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

[Forge]

Slaf with 8 points against Italy, France, Kazakhstan and Denmark

1 point against Canada, Finland and Germany.

Not sure what the context is here...if it's you don't think he should be taken above Wright (very much agree there) or if you don't think he's a top prospect in this draft or something (hard disagree there)

It would have been nice to see him have more point production against the big teams, but he also looked absolutely fine against Canada despite no points and was noticeable throughout that game. I think he rang one off the post today, but the quality of his play may not have been great.

He was good enough in this tournament for me and continued a string or relatively strong play on the back half of the season. I have no problems if the Devils take him at 2.

 

[minibrodeur]

So thanks for clearing up my point even more.

And yes, he did score some goals in the ECHL Olympics. He had a good tournament.

I'm not sure it proves your point even more. Swiss finished 1st and had the least goals against in the group during the preliminaries. That could even suggest they were the toughest team to score against.

 

[le_sean]

I'm not sure it proves your point even more. Swiss finished 1st and had the least goals against in the group during the preliminaries. That could even suggest they were the toughest team to score against.

That’s exactly the point. 1 point against four good teams and 8 points against four non-hockey countries.

He has lots of tools, I just question his actual offensive upside. Not just based on this tournament either.

 

[Just Linda]

I get the Puljujarvi comparisons but to me , Slafkovsky looks like a better skater and better stick handling ability.Kesse doesn’t look as fluid or natural when skating or stickhandling . It’s like he is labouring to do so where Slaf looks more natural and smooth and under control . Jesse looks like he is just barely managing to maintain control at all times…

I don't think anyone is really comparing the skill but he looks so similiar to how Puljujarvi did especially in the way he leans on guys and boxes out in the corners of win battles.

 

[MBrodeur]

I get the Puljujarvi comparisons but to me , Slafkovsky looks like a better skater and better stick handling ability.

Slafkovsky if far from a better skater than Pulju was in his draft year (edit: pre-hip problems). Slafkovsky looks less clumsy and more efficient with his skating though. Definitely a better stick handler.

 

[Forge]

Topical...the straight up no response makes me giggle, I'll admit. That's some truly nitty gritty analysis lol

 

[Rusty7550]

Topical...the straight up no response makes me giggle, I'll admit. That's some truly nitty gritty analysis lol

 

[LeProspector]

Puljujarvi was a better prospect coming into the draft than Slafkovsky is too. He was a consensus top 3 pick until Jarmo had something to say about it

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

That’s exactly the point. 1 point against four good teams and 8 points against four non-hockey countries.

He has lots of tools, I just question his actual offensive upside. Not just based on this tournament either.

Context is evertything. If you watched those games, you could see how many scoring chances he and his linemates created. With better finishing he could have gotten few points in those games. But I know, it doesn't mean anything to you.

 

[Rusty7550]

Context is evertything. If you watched those games, you could see how many scoring chances he and his linemates created. With better finishing he could have gotten few points in those games. But I know, it doesn't mean anything to you.

That's the thing. He didn't play for some powerhouse country and yet, he was still very productive and could score even more points with better/more effective teammates. I didn't know what to expect before the tournament because that pressure was really big, especially after his Olympics but he delivered. He was actually better than I thought.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Context is evertything. If you watched those games, you could see how many scoring chances he and his linemates created. With better finishing he could have gotten few points in those games. But I know, it doesn't mean anything to you.

I agree with this 100%.

He was one of the only players for Slovakia against Germany that could do anything. He was all over the ice against us. If they had better coaching, and used him on the perimeter on the PP instead of screening the goalie, Slovakia would have likely won that game.

 

[karhukissa]

There are not many players that could pull some miracles against Finland, this guy called Pastrnak also 0+0 against the Finns and he's one of he best wingers in hockey.

People shouldnt even expect miracles from prospect his age at the men's international stage.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

Prospect evaluation is a slippery slope to begin with, but it gets even dicier when we focus on the short tourneys. Puljuravi and Kakko had great second halves with their clubs teams in their respective draft years, with dominant tournaments to boot, yet neither has done anything remotely impressive in the NHL. Conversely, Roope Hintz (for example) never had a dominant tournament at the U18, U20, or men's level yet is currently one of the NHL's top goal scorers.

 

[minibrodeur]

That’s exactly the point. 1 point against four good teams and 8 points against four non-hockey countries.

He has lots of tools, I just question his actual offensive upside. Not just based on this tournament either.

Unfortunately providing inaccurate information hardly proves your point. It only proves that a lot of people on this thread know more about Slaf.

 

[kabidjan18]

So thanks for clearing up my point even more.

