Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[ReHabs]

We’re big fans of these analytics report cards, right? Remember in preseason?

Why is he in the NHL? learning .... Slaf got 45 games total .....After Jack Hughes first 45 tell me what he looked liked? How many pts did Jack Hughes have after his first 45 Nhl games? Look at the guy now .

A lot of people needs to back off..a 19 yr old kid with 45 NHL games........it will come(pts)...
The last 2 games he's been doin a lot of things right . and has had some good chances .

Hughes and Slafkovsky are not comparable prospects or players. Hughes had a much, much better rookie (D+1) season in the NHL than Slafkovsky even if he only outproduced him by a tiny bit. It is insulting to both Jack Hughes and Juraj Slafkovsky to have them compared to each other, it is insulting to hockey fans to have to read this desperate comparison — anyone who follows hockey knows these two are not comparable in any way.

It’s not about criticizing the player — he is a Hab and we want his success — it’s about discussing how the organization plans to achieve this success. It seems their plan is stupid and bad.

 

[RationalExpectations]

Why is he in the NHL?

View attachment 757620

The problem is not young Slafkovsky, it’s what it’ll mean if HuGoBo and MSL got this catastrophically wrong — from drafting him to rushing him to keeping him up. If they got it wrong at so many points, what else have they got wrong? Maybe they’re the wrong people to run this team… failing with Slaf has devastatingly bad implications.

Most commentators who equivocate for Slafkovsky know this but are desperate for it to be not true. They’d rather lie about seeing progress than admit that Slaf is so far behind that any progress they claim to see is still not enough. Patience? How about being patient enough to let him cook in the AHL or Europe?

As you know I am not a Slaf fan by any means but in my opinion he clearly plays better than last year, in terms of puck protection, transition game in the middle of the ice, physical play along the boards… one of the worrying things right now is that he should not miss those easy shots (whereas his shot was one of his strengths)

 

[Habaneros]

We’re big fans of these analytics report cards, right? Remember in preseason?

View attachment 757621


Hughes and Slafkovsky are not comparable prospects or players. Hughes had a much, much better rookie (D+1) season in the NHL than Slafkovsky even if he only outproduced him by a tiny bit. It is insulting to both Jack Hughes and Juraj Slafkovsky to have them compared to each other, it is insulting to hockey fans to have to read this desperate comparison — anyone who follows hockey knows these two are not comparable in any way.

It’s not about criticizing the player — he is a Hab and we want his success — it’s about discussing how the organization plans to achieve this success. It seems their plan is stupid and bad.

Imagine if we took Shane Wright ....the guy that was the 1st overall apparently ...
People here would be jumping off cliffs seeing him unable to even make it in his first 2 training camps.

 

[Habaneros]

As you know I am not a Slaf fan by any means but in my opinion he clearly plays better than last year, in terms of puck protection, transition game in the middle of the ice, physical play along the boards… o

I agree he is improving ,clear to see......It's a learning curve .....coming from different ice size....different style game from where he came from ....he's learning the important things right now to be a complete NHL player........the pts will come .

 

[ReHabs]

Imagine if we took Shane Wright ....the guy that was the 1st overall apparently ...
People here would be jumping off cliffs seeing him unable to even make it in his first 2 training camps.

Have some of the patience you preach.

You just want to be right in supporting anything and everything the Habs GM does, you don’t really care what happens. It’s plainly obvious.

 

[ReHabs]

As you know I am not a Slaf fan by any means but in my opinion he clearly plays better than last year, in terms of puck protection, transition game in the middle of the ice, physical play along the boards… one of the worrying things right now is that he should not miss those easy shots (whereas his shot was one of his strengths)

You can expect year on year improvements as a player grows into his body and matures physically and mentally. It would be extremely worrisome if he didn’t show any improvement. Even those of us who didn’t want to draft a project with the 1OA know Slafkovsky has immense potential and a good attitude for developing himself.

But the baseline is so low that the improvement shown this far has literally not translated to production in the NHL. He’s not capable of getting the ‘puck touches’ necessary to work on what many of us think is his biggest issue: hockey IQ and playmaking.

