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LW Juraj Slafkovsky (2022, 1st, MTL) Part 3

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JohnLennon said:
If Troy Terry and Tage Thompson's development curve tell us anything, it's that these REALLY big kids can take a lot of time (and patience) to fully find their potential. Some of them don't take that long, but it's best to give them as much leash as possible.

Looking forward to tonight's first line:

Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Juraj Slafkovsky

Should be fun!
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Ahh noted giant Troy Terry…
 
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JohnLennon said:
If Tage Thompson's development curve tell us anything, it's that these REALLY big kids can take a lot of time (and patience) to fully find their potential. Some of them don't take that long, but it's best to give them as much leash as possible.

Looking forward to tonight's first line:

Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Juraj Slafkovsky

Should be fun!
Click to expand...
I actually think Alex Tuch is a great comparable for Juraj. Speed and size on the wing - not particularly physical, but strong on the boards.

Juraj needs to fill out and understand how his size and reach can fully optimize, which is a huge asset in the new NHL. I have no doubt Juraj can develop into a stud winger, he needs his fan base to give him time and temper expectations
 
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Kojo said:
Okay no he's not a north south player at all get the f*** out of here, his lateral movement for an 18 years old is phenomenal, almost Jagr like.

And the reason that he's not that physical is because he almost constantly has two players trying to defend against him.
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He’s absolutely a north south type player to me. He’s not physical because he doesn’t engage in physicality especially in the defensive zone. He’s almost invisible in the defensive zone or simply does not engage defensively.
ijuka said:
Honestly, it's a bit tired that every big player's being made to be a power forward. Slafkovsky's clearly a skill player, I'd hope that his development is focused on that.
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I don’t think he clearly is a skill player though. He attempts to play like one at times. But, I don’t think he’ll find as much success in that area in the NHL. He doesn’t have phenomenal hands or speed. Everything he does is simply powerful. He’s a freight train.

He was a first overall pick because of his size and goal scoring potential. His true potential in my opinion lies in his potential to be a guy who can force turnovers along the boards using his size, drive to the net using his phenomenal poise, and be a shooting option near the circle. He’s not going to be a finesse player to me.

He’s all the potential of a true power forward.
 
CowbellConray said:
I actually think Alex Tuch is a great comparable for Juraj. Speed and size on the wing - not particularly physical, but strong on the boards.

Juraj needs to fill out and understand how his size and reach can fully optimize, which is a huge asset in the new NHL. I have no doubt Juraj can develop into a stud winger, he needs his fan base to give him time and temper expectations
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Tuch isn't a bad comparable but I think Juraj's skating has a long way to go to come even close to the speed Tuch has. Other than that I do see a lot of similarities. You could probably argue that Juraj has some raw skill that, if developed well, could bring him to another level than Tuch offensively.

Patience with these guys is paramount, you're absolutely right.
 
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He was one of Montreal’s weaker players in the first Leafs/Habs preseason game, but one of their best in the second. If he keeps playing like he did last night he should make the team, he was much more assertive/confident/involved.
 
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JohnLennon said:
If Tage Thompson's development curve tell us anything, it's that these REALLY big kids can take a lot of time (and patience) to fully find their potential. Some of them don't take that long, but it's best to give them as much leash as possible.

Looking forward to tonight's first line:

Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Juraj Slafkovsky

Should be fun!
Click to expand...

Montreal fans and media will absolutely obliterate Slaf if he isn't a star player by 20 or 21. They are not going to let him marinate in Laval.

Look at what happened with Galchenyuk, Kotkaniemi, Leblanc, Drouin, etc.

STL wasn't even patient enough with a random like Tage Thompson. Imagine Montreal with a 1st overall pick.
 
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Number 57 said:
Montreal fans and media will absolutely obliterate Slaf if he isn't a star player by 20 or 21. They are not going to let him marinate in Laval.

Look at what happened with Galchenyuk, Kotkaniemi, Leblanc, Drouin, etc.

