Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[BaseballCoach]

When he has an opportunity to go to the front of the net from behind the net, he needs to take it.
He needs to use his body more effectively to shield the puck. Monahan does a better job than him.
He needs to generally drive the net and shoot much more.

Do you think he will learn this better being around Monahan or Maillet?

 

[Kennerback]

A lot of the psychological aspect could be attributed to not wanting to create a turnover. And we also see a lot of that with his forechecking, he isn't pressuring as hard or finishing his checks like we would want and it looks like it's a case of not wanting to take himself out of position. So yeah he needs to impose himself more and drive the net with the puck, but it's something that will probably come with experience. Let's not forget when playing in Finland where it was all about playing the trap, that don't cause a turnover is what was being driven into him. It simply takes time to unlearn/adjust to a different style of play.

I don’t mind if he doesn’t finish big body checks ever. If we want a player like that, we can draft someone like Ryan Leonard.

I just don’t want to be here in 3 years still wondering why he’s never driving the net and shooting when he has the puck.

 

[le_sean]

He had a good give and go with suzuki and newhook and created another chance for newhook but yeah kind of a weird game for pretty much everyone to get into.

Don’t forget the great feed to Matheson for his mini breakaway.

It’s tough to get in a rhythm when your linemates change every shift and your team takes that many minor penalties.

 

[Andy]

I don’t agree with folks about hockey IQ. He’s been doing a very good job at setting up teammates for scoring chances. It was an uneventful game, and he still set up his teammates a number of times.

I will agree with folks that he’s not aggressive enough. Several times last night he didn’t press on the forecheck when he could have easily been first on the puck. He was too passive for loose pucks. A big dude who can skate like that needs to put pressure.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Contraire, it had huge effect on MANY former great prospect we had. We have not the most patient fanbase and we still have a bad reputation as one of the toughest place to play. It's way easier to develop in Arizona than under the spotlight in Montreal.

We almost got rid of Price at some point and if the decision was made by the fans and not the GM, they would have 100% shipped him out and kept Halak.

I will give you one stats, in the last 30 years we have developed 3 players that we can label them as success in the first round. Price, Pacioretty and Caufield. All other prospects failed and under performed and were shipped out or developed elsewhere (McDonagh and Sergachev). I know part of the blame is the scouting team but I also believe that the environment is also not favorable for top prospect to perform because of the added pressure by the fanbase and their expectations. I also believe that the management also take that in consideration when they decide on which player to draft.

Montreal will eat you alive at any misstep. No doubt that if Slafkovsky would have been drafted anywhere but Montreal, he would not feel that added pressure. I am sure Kotkaniemi is happy to be out of Montreal and not have to feel like he is the worst player ever because he is not Brady Tkachuk or Quinn Hughes.

Our lack of success is entirely on mgmt. poor development in particular has killed us.

That’s not to say that everyone is cut out for the Montreal market but by and large we’ve just been run really poorly.

 

[Habssince89]

anyone claiming he has poor IQ is a troll or they're not watching. He made good improvements using his body against chicago too

 

[Mudz]

anyone claiming he has poor IQ is a troll or they're not watching. He made good improvements using his body against chicago too

Or they have poor hockey IQ themselves. That's mostly what I've seen.

Not sure why this haven't posted. Made me lol'ed.

https://x.com/German_Diver/status/1713366894940471777?s=20

edit: not sure how to embed. slaf got 2 for the price of 1

 

[NORiculous]

I think over the course of their careers, Cooley will be a more prolific scorer than Slaf. Slaf could still end up the better player overall despite this when you take all situations into account, plus his unique profile.

Of course, Cooley or somebody else could end up being the best player from the draft.

Either way, Slaf was picked first but we all know he’s not a generational player. He is going to take longer to develop to hit his max potential, which really should be expected so sometimes the hate he gets I find unwarranted at times.

It’d be different If he had attitude problems and is uncoachable but by all accounts, he’s receptive and puts in the work.

I think most of it was because he wasn’t sent down last year when he didn’t show he was ready.

Let’s see what he does this year.

 

[tazsub3]

I think most of it was because he wasn’t sent down last year when he didn’t show he was ready.

Let’s see what he does this year.

The 2 quick passes he gave for grade a scoring chances show very very high hockey iq .
I am seeing a completly different player so far .
In my eyes a player that is drafted first overall

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

2 for 1 combo

 

[jrom]

The flow of the game was gone. Juraj didn't have a strong game, but hard to read too much into a game like this. No one is gloating after this one, interesting.

The gloating was a bit premature, it’s at least another year of getting reps and I don’t think this year Slaf will play well enough this year to soothe everyone’s concerns about this draft choice.

It’s things I don’t expect from Suzuki or Caufield, it’s not their makeup. But it’s absolutely Slaf’s, and he’s really putting a ceiling on his effectiveness if he doesn’t.


Some of it is psychological. You either force yourself to the net with the puck or you don’t.

I saw a clip of a recent MSL interview where he said something like “Slaf used to play like Cole when he was younger”.

Meaning that with his talent he never had to rely (or even use) his frame to produce but at the NHL level he has to use them combined with his talent (at least that’s the Habs intent).

I agree with you that he needs to stand up for himself more when people try to hit him. Some smurf in the Toronto game was face washing Slaf, he was too passive in the scrum.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

We’ll see how he does without Dach. Crappy that the injury comes so early.