And yes, he did score some goals in the ECHL Olympics. He had a good tournament.

Not one team in the Olympics was the level of an ECHL team. That's extremely unfair.

 

[tmlmatus]

Not one team in the Olympics was the level of an ECHL team. That's extremely unfair.

Don't worry about it, he only came to this thread to troll.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

That’s exactly the point. 1 point against four good teams and 8 points against four non-hockey countries.

He has lots of tools, I just question his actual offensive upside. Not just based on this tournament either.

If only there were other stats we could look at from this tournament. Stats that encompass more than just plays that end with the puck in the net. I wonder how he looks in those metrics? I wonder, if as an 18 year old, he led his team in these categories? Who knows, better just make some ignorant post about counting stats.

 

[thomast]

Puljujärvi is really poor comparison for him. Slaf have much more finesse and skill. Like i said earlier, Puljujärvi treated puck like hot potato when he had all the room and at times puck is glued to Slafs stick even in high traffic areas. Huge difference in hockey sense and Puljujärvi is not same breed if we think about strength and ability to win puck battles. Puljujärvi was the better skater though.

They are totally different players and i watched both a lot during their draft year.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Fact: If slaf where from Canada, USA or Russia nobody would doubt him. But because he is from Slovakia people doubt him. Lots of hate towards Slovakia on this forum.

 

[FourQuarters]

Bedard have 4G against Austria junior team, which is one of the worst teams in the tournament. What did people say? I am not saying that Bedard is not good, or that Slafkovsky is as good as Bedard, but there is no need to doubt him with such stats. He'll make it to the NHL. Let's see what happens. He may be good in NHL, he may be bad in NHL, but he definitely had an impressive tournament.

 

[kabidjan18]

Fact: If slaf where from Canada, USA or Russia nobody would doubt him. But because he is from Slovakia people doubt him. Lots of hate towards Slovakia on this forum.

What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. You're leveling a very serious charge against people and have no proof of it. There is an overwhelming amount of documentary evidence of HFposters doubting Canadian, American, or Russian prospects. This comment is baseless, meritless, and purely a personal attack on posters whose motives you don't know and shouldn't surmise.

Bedard have 4G against Austria junior team, which is one of the worst teams in the tournament. What did people say? I am not saying that Bedard is not good, or that Slafkovsky is as good as Bedard, but there is no need to doubt him with such stats. He'll make it to the NHL. Let's see what happens. He may be good in NHL, he may be bad in NHL, but he definitely had an impressive tournament.

What are you looking for? They said it tied some record, which it did. No one said because of his 4 goals against Austria that he should go first in the draft. They would have pointed to his 28 points in 15 games in his D-2 year, or his 100 points in 62 games in his D-1 year. Some really liked his U18 WJC performance the year before as a U16 kid. No one looked at his game against Austria and was like "well I wasn't sold on this guy making the NHL but now I think he's a 1st overall pick."

I actually don't even like Bedard. I doubt Bedard, at least compared to where I think popular perception is. And I'm allowed to do that. People on HFBoards are allowed to doubt people regardless of what stats they have. Slafkovsky shouldn't be immune from people doubting him when no one else is. No one is saying "oh he had a bad tournament. His tournament was unimpressive." But if people are allowed to say "that guy's PPG decreased from 2 to 1.5, that's concerning", or "that guy scores 80 percent of his points against the bottom half of the OHL table" then they're allowed to say "he scored some points against lower ranked teams in an international tournament."

 

[ottawa]

Fact: If slaf where from Canada, USA or Russia nobody would doubt him. But because he is from Slovakia people doubt him. Lots of hate towards Slovakia on this forum.

This is a cop out response, do better.

Look at how much shit your Canadian boy Shane Wright is getting in his thread, all this is nothing compared to the Wright thread.

 

[Xirik]

This is a cop out response, do better.

Look at how much shit your Canadian boy Shane Wright is getting in his thread, all this is nothing compared to the Wright thread.

Probably because people are inserting Wright in a thread that has nothing to do with him and since the draft lottery a lot of MTL fans who need to feel sure their prefered player is the "right" pick so they need to use illogical arguments to tear down Wrights nearest "competition".

 

[xyzed]

yeah, I've noticed many insecure habs fans in this thread

 

[ninetyeight]

Wait so Slaf is a bad prospect because he didn't score more against the big teams? Who other 18yo is doing better in the wc then?

I think people seriously forget how young and how far from their prime these guys (Slaf Nemec Jiricek..) are. The fact that they are even playing in the competition with established nhl & euro pros and contributing positively is massive. Feel free to look how much other top prospects have done in the worlds, I can tell after Laine and Kakko, not very much.