STL wasn't even patient enough with a random like Tage Thompson. Imagine Montreal with a 1st overall pick.
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Tough to know how things turn out. Right now, Habs fans have bought into a rebuild, and have shown patience in the past.

I'm not sure Galchenyuk, Leblanc, Kotkaniemi are good examples. These players were all rushed to the NHL and Habs fans saw the damage it does to rush a player. In fact, all you hear in Montreal is people begging the Habs to demote Slafkovsky out of fear of what happened with KK. They WANT the Habs to marinate prospects, they're ROOTING for the Habs to lose this year... I'm pretty sure everyone has bought in because they're tired of being a middle of the pack team carried by a star goalie.

I could be wrong, but we will see.
 
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JohnLennon said:
Tough to know how things turn out. Right now, Habs fans have bought into a rebuild, and have shown patience in the past.

I'm not sure Galchenyuk, Leblanc, Kotkaniemi are good examples. These players were all rushed to the NHL and Habs fans saw the damage it does to rush a player. In fact, all you hear in Montreal is people begging the Habs to demote Slafkovsky out of fear of what happened with KK. They WANT the Habs to marinate prospects, they're ROOTING for the Habs to lose this year... I'm pretty sure everyone has bought in because they're tired of being a middle of the pack team carried by a star goalie.

I could be wrong, but we will see.
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I think a lot of the pressure will come from the Habs history with high picks. Here's every Habs top-10 pick in the past ~decade:
- 2022: Slafkovsky 1st overall (TBD)
- 2018: Kotkaniemi 3rd overall (bust-ish)
- 2015: Sergachev 9th overall (good pick, but was quickly traded for Drouin after just 4 games with the Habs, a 3rd overall pick who became bust-ish with the Habs)
- 2012: Galchenyuk 3rd overall (bust-ish)

These busts are not at all Slaf's fault, but the Habs have f***ed up every single high pick in recent memory - their last good one was Price in 2005. Many fans will freak if Slaf stumbles at all, assuming he's another Kotka/Drouin/Chucky. The fact that he was an "off the board" pick (like Kotka) doesn't help either. I definitely think he's in a tough spot pressure wise, but hopefully he can ignore it/shake it off.
 
Well, let's see what he does up with Suzuki and Caufield tonight, should be plenty of fodder for positive or negative here once this game is completed tonight. Good game......he's gonna be a star, bad game, it's to the bust bin he goes.

I hope he knows his rep is on the line for a moment around here at HF, if that can't motivate what can?
 
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Slaf in his prime might become more of an east-west guy but when he was at his best like with Slovakia, it was north-south racing up and down the ice in straight lines. He was all over the ice at top speed. He can also dangle from a stand still but that's not the foundation for him. Speed is.
 
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Kid is having a really rough game out there tonight.

Looks very tentative, acceleration is clearly an issue, just completely lost his guy on the back check which directly lead to an easy tap in for Giroux.

The tools are clearly there, but there's really no reason to rush him to the NHL immediately in my opinion.

Let the kid develop, it's a marathon, not a sprint.
 
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Is Slafkovsky eligible for the CHL? Didn’t Drysatl go back to junior part way through his D+1 year?
 
Slafkovsky got better as the game went on and I cant see him needing an entire season in the minors, but I would start him in Laval. Let him emerge as a top player down there and then bring him up when he is ready to be a good top 9er in the NHL.
 
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I hope that he goes back to Finland for a year. He will play top line, World Juniors, World Championship. Pettersson, Rantanen and Heiskanen all stayed in Finland for their D+1 year and look how well they developed. No need to rush him. No need to rush him.
 
Habsrule said:
I hope that he goes back to Finland for a year. He will play top line, World Juniors, World Championship. Pettersson, Rantanen and Heiskanen all stayed in Finland for their D+1 year and look how well they developed. No need to rush him. No need to rush him.
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I agree with the no need to rush him part but why do you want to deport him? Why Finland?

He's not going back to Finland, that's for sure.
 
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