 

[HankyZetts]

It’s things I don’t expect from Suzuki or Caufield, it’s not their makeup. But it’s absolutely Slaf’s, and he’s really putting a ceiling on his effectiveness if he doesn’t.


Some of it is psychological. You either force yourself to the net with the puck or you don’t.

Yes, hopefully as he matures, he'll learn how to use his body more. The mindset will come with coaching and learning what he's capable of.

 

[Shawnathon]

Yes, hopefully as he matures, he'll learn how to use his body more. The mindset will come with coaching and learning what he's capable of.

Or he’ll never learn to use his body like most prospects who were overrated because they were big who don’t play big.

 

[bcv]

The flow of the game was gone. Juraj didn't have a strong game, but hard to read too much into a game like this. No one is gloating after this one, interesting.

No one was shitting on him after the 1st game, interesting.

 

[ReHabs]

No one was shitting on him after the 1st game, interesting.

Why would anybody shit on him if he played a good game? He's a teenager, nobody should be shitting on him at all.

The fact is many fans are sensitive to seeing a young, high-drafted player struggle in the NHL when he could be playing anywhere else in the world and (presumably) not struggling. Not taking massive hits. Not getting himself suspended. etc.

But if he doesn't struggle, like the game before last this season, then that's all the better -- fantastic, even. If he continues to not struggle to perform or produce then the problem has solved itself.

 

[Jaynki]

With Dach injury, we need Slaf to step up more than ever.

 

[nhlfan9191]

The gloating was a bit premature, it’s at least another year of getting reps and I don’t think this year Slaf will play well enough this year to soothe everyone’s concerns about this draft choice.



I saw a clip of a recent MSL interview where he said something like “Slaf used to play like Cole when he was younger”.

Meaning that with his talent he never had to rely (or even use) his frame to produce but at the NHL level he has to use them combined with his talent (at least that’s the Habs intent).

I agree with you that he needs to stand up for himself more when people try to hit him. Some smurf in the Toronto game was face washing Slaf, he was too passive in the scrum.

I don’t buy this at all. He was playing in a men’s league before he was drafted and not producing a whole lot. I don’t think it was some revelation that he needed to adapt to playing against men when he got to Montreal.

 

[WeThreeKings]

With Dach injury, we need Slaf to step up more than ever.

For what?

He just needs to keep developing at his own pace.. putting any pressure on him to give more than he's ready to give on a season we were gonna tank in, and now definitely will be tanking in, doesn't seem the right thing to do.

 

[HankyZetts]

Or he’ll never learn to use his body like most prospects who were overrated because they were big who don’t play big.

He already uses his body well for a 19 year old. It should only get better from here.

I'm more focused on his awareness continuing to improve. That is what will determine how good a player he will be

 

[jrom]

I don’t buy this at all. He was playing in a men’s league before he was drafted and not producing a whole lot. I don’t think it was some revelation that he needed to adapt to playing against men when he got to Montreal.

Not sure what you’re referring to, clearly they expected him to need a lot of development time (and I think it’s an ever bigger project then what most fans expected).

 

[Shawnathon]

He already uses his body well for a 19 year old. It should only get better from here.

I'm more focused on his awareness continuing to improve. That is what will determine how good a player he will be

He doesn’t use his body. He’s big and plays like he’s 5’9. Anybody expecting him to explode out because of his size are living in LaLa land.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Not sure what you’re referring to, clearly they expected him to need a lot of development time (and I think it’s an ever bigger project then what most fans expected).

I’m referring to MSL’s quote in your previous post comparing Slaf to Caufield. Slaf came from Liiga, not college like Caufield. There’s no comparison there. I feel like this management and coaching team is trying to blow smoke up my ass at times with some of the things they say.

 

[jrom]

I’m referring to MSL’s quote in your previous post comparing Slaf to Caufield. Slaf came from Liiga, not college like Caufield. There’s no comparison there. I feel like this management and coaching team is trying to blow smoke up my ass at times with some of the things they say.

Ah ok, got it. Gorton & Hugues are smooth talkers indeed, MSL I think he says what he thinks and doesn’t care much about other people’s opinions but you could be right.

Personally I found last year comments perplexing: “Slaf needs to decide his playstyle” and similar stuff, like he was doing soul searching + “we sent him videos of Matthew Tkachuk”.

For me it made sense when I heard that MSL comment. I don’t think Slaf was using his size advantage before (except his reach) when playing. He wasn’t using his strength and size to create space or gain an advantage, similarly to Caufield who wasn’t doing it because he had no such advantage. But now in the NHL Slaf needs to add that to his game in order to be successful.

I think this is part of what they’re trying to do, it checks out with the “acts like he’s 170 lbs” comments and indicate it’s really a development project. Not saying it’s good thing to have to teach that but that’s what it sounds (and looks) like.

 

[japhi]

I thought he had another good game save for his first shift. For whatever reason, both first shifts in both games, he looked like a knucklehead throwing the puck away too soon. After that settled in, found his timing, and created some real nice opportunities. The puck continues to follow him around, I find he is never not noticeable. I bet the team is happy with where he is at through two games, he should only get better and his baseline appears to be pretty good right now.