Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[Shutdown]

Seriously. I think there’s too much babying him in this thread. “He’s not a 23 year old man yet, he’s still in diapers, he doesn’t have his big boy pants on yet”... Slaf happens to be a 240 pound baby that was drafted 1st and has no outside pressure yet because there was otherwise only Unhurried and Unhurrier to draft. I think this is legit expectations.

Really having a hard time understanding what this means

 

[417]

In the team’s internal dressing room pecking order he’s a top-9 on the bubble. No time on the ice with an open net, no time on the ice in OT. Before he can pry himself into those spots, he’s no more than a de facto secondary player, an afterthought in a mild pressure situation.

A game like yesterday once in a while, will not change shit to that reality. I expect more from him.

But do you not find it contradictory to point out that he's low on the pecking order, but at the same time, you expect MORE from him?

Shouldn't your highest expectations be placed on the players who are highest on the pecking order?

And please don't say that's the pressure that comes from being a 1st overall pick….where he was picked doesn't matter anymore, as you accurately explained when you wrote that he's low on the pecking order.

 

[BaseballCoach]

In the team’s internal dressing room pecking order he’s a top-9 on the bubble. No time on the ice with an open net, no time on the ice in OT. Before he can pry himself into those spots, he’s no more than a de facto secondary player, an afterthought in a mild pressure situation.

A game like yesterday once in a while, will not change shit to that reality. I expect more from him.

About no OT ice time. Teams play a maximum of 6 forwards in OT, It's pretty normal to not have a 19 year old there yet.

He has occasionally been on when Montreal has pulled their goalie, and I expect that to happen more often before he ever plays when we are defending 6v5. For those situations a team would use its forwards who kill penalties. I hope when you say you expect more from Slaf it is not to kill penalties at this stage.

Now if he is playing on the 2nd PP unit, that makes him one of the 7-8 forwards who get that ice time. Do you expect more?

What "more" do you actually expect from Slafkovsky?

 

[417]

Seriously. I think there’s too much babying him in this thread. “He’s not a 23 year old man yet, he’s still in diapers, he doesn’t have his big boy pants on yet”... Slaf happens to be a 240 pound baby that was drafted 1st and has no outside pressure yet because there was otherwise only Unhurried and Unhurrier to draft. I think this is legit expectations.

Just because you re 240lbs..doesnt necessarily make you strong.

Mass does not equal strength

 

[bcv]

Just because you re 240lbs..doesnt necessarily make you strong.

Mass does not equal strength

We all know we stop gaining strength before 20 years old.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Don’t want to offend anybody, but he needs to show he’s more than a better skating Pierre Dagenais. If he is indeed, last night should be the baseline.

Are you saying that last night he was just barely better than Dagenais ever was?

 

[Erika]

Yeah I'm livid my team's 1OA pick had a good game. Genius.


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


You're entitled to react as you wish. The 2022 draft is ages ago, you seem to skip over his 2022-2023 season (I can certainly understand why you'd want to convince everyone that it never happened). Don't you find it strange how the same voices that minimized the 39 games are now maximizing game no. 40? I guess not!


I don't want him to be a bust. I want the Habs to develop him appropriately. If he's actually capable of sticking in the NHL after what we last saw from him... then that's tremendous and a welcome surprise! Let's revisit it in intervals -- or at least see what the next few games have in store. What's the point of prematurely celebrating?

It's fine to take your shots at me if you're convinced I want him to fail. I hope you will serve me a heaping dish of crow when the time comes. Career GP 40 is not that time, imo.

The assist on the goal was crispy.

(mod) You've been a Slaf hater since day one. You are probably sweating after witnessing how Juraj could dominate a game like he did yesterday. The kid is barely 19 and we can clearly see the superstar potential after yesterday's game. It doesn't matter if it's only one game or not. The importance is that he showed us that he CAN be this good. Consistency will come as he mature physically and as a hockey player and that comes with time and patience.

For all the scrubs out there hating non stop on Slaf, he will prove you all wrong shortly. For everyone else who liked that pick from the start, ladies and gentlemen... I think we have a superstar in the making right before our eyes.

