LW Juraj Slafkovsky - TPS Turku, Liiga (2022, 1st, MTL) Part 2

[jj cale]

Oh man. There are so many hab fans that gotta eat crow. 75% of that fanbase has been in denial since they won the lottery.

I'm o.k with it. Slaf has a lot of potential.

 

[V13]

The way i see it is that Slaf has the highest potential of all 2022 draftees with his combination of size and skills but he also has the biggest bust potential because he's still full of unkowns. Picking him 1st overall is ballsy but also a big gamble made by Hughes and Gorton. I think this either has the potential to be a big win or a total disaster with no in between.

This pick could make or destroy the Gorton - Hughes regime. We'll have to wait and see

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

Habs fan here trying to cope with the pick... Can someone sell me dreams ?

 

[Colezuki]

Habs fan here trying to cope with the pick... Can someone sell me dreams ?

we drafted jagr

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

we drafted jagr

Thank you my friend, I feel better.

 

[Zalos]

Montreal's management problem in the past 20 years + was not who they drafted (most of the time), but how terribly bad at developing players they were. I'm hoping this is changing with this new group.

Welcome Slaf!

 

[Leafshater67]

I’m not surprised Montreal picked him, I’m surprised Wright dropped so far. I thought Wright was the safe bet and when I heard 3 picks go before him, I was shocked. These guys get paid to onow this stuff though right?

Reallr wondering how Lambert pans out.

 

[Wats]

The way i see it is that Slaf has the highest potential of all 2022 draftees with his combination of size and skills but he also has the biggest bust potential because he's still full of unkowns. Picking him 1st overall is ballsy but also a big gamble made by Hughes and Gorton. I think this either has the potential to be a big win or a total disaster with no in between.

This pick could make or destroy the Gorton - Hughes regime. We'll have to wait and see

Both Dach and Slaf can pretty much put their regime as a fail right off the bat.

Oh man. There are so many hab fans that gotta eat crow. 75% of that fanbase has been in denial since they won the lottery.

To be fair, they only eat crow if they're wrong. If Wright ends up better, it's not their fault the management is worse than fans.

 

[Frank Drebin]

The way i see it is that Slaf has the highest potential of all 2022 draftees with his combination of size and skills but he also has the biggest bust potential because he's still full of unkowns. Picking him 1st overall is ballsy but also a big gamble made by Hughes and Gorton. I think this either has the potential to be a big win or a total disaster with no in between.

This pick could make or destroy the Gorton - Hughes regime. We'll have to wait and see

Relax. Gorton is the guy who drafted kappo kakko

 

[didimentionlarseller]

Habs fan here trying to cope with the pick... Can someone sell me dreams ?

this feels like a bergevin move right? I really hope this works out

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

I'm not thrilled with the pic but I said before the draft I would wait 3 years to see how it all pans out no matter who they drafted. So now we wait...

 

[sergejean]

I warmed up to the idea of getting Slaf with the number 1 pick. Tons of potential and worst case scenario should still be a potent middle 6 power forward.

 

[Kublakhan]

Were HF Habs fans happy with this pick? The arena fans looked stunned and silenced..

 

[Kunta Kinte]

Were HF Habs fans happy with this pick? The arena fans looked stunned and silenced..

Its a shit draft. Tbh I think Cooley and Gauthier will end up the best. I can be wrong too.

 

[Mikeshane]

John Lu mentioned he has charisma which is the impression I got with him too. When the Montreal fans love a player with charisma it's good for hockey so it would be great to see him be successful and be a fan favorite.

 

[Maitz]

Not particularly happy about the pick but the fact Wright dropped to 4 makes me think maybe his ceilling is not as high as everyone think

Im more pissed at the Romanov and Dach trade. We just got rid of KK, we don’t need another potential bust, I would rather have Nazar or Lekkerimaki

 

[Artorius Horus T]

If he plays in the NHL next season, it will be a mistake.

Same goes for Wright though, Shane's correct place is in the OHL.
He needs to first show that he can dominate the OHL before even
trying to get to the NHL, of the two, Slaf is more
NHL ready what Wright is.

 

[who_me?]

John Lu mentioned he has charisma which is the impression I got with him too. When the Montreal fans love a player with charisma it's good for hockey so it would be great to see him be successful and be a fan favorite.

but does he speak french?

 

[WarriorofTime]

To be fair, they only eat crow if they're wrong. If Wright ends up better, it's not their fault the management is worse than fans.

Fans have no clue even if they guess right every now and then

 

[Archijerej]

Were HF Habs fans happy with this pick? The arena fans looked stunned and silenced..

Irrelevant. What if the Devils and the Flyers picked Makar and Heiskanen back in 2017, instead of Hischier and Patrick? Would their fanbases opinion on draft day have any relevance whatsoever? Instead, their managements would look like geniuses today.

To have a strong opinion one has to be really deep into this whole draft thing, otherwise it's just meaningless noise. And it's not even as if the Habs tried to be hipster with this pick. McKenzie's poll among NHL scouting staffs had Slafkovsky at #1OA as well.

The way I see it, from the point of view of an average fan, there is nothing worthy of critisism or praise with this pick at this point.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Hard to believe he went first. He has lots of potential of course and can become a dominant player, but he was simply underwhelming in Liiga.

 

[Aurinko]

I hope the young man gets a decent development year.

The Slovakian hockey tradition must continue, It's important for hockey in general. Even though Im not a fan, the golden years of Slovak hockey with Satan, Zchara etc. were amazing.

 

[tellermine]

If kid was from Canada this would be mutch different thread.

"Wow. He is playing with grown men! Generational rookie player in world cup and Olympics!"

That said I would still went with center piece.

Interesting to see how it goes. Hope all these kids have a good NHL career.

 

[pelderhostiga]

I'm no expert but I think Slafkovsky will be a great player in NHL. In my opinion, his playing style fits North American fast moving hockey better than it did Finnish disciplined and defence-first big rink hockey.

That said, I'm still surprised that he went 1OA. As a Finnish hockey fan, it's also a bit frustrating that there never seems to be a suitable time to pick a Finnish prospect as 1OA even if there have been better cases than Slafkovsky (e.g. Lundell, Kakko, Laine, Barkov...)

 

[Lshap]

Irrelevant. What if the Devils and the Flyers picked Makar and Heiskanen back in 2017, instead of Hischier and Patrick? Would their fanbases opinion on draft day have any relevance whatsoever? Instead, their managements would look like geniuses today.

To have a strong opinion one has to be really deep into this whole draft thing, otherwise it's just meaningless noise. And it's not even as if the Habs tried to be hipster with this pick. McKenzie's poll among NHL scouting staffs had Slafkovsky at #1OA as well.

The way I see it, from the point of view of an average fan, there is nothing worthy of critisism or praise with this pick at this point.

Agreed. 99% of the opinions on this board are as informed as predicting next year's Cup based on their favourite jersey.