Learning to leverage his body is a process we can accept will take time. This is where the factoid “big boys take longer to develop” originates.

Knowing how to make plays is not something you want your first round pick to not know and need to learn in the friggin’ NHL!! So while he improves his ability to leverage his physical self in the NHL he still needs to translate that into seeing and executing plays — he’s very, very far from being able to do so. And he’s not been able to do so in Liiga (D-year) or his rookie NHL season (D+1) and so far in his sophomore (D+2).

Even if the top end of the 2022 draft was bad, you don’t expect to see young players in the NHL struggle so much with fundamentals. It’s blowing my mind. And people preach patience to those of us who want him someone safer, slower, and more appropriate for his current level. Nuts.

 

[Mad]

Everyone who reads the GDT knows how hard I am on Slafkovsky.

I honestly see him do things differently in his last three games. Last night he didn’t create as many chances as the two previous games, but he’s still doing plays in a convincing manner.

Before those three games, he did look better than last year but it felt like he wasn’t really ready because of how lost he looked most of the times and the lack of assertiveness in his play.

At one point he will need to put points on the board and if he keeps playing the way he does I’m sure it will come sooner than later.

Maybe keeping him in the NHL isn’t the most optimal way to develop him, but there’s still 4 games to go before that 10th game.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

As you know I am not a Slaf fan by any means but in my opinion he clearly plays better than last year, in terms of puck protection, transition game in the middle of the ice, physical play along the boards… one of the worrying things right now is that he should not miss those easy shots (whereas his shot was one of his strengths)

I still find his awareness and IQ to be lacking. He may never be able to brute force his way through the NHL, so he’s going to need to improve here imo.

 

[angusyoung]

I don't see much action but thought he would show more than last season but so far looks like no.Then again,the whole team has looked brutal. If they intend on going for another tank season,do it right this time!

 

[BarracudaMtl]

Offensive production aside. This version of Slaf is better than last year's.


For my part, the way I see things...this year has already gone to shit. It's going to be another "learning" year. Whether Slaf plays in AHL or NHL is all the same to me at this level.

What I am realizing, is that I need to lower my expectations on this player. The picking him first thing, clouded my vision a bit.

 

[Tanknation]

Why is he in the NHL? learning .... Slaf got 45 games total .....After Jack Hughes first 45 tell me what he looked liked? How many pts did Jack Hughes have after his first 45 Nhl games? Look at the guy now .

A lot of people needs to back off..a 19 yr old kid with 45 NHL games........it will come(pts)...
The last 2 games he's been doin a lot of things right . and has had some good chances .

Jack Hughes follow up season had 31 points in 56 games. Slaf won't hit 31 points in 82 games this season. Jack showed high end flashes and skill. I am yet to see anything with Slaf that shows he is more than a decent AHL player.

 

[PhysicX]

This thread keeps on giving and entertaining my lame ass.

It's way too early to label Slafkovsky as a bad 1st overall pick, and it serves little purpose to point at Slafkovsky's development and improved play from last year, as if that wouldn't occur on its own (no matter the league he played).

Can both sides agree to a cease-fire, and reconvene after a certain amount of games played to evaluate and discuss Slafkovsky's play and progression?

 

[Kennerback]

I still find his awareness and IQ to be lacking. He may never be able to brute force his way through the NHL, so he’s going to need to improve here imo.

Slaf’s whole schtick consists in playing a subtle game of “keep away”. The other team’s net is not even part of the decision-making equation in his brain. He declines to exploit 3 out 4 scoring opportunities. A prime example last night was giving up all that time and space in the slot to make a weak pass to the D a few feet behind him who’s in a much less favorable position.

 

[Kennerback]

Imagine if we took Shane Wright ....the guy that was the 1st overall apparently ...
People here would be jumping off cliffs seeing him unable to even make it in his first 2 training camps.