 

[Kennerback]

Are you sayihg that last night he was just barely better than Dagenais ever was?

I’m saying last night should be the expected norm now,

 

[BaseballCoach]

I’m saying last night should be the expected norm now,

OK, I understand you. On the other hand, even a guy five years older like Suzuki does not play at that norm every night, so I guess you feel that Slaf is an extremely special player worthy of being a very, very high pick. Am I right?

 

[japhi]

I’m saying last night should be the expected norm now,

Expecting multiple scoring chance and a point per game would make him a top 15 forward. I mean, Nemec didn't even make his team, neither did Wright, but Slaf should be a PPG PF at 19? Should be better then Suzuki every night?

Personally, I'm expecting a Joe Thornton type year 2, 40 or so points, more responsibility, etc.

 

[HuGort]

The Slaf/Newhook/Dach line averages 21 years old

 

[BaseballCoach]

You're entitled to react as you wish. The 2022 draft is ages ago, you seem to skip over his 2022-2023 season (I can certainly understand why you'd want to convince everyone that it never happened). Don't you find it strange how the same voices that minimized the 39 games are now maximizing game no. 40? I guess not!

I realize you were directing your remarks to someone else, but allow me to chip in.

I think maybe we are not explaining ourselves well enough.

I've never said that 39 games is too small a sample size, and I'm not claiming one game is a great sample size. I am looking at it totally differently perhaps than you are.

To me, the 39 games were a learning stage that I thought (and I was right) would lead to games like last night's.

What we still don't know is how often such games will occur, but my hunch is that something near yesterday's level will happen a lot. Why? Because I have seen it coming, starting with the 3 games last Nov-Dec with Monahan, then three with Dvorak after the six week crater the whole team went through including Slaf, then the exhibition games of the past few weeks. The elements have been accumulating, that is the great thing here.

It's not "ignore the 39 games" - but rather, the 39 games were a necessary part of Slafkovsky's development path, and not something awful, embarassing, clueless, unworthy, or the many other adjectives that have been used to describe them by those just judging immediate results.

Perhaps you better understand at least my perspective. It's not about gotchas.

Maybe what has soured some on Slaf is the failure of Kotkaniemi to significantly improve from one year to the next during his three years here. Slafkovsky has already shown more growth in his game over one summer than KK showed over the entire two years that followed his rookie season. The guy is hungrier than KK was, and is much smarter than you may be giving him credit for.

 

[Kennerback]

Expecting multiple scoring chance and a point per game would make him a top 15 forward. I mean, Nemec didn't even make his team, neither did Wright, but Slaf should be a PPG PF at 19? Should be better then Suzuki every night?

Personally, I'm expecting a Joe Thornton type year 2, 40 or so points, more responsibility, etc.

Right now he’s on the Dainius Zubrus career arc who started in the NHL at 18 and peaked with 2 seasons of 20 goals and 50 points+. Zubrus had games like Slafkovsky had last night even at 20 years old but he couldn’t line two games like that together. I think Slaf should start showing now that he can break out of the mold of the big 6’4 forward with some nice flashes once in a while and that’s it.

 

[tnq]

Is he better than Lafreniere et the same age

 

[Shutdown]

Right now he’s on the Dainius Zubrus career arc who peaked with 2 seasons of 20 goals and 50 points+. Zubrus had games like Slafkovsky had last night even at 20 years old but he couldn’t line two games like that together. I think Slaf should start showing now that he can break out of the mold of big 6’4 with some nice flashes once in a while and that’s it.

You must have an extremely powerful mind if you're able to project an entire career arc based on 40 games with 9 months between games 39 and 40.

How about waiting until he's played two games this season before doubting his ability to string two strong games together in a row?

 

[Nicko999]

The Slaf/Newhook/Dach line averages 21 years old

It's also 100% Hughes players. It's for now the only line free of what Bergevin left.

