Regarding the bolded: the semi-breakaway he got was a direct result of greatly improved positioning in his own zone, reading a switch, blocking a shot and then moving forward with some confidence.
I would have started him in the AHL as well. Him and Roy on the same line would be good at long term.
I hope they know what they are doing. Slaf has to pan out.
Agree , missing on a 1st overall for the new management would be a big oof.
Most of the guys you listed predate the power forward term though they would probably be counted retrospectively. My point is it became an obsession/craze in the 90s after Neely who won nothing. Tkachuk won nothing. Most of the guys except Ovy since then were passengers on their teams cup wins. None of the modern dynasties had one unless you're lowering the bar to andrew ladd or Dustin brown. Franzen was more of a Gallagher front net presence than a power forward. Pens and hawks won three without one. Tampa won two straight without one. It's not part of the recipe for success, just a luxury.
Besides that Slaf appears to have a roster spot and is progressing nicely in the NHL, there is the additional consideration that if he is demoted, his cap hit will be $4,450,000 if/when he comes back up. That can have a huge negative effect on what moves the club can make for the rest of the year.
This is using other teams potential failures to justify our own. Nobody should care what a Mickey Mouse franchise like Anaheim is doing with their prospect, we should be concerned with our own. That said, Slafkovsky has looked good so far. He earned his place on the roster in camp and deserves to be here so far. But it’s early.
To miss out on a 1OA can only be determined by comparing to the plausible alternatives, especially when the player selected was the pick of half the pro scouts polled, and neither of the other two players some scouts had first have done any better so far.
I never said he’s a failure. But we should hold our own standard. If another team has failure’s, it doesn’t let us off the hook.
Landeskog & Rantanen, and for the record Dustin Brown led his team in playoff scoring (Tied with Kopitar) in 11-12 so it's strange to say he was a passenger. But seems like the reason not many teams have what you consider a PWF is because you have a very narrow view of who counts and who doesn't.
Well they trusted him enough to take over as coach of the franchise so clearly they see something you’re unaware of.
Buddy needs to work on a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z.
Haven’t read too many “looks great” comments I can remember, but lots of “looks like improving lots” for sure which many value in regards to re: Ahl or Nhl
True
I would consider Landeskog one but I wouldn't consider Rantanen one, nor would I consider the Avs a dynasty. Hitting and physicality is a big part of being a power forward, not just using your body to protect the puck, and that does not describe a lot of players people consider power forwards. Rantanen doesn't even average a hit per game. The Tkachuks, JT Miller, or Ovy could be considered modern examples. Brown may have led the team in scoring but Quick had the actual best goalie performance in playoff history (even edging out Giguere). They did not win because of scoring and are one of the only examples of a cup winner in recent times who's top player only scored 20 points. There are many examples of players scoring more than that who went out first/second round and ties them for the 55th best performance of the past 11 years.
Both Carlsson and Fantilli arent having it easy right now in their NHL debuts and both are older than Slaf was last year. It only shows how tough of a league NHL is for kids in their D+1.
You would certainly find a way to turn those points into something bad, though.
We're the Mickey mouse franchise. The fact that we have a big league budget makes it all the more embarrassing
I don’t buy it. Kid has lived alone in another country since the age of 15. KK was the son of a coach and coddled his whole career. They aren’t anything alike.
Kevin Stevens? Tocchet? Lucic? Dustin Brown?
Your changing the goal posts with Brown. First it was PWFs on cup winning teams, then important important roles, and now they have to be the Conn Smythe winner otherwise they don't count and are just after thoughts. It's absurd. The reason power forwards aren't crucial to cup winners is because your definition of power forwards and apparently the word crucial seem to be highly skewed.
Like Pacioretty, Slaf was drafted to be a skill based big body forward, not a brut strength power fwd like Tkachuk.