Wright and Slafkovski have opposite problems. Wright rarely gets scoring opportunities. But in the extremely rare instances he fights like a rabid animal to score. He has a killer instinct. But Wright just can’t get the puck on his stick when in dangerous areas on the ice. Result: he can’t produce in the pros.

Whereas, Slaf can continually get in dangerous areas on the ice. But he never finishes. Even worse, he never even attempts to finish scoring opportunities. He’s aloof and oblivious to the net.

 

[waitin425]

Slaf's lack of production is concerning. I will freely admit that. As is RHP and Suzuki's.

From my living room sofa, I think he has looked like an NHL player. He has been using his reach and size to win some board battles and he is skating well through the neutral zone. Last year, I said that he didn't look like he was processing the game at the NHL level. I have seen small improvements on that front. He is playing with his head up and is doing a good job seeing passing lanes. His execution at times has been sloppy and I want to see him acquire more of a nose for the net.

Dach was the best thing for him this year which unfortunately wasn't meant to be.

I would like to see Slaf with Monahan once Dvorak is back.

Slaf - Money - Newhook

While I think the NHL is the place for Slaf for a multitude of reasons, I won't stand up from my sofa and scream at the top of my lungs if they send him down for 2-4 weeks. I'm not sure that is what is best, and like I said, he is an NHL player, but at the end of the day, I am really hoping he steps it up in production.

 

[Lshap]

I missed the last two games, but each night I checked the stat sheet for a Caufield goal, a Suzuki point, and Slafkovsky's name somewhere on the goal logs. Only six games, but I'm not seeing the production I was hoping for so I'm a little frustrated.

Stat-watching is a shallow way to evaluate a developing 19-year-old, but I'm allowed to do that because I'm just a fan. The Habs don't have that luxury. They need to be scrutinizing their #1OA pick like a hawk and assessing if he's progressing, or if he's hanging on for dear life. If they're keeping Slafkovsky on the team, it better be for one reason only: He's getting closer to realizing his potential. That means actual goals and assists. I don't care if Slaf gets zero points in his next 10 games, as long as points start coming in the 50 games after that. Improvement can be invisible, incremental, slow as molasses. That's fine. But at some point we need to see results. Not style points. Not analytics. Real goals and assists.

But if we're into December and his progress is still theoretical, I expect the Habs to acknowledge that Slaf may need a slower pace. Send him down to the AHL; it may look bad in the moment, but keeping him on the Habs to avoid looking bad would be the worst thing to do. 19 is still very young. He may need to be treated like the kid he is.

Offensive production aside. This version of Slaf is better than last year's.


For my part, the way I see things...this year has already gone to shit. It's going to be another "learning" year. Whether Slaf plays in AHL or NHL is all the same to me at this level.

What I am realizing, is that I need to lower my expectations on this player. The picking him first thing, clouded my vision a bit.

There's nothing clouded about expecting a #1OA player to live up to his draft pedigree. Forget McDavid or Bedard – we have the right to expect a top-six forward for our troubles. The agreement between the Habs and their fans goes something like this: "Watch our Inferior Product and it'll magically transform into a Shiny New Winning Team!"

We did our part. For a couple of years there was nothing to cheer for but tanking. I expect a return on that investment of negative energy.

 

[StCaufield]

Why is he in the NHL?

View attachment 757620

The problem is not young Slafkovsky, it’s what it’ll mean if HuGoBo and MSL got this catastrophically wrong — from drafting him to rushing him to keeping him up. If they got it wrong at so many points, what else have they got wrong? Maybe they’re the wrong people to run this team… failing with Slaf has devastatingly bad implications.

Most commentators who equivocate for Slafkovsky know this but are desperate for it to be not true. They’d rather lie about seeing progress than admit that Slaf is so far behind that any progress they claim to see is still not enough. Patience? How about being patient enough to let him cook in the AHL or Europe?

Dude he was just being funny lol relax

We’re big fans of these analytics report cards, right? Remember in preseason?