 

[River Meadow]

Right now he’s on the Dainius Zubrus career arc who started in the NHL at 18 and peaked with 2 seasons of 20 goals and 50 points+. Zubrus had games like Slafkovsky had last night even at 20 years old but he couldn’t line two games like that together. I think Slaf should start showing now that he can break out of the mold of the big 6’4 forward with some nice flashes once in a while and that’s it.

Zubrus was a beast

 

[jellybeans]

He belongs in Montreal and nowhere else don't forget he's on 19 perfect place for him on the second line and hopefully the young ones will get lots of ice let them learn.

 

[Kennerback]

You must have an extremely powerful mind if you're able to project an entire career arc based on 40 games with 9 months between games 39 and 40.

How about waiting until he's played two games this season before doubting his ability to string two strong games together in a row?

The grimmest Slaf projections probably won’t happen. Still it shouldn’t just be skittles and rainbows posted in this thread. A little pushback is warranted.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

The grimmest Slaf projections probably won’t happen. Still it shouldn’t just be skittles and rainbows posted in this thread. A little pushback is warranted.

It’s hardly the case in this thread lol. The pushback is coming from the optimists I find.

I’m quite bullish on him but I found much of the criticism valid if not hyperbolic. I had no problem with people saying he didn’t belong last year and the AHL was where he belonged. I’ve wavered back and forth on that. It is a valid debate.

The middle 6 forward upside stuff was hard to take though. I can see why at times but I found the critics to be missing all the good things he did.

He’s just a really raw no.1 pick. It makes his upside hard to predict. But I will forever be high on his upside. The putting himself in bad spots is a very valid concern and it might be the biggest one. Otherwise I don’t think I could put a cap on how good he can be. He’s got a damn good shot too which needs some work release wise. But I think his toolkit is incredible. I’ve seen him make sneaky, crafty passes since his D+1 rookie camp. Once he gets his confidence going I think he’s gonna be an absolute force.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Dont worry Im preparing a Slaf bashers top 3 MVP (most valuable poster) award. We all know who won it. Coming soon.

Will you be making one for Ryan 'will-replace-Danault' Poehling bashers too?

 

[LaP]

He was way too slow. He had a nose for the net. He was huge. If his skating didn’t hold him back, he would have had a full NHL career.
The point is there’s good skill there with Slaf, but he should still take it a notch higher right now. Unlike every other young player, there’s no filling in to do. He’s there. He should take the ball and run with it.

Being tall != being strong. No matter the height someone is much stronger at 27 than at 19. One of my childhood friend was 6'5 when we were 18-19 and he was far from physical maturity. Obviously he would have done better against men being 6'5 but he was still far from his prime.

 

[MasterD]

Don’t want to offend anybody, but he needs to show he’s more than a better skating Pierre Dagenais. If he is indeed, last night should be the baseline.

Dagenais had a better shot than Caufield, except maybe one-timer. His wrist shot was one of the best I've ever seen.

It was, unfortunately, his only hockey quality.

I swear you wrote almost the same thing about Sergei Kostitsyn like 13-14 years ago.

So is Juraj your new Sergei?

Not going to say Sergei had the same potential Slaf does, but he had huge potential. He, in fact, might have had a higher *offensive ceiling, but in a completely different style of play and physicality.

Alcohol, cocaine and women changed his faith quite rapidly in Montreal.

 

[japhi]

Right now he’s on the Dainius Zubrus career arc who started in the NHL at 18 and peaked with 2 seasons of 20 goals and 50 points+. Zubrus had games like Slafkovsky had last night even at 20 years old but he couldn’t line two games like that together. I think Slaf should start showing now that he can break out of the mold of the big 6’4 forward with some nice flashes once in a while and that’s it.

You're being ridiculous, I hope this is just trolling and not how you really read the game. Needless, done responding to you.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Dagenais had a better shot than Caufield, except maybe one-timer. His wrist shot was one of the best I've ever seen.

Maybe in hardness, but definitely not in accuracy. Caufield's wrister is deadly accurate and far better than his one-timer. You might have him confused with Cat, who has one of the best one-timers in the league. Caufield's wrister is his bread and butter. Go look at the YT compilation of all his goals, it's mostly wristers.