Slafkovski reminds me of Pulju

Lshap

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I saw someone bring up Jack Hughes in this thread. Jack Hughes' second full season in the NHL he put up 31 points in the 56 game bubble season the the Devils who are an analytically driven front office saw enough in his underlying numbers to give him an $8x8 contract extension a year early.

Are any Habs fans here that confident in Slaf? He'd be eligible for a extension July 1st.
Most of us Habs fans wanted Slafkovsky in the AHL last season. I don't think being thrown into the NHL too soon will hurt him longterm, but it didn't help him progress. He didn't look good, but let's remember it was 39 games. There were people on this board declaring an 18-year-old with less than half a season to be a bust. Pure cringe.

This season started slow, but the last two/three weeks are looking much better. I'm not expecting a PPG player, but he's clearly making progress. He's become Habs fans #1 debating point because none of us have a clue where this raw kid will end up. It amazes me that so many who've barely watched him think they have it figured out... lol.
 

OKR

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He quite clearly has way more skill than Puljujarvi. Not hard to see at all honestly.
So called ”Way more” skill doesn’t really help, if he can’t do anything with it.

Puljujärvi outperformed him with a very noticeable margin in every level they both played at before the draft, and also outproduced him on their respective rookie seasons.
 

BLNY

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Aug 3, 2004
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LOL habs use this excuse for everyone they draft.

If you tell them they should have picked michkov instead of Reinbacher, they will start screaming that Arizona wanted Reinbacher so they made the right pick lol
If Michkov was even on their radar, he came off when he didn't grant an interview.

Scuttlebutt was that Arizona did want Reinbacher, but I sincerely doubt HuGo picked him for that reason. Reinbacher is going to be a great one.
 

BaseballCoach

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You can't miss out on a player that didn't grant an interview (and hence didn't want to play in Montreal).
Logically, if you know he does not want to play for you, the only good outcome could arise from drafting Michkov anyway, with the hope to trade him for a Lindros-like haul if he crushed the KHL for a couple of seasons. That's a highly risky move but with a small chance at a home run. Five teams besides the Habs did not try it.
 

bert

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So called ”Way more” skill doesn’t really help, if he can’t do anything with it.

Puljujärvi outperformed him with a very noticeable margin in every level they both played at before the draft, and also outproduced him on their respective rookie seasons.
Slafs puck skills and shot are far more superior it's not close again not hard to see if you know what you're looking at.

Slaf was hurt as a rookie simply looking at rookie production without the ability to actually evaluate is a sure fire way to simplify the evaluation process to its lowest common denominator. If scouts just looked at stat sheets they wouldn't need to go to the games. If it was that easy then that's what every organization would do.
 
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ijuka

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He quite clearly has way more skill than Puljujarvi. Not hard to see at all honestly.
But he also is a clearly worse skater than Pulju. This is not hard to see at all, either.
 

ijuka

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May 14, 2016
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He has better Edgework actually. Puljujarvi is faster in a straight line.
Not just a straight line, and Puljujärvi was significantly more explosive as well.

I'm also not sure his shot's better. The technique is better, but Puljujärvi's shot was significantly harder, I'm quite sure.

So why are people dog-pilling on him already then? It doesn't make any sense.
Logan Cooley's from the same draft, right? He seems to be doing fine, somehow.

Unless "not strong for first overall" should have been "shouldn't have been first overall".
 

Colezuki

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He’s got the talent and he’s starting to put it together. It’s going to take time but I feel this could be a bumped thread in a few years time
 
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bert

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Not just a straight line, and Puljujärvi was significantly more explosive as well.

I'm also not sure his shot's better. The technique is better, but Puljujärvi's shot was significantly harder, I'm quite sure.


Logan Cooley's from the same draft, right? He seems to be doing fine, somehow.

Unless "not strong for first overall" should have been "shouldn't have been first overall".
Slafs release is way better. Puljujarvi is simply too slow at just about everything except when he has time to get up to full speed.
 

ijuka

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May 14, 2016
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Slafs release is way better. Puljujarvi is simply too slow at just about everything except when he has time to get up to full speed.
Slowness isn't the issue with Puljujärvi, it's that he has bad positioning and hockey IQ, as well as stone hands.

And how, exactly, is Slafkovsky's release better? Haven't seen anything to support that.
 

OKR

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Slafs puck skills and shot are far more superior it's not close again not hard to see if you know what you're looking at.

Slaf was hurt as a rookie simply looking at rookie production without the ability to actually evaluate is a sure fire way to simplify the evaluation process to its lowest common denominator. If scouts just looked at stat sheets they wouldn't need to go to the games. If it was that easy then that's what every organization would do.
I’m willing to bet good money you haven’t seen either play outside of Olympics and the NHL.

Slaf could have the best puck skills in the world and shot out of this world, but he hasn’t been able to turn it to a production anywhere besides Olympics and World Championships when he was on a hot streak, he came back to Liiga and was once again the same no-impact player he always was there. They’re both heavily dependant on their physical tools, nothing else about them is NHL level. Puljujärvi was clearly better in every aspect of hockey in Liiga, U20’s, U18 Sm-Liiga and U20 Sm-Liiga.
 

Lshap

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So called ”Way more” skill doesn’t really help, if he can’t do anything with it.

Puljujärvi outperformed him with a very noticeable margin in every level they both played at before the draft, and also outproduced him on their respective rookie seasons.
Puljujärvi had 1-7-8 in his first 28 games. Slafkovsky had 4-6-10 in his first 39 games.
 

OKR

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And you consider this to be a winning point?
Well, do you not know what production is?

When someone produces more points per game is he not out producing the one with less points? The answer is a resounding yes.
 

OKR

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You cited a .03 difference between two teenagers who played ~33 games. Do you believe this adds vital information to the debate?
Puljujärvi outperformed him with a very noticeable margin in every level they both played at before the draft, and also outproduced him on their respective rookie seasons.
Well, except i never did.
 

waitin425

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Jan 10, 2009
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Well, do you not know what production is?

When someone produces more points per game is he not out producing the one with less points? The answer is a resounding yes.
It sure does mean that! You win HFboards today! Congrats! Can you guess who both of these scrubs out produced in the early stages of their career? Joe Thornton. He must have been the be all and end all of scrubs in the NHL.

..........

back to reality. Points are but one measure of predicting a prospects future in the NHL. I can't wait for everyone to eat crow on Slaf. He will be a very good NHL power forward. It just won't be obvious until the end of his third season.
 
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