Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

[Jaynki]

Sad thing is..Slaf is in a big bump since he joined the NHL.
But hey, let's admire those 2-3 good passes he makes from time to time.

That is so depressing.

Especially considering most of his competition have yet to reach the NHL (surely because they are developed the right way. And not simply because they are straight up not good enough) or score an NHL goal but okay.

 

[cave troll]

That is so depressing.

Especially considering most of his competition have yet to reach the NHL (surely because they are developed the right way. And not simply because they are straight up not good enough) or score an NHL goal but okay.

I see younger players than him playing in the NHL. You don't?
So far, Slaf's highlights were a nice assist to Newhook and setting a breakaway for Anderson.
After some 50 games, a person starts to hope that some traces of talent will start to emerge but we are admiring when 1st overall learns some basics of hockey.

 

[Jaynki]

I see younger players than him playing in the NHL. You don't?
So far, Slaf's highlights were a nice assist to Newhook and setting a breakaway for Anderson.
After some 50 games, a person starts to hope that some traces of talent will start to emerge but we are admiring when 1st overall learns some basics of hockey.

Yeah sure, stealing the puck from Dahlin and outskating him to a breakaway is an insignifiant play and not an highlight.

A common occurence throughout the league especially for 19 years old.

 

[Rusty7550]

MSL is not a good coach IMO. He talks a lot but players are not progresing and hockey is unwatchable. He should be assistant coach first and after few years of experience, he can be a head coach. Slafs development is horrible, he should play more and with skilled players, put him in first PP unit. If you wanna continue like this then send him to WJC, he can play where people actually like him (which is something that we cant say about habs fans) and gain a lot of confidence because Slovakia can easily medal this year with that stacked squad. Win-win situation.

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

What is amazing about this helpful thread is we don't even need to wait until his career is over because the experts have painted a clear picture of what we should expect after only 45 games. Thanks guys.

What's the point of this board, if we need to wait the end of a career to know what a player is ? In 5 years we may be able to say that Drouin and Armia suck... We never know, they may turn their career around.

 

[Sorinth]

Sad thing is..Slaf is in a big bump since he joined the NHL.
But hey, let's admire those 2-3 good passes he makes from time to time.

The funny thing is that with Slaf his critics say the only thing that matters is his regular season play. Which if we do the same for Caufield and ignore his playoffs, then Caufield came in as a rookie had 1 goal and 8 points in 30 games. Which is as unimpressive as it comes.

And really the point I was making seemed to have passed way over your head which is that early struggles for star players is normal. Whether Slaf puts it together and becomes a star is up in the air, but the fact that he's struggled to produce in the NHL in his first <50 games is entirely normal even for stars.

 

[Rapala]

He literally sent Anderson on a breakaway last night.

Btw Zegras also has 1 pt this season.

I'm starting to see a higher level of awareness and an understanding on how dominant he can be when he keeps his center of gravity. He's also using his skating to better effect where in the past he tried to rely on reach in the past. The points will come.

 

[HabzSauce]

I see younger players than him playing in the NHL. You don't?
So far, Slaf's highlights were a nice assist to Newhook and setting a breakaway for Anderson.
After some 50 games, a person starts to hope that some traces of talent will start to emerge but we are admiring when 1st overall learns some basics of hockey.

The problem is we drafted him as a project. He was raw when he picked him and he's still very raw. But we tend to forget/ignore that fact for some reason...

We're an impatient bunch. Half this board was writing him off after a whopping 39 games last year!! It's ridiculous lol. Project players take time I think we need to lower our expectations for now and enjoy the little things he improves on. As sad as that is lmao.

Next year though the pressure is on. That will be his D3 season at age 20. Not expecting a PPG player but I hope we see a BIG improvement, not just tiny ones. I'm gonna lose it if I still see people celebrating that one nice pass he made from 10 games ago haha

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

Slaf needs to be sent off into the woods for 7 days and 7 nights to go from boy to man, then his identity will be revealed!

Maybe he needs to have sex, he's a chad, but on ice he's playing like a virgin... It's probably that, trust me, I'm an expert.

 

[Rapala]

I was being sarcastic.. this thread has so many dumb takes that my super dumb sarcastic comment looked like a legit post..

That's how bad this place is

Bye.

Ever seen one of those?
You realize how childish you sound right?
Take the good ignore the bad or just stay away.

 

[Yoor]

Wow people are a bit harsh on this kid. He could easily be sitting at 4-5 assists by now had Anderson been able to convert any of these chances. Its all about confidence for him. There is progression, he is starting to throw is weight around a bit which he was not doing last year. His line was dominant yesterday but did not manage to score. Everyone here is preaching patience and at the same time they are reluctant to see the progression and potential.

I would wait another 10 games and if his confidence seems to be down we make a switch with Roy in the AHL and hopefully he increases his confidence.

Have to agree here, I though he stood out last night, well at least he was noticeable. It is coming....

 

[Bushero]

Yeah sure, stealing the puck from Dahlin and outskating him to a breakaway is an insignifiant play and not an highlight.

A common occurence throughout the league especially for 19 years old.

Wow, you really set the bar historically low there.

 

[Naslund]

Slafkovsky is doing fine, and is better off improving in the NHL than in the minors. He is making mistakes, but also plenty of nice plays, which indicates that he is not sinking at the pro level. It will just take time with him. He reminds me of Sergachev when he started in Montreal. A lot of NHL reps is what is needed here.

