Some players never do equalize. Some players remain up and down their whole career. Very few players are perfectly constant. That's why you want a core of at least 5-6 players so if one is having a down year it's not that big of a deal. When Avs won the cup they had McKinnon, Makar, Rantanen, Landeskog, Nichuskin, Kadri, Burakovski, Lehkonen, Toews, .... 2 or 3 injuries / slump was not a big deal.
MacKinnon had only 21 goals and 52 points -4 in his 3rd season. Only 1 more points than Carl Soderberg on the same team. MacKinnon worst season was his 4th with only 16 goals and 53 points -14 in his first 80+ games season in the last 3 years. The whole Avs team regressed that year and finished dead last by a whole margin (21 points below 2nd last). Not saying Slaf is the next MacKinnon not the same type of talent but people should chill out.
It’s not worthless. Are they not similar types of players? Both big, power forwards. Why is that not a good comparison?
Because every player is different. The investment inst the same, the skills aren't the same, the situation isn't the same, the progression isn't the same, etc.
If I was the coach, Slafkovsky wouldn’t leave Suzuki’s wing. It’s important he keeps progressing but he’s becoming a victim of our poor top 6 and other guys underperforming.
He's shooting more than he did at the start of last season. The sh% is half what he had last season thought, but he played with an upper body injury for a bit. And he's shooting more despite the total lack of sustained possession from the team this year compared to last season.
He doesn't look as strong or as assertive as last season. Development is not linear. It took MacKinnon into his 5th season to break out.
I thought he looked better on that part the last 2-3 games. He gets out with the pucks from the boards more often. He also has the most hits on the habs this season.
