he also had a good preseason and showed he was on the right path while still adapting to his body and balance. Once he feels comfortable at his size like dach does we’ll likely see him take another step.

 

[BLONG7]

After 39 generally awful games: It’s just 39 games!

After 1 good game: hahaha suck it haters, he’s a beast!!

Okay chaps, do you ever wonder what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot? For instance, do you think it would be fair or right for those of us skeptical of Slafkovsky’s presence in the NHL to post 5 pages of barely hidden sneering after a single bad game?

We all want his success and if last year’s experience contributed to his success, then all the better. We need him to be a big time player for us!

LOL................No way to keep you happy eh!! LOL
Come on be happy for the kid, he is coming.......last night he had a great game.
Everyone has said, he will be a project and he still is..............nothing has changed, nor have you.

 

[Jamaican Patty]

After 39 generally awful games: It’s just 39 games!

After 1 good game: hahaha suck it haters, he’s a beast!!

Okay chaps, do you ever wonder what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot? For instance, do you think it would be fair or right for those of us skeptical of Slafkovsky’s presence in the NHL to post 5 pages of barely hidden sneering after a single bad game?

We all want his success and if last year’s experience contributed to his success, then all the better. We need him to be a big time player for us!

You sound mad as hell that Slaf had a good game.

 

[Jaynki]

A 10th overall pick in a normal draft ().

 

[Jaynki]

So who had Nemec, Jiricek or Wright ? You will see them against Laval this year. They are not being rushed.

 

[Goldthorpe]

The calls for moderation after one good game would sound way more genuine had we not went through months and months of constant whining about him and his development.

 

[Andrei79]

Rehabs around the 2022 draft: pages upon pages of posts about how Slaf is/was/will be a bad pick without ever having seen him play a game.

Also Rehabs: wHy ArE yOu GuYs OvErReAcTiNg AfTeR jUsT oNe gAmE.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Good game tonight, no doubt about it.

Yeah for sure. What were most of us saying for a while now? Talent needs to play with talent? Putting Slaf with Dvorak or Evans is not going to reveal good results.

One thing I heard for the first time last night was MSL is the only one mentoring/coaching Slaf. One voice vs many voices from the coaches.

Still can't believe MSL is our coach. What a gutsy move from Hughes and it might be his best move yet.

The calls for moderation after one good game would sound way more genuine had we not went through months and months of constant whining about him and his development.

We have fans who like to worry a lot in our heard I guess. Can't really blame them from the development failures in the past. I personally don't live in the past though

 

[Milhouse40]

After 39 generally awful games: It’s just 39 games!

After 1 good game: hahaha suck it haters, he’s a beast!!

Okay chaps, do you ever wonder what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot? For instance, do you think it would be fair or right for those of us skeptical of Slafkovsky’s presence in the NHL to post 5 pages of barely hidden sneering after a single bad game?

We all want his success and if last year’s experience contributed to his success, then all the better. We need him to be a big time player for us!

If you haven't spent your entire summer trashing a kid with 39 games in the NHL, maybe the sneering wouldn't be that bad.

But as you said , it's just one game.......but it's his first one as a top 6 players, playing with top 6 skills next to him. You could've have wait a little before turning him into a bust......

 

[Jaynki]

Its not just one game.

We saw it all through preseason.

We saw glimpse of that last year.

We saw that at the WC and OG.

 

[Heffyhoof]

A great game 1 from the young lad, he certainly didn't waste his offseason. Unfortunately the real celebration has to wait until he's played a decent sample wherein he has a 2:1 good to bad game ratio. I certainly don't expect a full 82 games of good-great play at his age, but 55 games of good-great should be the bare minimum if he's in the top-6 the whole year.

 

[Tuggy]

You can tell he put the work in during the offseason and it shows on the ice.

He still won't be 20 years old until the end of March.

He still has so much room to grow, but last night was a nice start.

 

[Lshap]

Flashes. That's all I want. If Slafkovsky shows the flashes of star-potential he did last night I'll be happy. Because knowing he CAN play at a high level makes it easier to repeat those flashes, until they become habits. Good game, kid. Keep it up.