I'm actually more worried about HFBoards Habs fans. Too bad there is no AHL-like equivalent where we can send some posters to improve their "game"...

 

[Yoor]

I see younger players than him playing in the NHL. You don't?
So far, Slaf's highlights were a nice assist to Newhook and setting a breakaway for Anderson.
After some 50 games, a person starts to hope that some traces of talent will start to emerge but we are admiring when 1st overall learns some basics of hockey.

LOL c'mon guys....timing and speed of the game are huge factors for young players, throw in confidence and you may have a little while before it clicks. Once he gets a feel for the timing things will change, he will make better decision and have more time to do so. Is he even 19 yet?...just sayin.

 

[morhilane]

Slafkovsky is doing fine, and is better off improving in the NHL than in the minors. He is making mistakes, but also plenty of nice plays, which indicates that he is not sinking at the pro level. It will just take time with him. He reminds me of Sergachev when he started in Montreal. A lot of NHL reps is what is needed here.

I'm actually more worried about HFBoards Habs fans. Too bad there is no AHL-like equivalent where we can send some posters to improve their "game"...

Posters here just want finished product from the start, which his weird considering the amount of time spent talking about prospects who aren't in the NHL yet.

Slaf is progressing, which is what you want to see. I would even say that he's progressing faster than people think, despite it being slower than what people want.

 

[Naslund]

Posters here just want finished product from the start, which his weird considering the amount of time spent talking about prospects who aren't in the NHL yet.

Slaf is progressing, which is what you want to see. I would even say that he's progressing faster than people think, despite it being slower than what people want.

Well said.

 

[Jaynki]

Wow, you really set the bar historically low there.

Lol, im not the one who set the bar and dont view it as a bar set, simply a very nice impressive highlight.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

That's crazy we are blaming other players for slaf lack of success.

How about he make his own plays or finish a play before we blame his linemates lmao

 

[cave troll]

Yeah sure, stealing the puck from Dahlin and outskating him to a breakaway is an insignifiant play and not an highlight.

A common occurence throughout the league especially for 19 years old.

Yes. We witnessed the first and the last Dahlin's giveway in his career. Only Slaf could managed to achieve that !
Thing is, we're talking about 1OA like he's some kind of 7th round pick thrown into NHL at 18 so we watch if he is capable passing the puck. This is how we watch his progress.
I fully agree that time will tell, but the kid needs to wake up soon and grow some balls.
New kids will be drafted high in next few years and he can become redundant pretty quickly.

 

[Jaynki]

Yes. We witnessed the first and the last Dahlin's giveway in his career. Only Slaf could managed to achieve that !
Thing is, we're talking about 1OA like he's some kind of 7th round pick thrown into NHL at 18 so we watch if he is capable passing the puck. This is how we watch his progress.
I fully agree that time will tell, but the kid needs to wake up soon and grow some balls.
New kids will be drafted high in next few years and he can become redundant pretty quickly.

Well i absolutely agree. He is no McDavid/Matthews that is a thing but we should still hold him to high standard. I believe he has shown improvement and some nice flashes, and also some goof. Overall, there is improvement but i would like more too. Im particularly eager to see him produce but he had many chances. He will have to be more constant and assertive. There is still a full season ahead and we will have way better data at the end of the year but right now its a mixed bag, for what its worth.

 

[Skip Bayless]

That's crazy we are blaming other players for slaf lack of success.

How about he make his own plays or finish a play before we blame his linemates lmao

I really like Slaf, but the KK sunshine brigade has taken over the discourse.

They're gonna make me turn on Slaf.

 

[Scriptor]

That's crazy we are blaming other players for slaf lack of success.

How about he make his own plays or finish a play before we blame his linemates lmao

Seriously, that's your statement suggesting we are blaming other players for routine plays?

You spring a teammate on a breakaway but he doesn't score. I think it's fair to say a player played well despite not getting on the scoreboard because his line mate didn't take advantage of the opportunities.

Well i absolutely agree. He is no McDavid/Matthews that is a thing but we should still hold him to high standard. I believe he has shown improvement and some nice flashes, and also some goof. Overall, there is improvement but i would like more too. Im particularly eager to see him produce but he had many chances. He will have to be more constant and assertive. There is still a full season ahead and we will have way better data at the end of the year but right now its a mixed bag, for what its worth.

Slafkovsky is not a McDavid/Matthews. He's also not a generationnal Center.

Glad we covered that.

 

[sandviper]

Bambi is over PPG with Carolina.

You can see Slaf continuing to make progress every game even if the score sheet doesn't reflect it.

It will come but it won't come as fast You guys want it to.

Fantilli sucked tonight and would be beaten to a pulp in this board if he was ours.

Especially after the way he got walked in OT. Pitchforks would be out.

 

[SlafCaufield]

if Anderson had some finish, Slaf would have had two assists last game

Slaf has also hi a few posts and made a few other players in previous games that would have resulted in points if his linemates had some finish

adding those up he would basically be at a point per game right now and people would be eating crow

its a game of inches and id be worried if he wasnt making plays that SHOULD result in points but he is and he should have many more points than he does and thats not his fault if others cant finish his rushes

 

[TheBuriedHab]

He reminds me of Dach early last season. You can tell he has the skills but is still a bit timid.

When the puck is on his stick good things usually happen, and he wins a lot of puck battles along the boards.

He just needs to move his feet more and attack the net. It will come though.