View attachment 757621


Hughes and Slafkovsky are not comparable prospects or players. Hughes had a much, much better rookie (D+1) season in the NHL than Slafkovsky even if he only outproduced him by a tiny bit. It is insulting to both Jack Hughes and Juraj Slafkovsky to have them compared to each other, it is insulting to hockey fans to have to read this desperate comparison — anyone who follows hockey knows these two are not comparable in any way.

It’s not about criticizing the player — he is a Hab and we want his success — it’s about discussing how the organization plans to achieve this success. It seems their plan is stupid and bad.

Analytics are f***ing annoying. Generally they give you a mild idea of what’s happening but only people without 2 eyes go by them. Draw your own conclusion with the eye test. I’m saying that he needs to be sent down

 

[DAChampion]

It is true that given the Dach injury, there is now more reason to send Slafkovsky to the AHL.

 

[StCaufield]

We’re big fans of these analytics report cards, right? Remember in preseason?

View attachment 757621


Hughes and Slafkovsky are not comparable prospects or players. Hughes had a much, much better rookie (D+1) season in the NHL than Slafkovsky even if he only outproduced him by a tiny bit. It is insulting to both Jack Hughes and Juraj Slafkovsky to have them compared to each other, it is insulting to hockey fans to have to read this desperate comparison — anyone who follows hockey knows these two are not comparable in any way.

It’s not about criticizing the player — he is a Hab and we want his success — it’s about discussing how the organization plans to achieve this success. It seems their plan is stupid and bad.

It’s insulting to throw analytics around after a hand full of games and make a harsh judgment. Practice what you preach and get off that high horse

 

[StCaufield]

Have some of the patience you preach.

You just want to be right in supporting anything and everything the Habs GM does, you don’t really care what happens. It’s plainly obvious.

[MOD] What’s your end game here? You have an opinion just like everybody else. You can compare him to Wright because it was a coin flip at the draft between him and Slaf. He should be in the AHL I think but you seem to hate comparisons yet you subconsciously are comparing him to other first overall picks which is fine. It was also the weakest draft maybe in the last 20 years. It’s just a fact. He was thrown into a fire here because of that as people expect him to be a star within 2 or 3 years like a lot of first overalls. To sit there and take a squat and take a dump on people because they don’t agree with your precious analytics and sky is falling attitude is pure entertainment so keep it up

 

[Lshap]

It’s insulting to throw analytics around after a hand full of games and make a harsh judgment. Practice what you preach and get off that high horse

Trust me: If you're going to a hockey game, never buy seats on a high horse.

 

[cave troll]

It is true that given the Dach injury, there is now more reason to send Slafkovsky to the AHL.

I'd gladly make a swap Roy - Slaf.
Slaf is too shy to shoot or even try. It's better for him to gain some confidence with lesser competition and hope he's capable of doing that in AHL.
It's pains me to see Fantilli scoring a goal like yestreday or Cooley commanding the PP while we are happy when we see Slaf make some tiny improvement in hockey basics.

 

[Toene]

What’s your end game here? You have an opinion just like everybody else. You can compare him to Wright because it was a coin flip at the draft between him and Slaf. He should be in the AHL I think but you seem to hate comparisons yet you subconsciously are comparing him to other first overall picks which is fine. It was also the weakest draft maybe in the last 20 years. It’s just a fact. He was thrown into a fire here because of that as people expect him to be a star within 2 or 3 years like a lot of first overalls. To sit there and take a squat and take a dump on people because they don’t agree with your precious analytics and sky is falling attitude is pure entertainment so keep it up

I believe in Slaf but which 1st oa picks looked as meh as him in their first 45 games? Sadly, the ones that were disappointing. I'm not talking production. Not much happens with him on the ice. Like the @cave troll says ^, Cooley runs a PP and looks so dynamic while Slaf struggles to hold the puck for 5 seconds straight and has a couple ok scoring chances a game. What is this collective delusion that he "looks good"? He looks like a warm body.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Looked awful last night , we should send him down , I've found 3 of his 6 games at 5 on 5 passable but the kid is on pace for 13 points on the season lol

 

[Habz4]

We should send the whole team down after last night

Looked awful last night , we should send him down