Player Discussion The Slaf Thread - Parabolic Growth Edition

[Rapala]

The latest play that actually impressed me was him passing up a good but not great passing option to Cole on his right (he was coming up dead center), to actually deke out the defender and set himself up for a shot. He ultimately missed the net, but the move was bold, confident and actually showed what he hadnt showed much of in his pro career 1. High IQ understanding. (Cole was on his weak side, thus opening up the tap in, something the goaltender took note of, but also that was the easy play. The defender was starting his pivot and he made the move at the very moment he saw that.) And also just a willingness to be the man and beat defenders 1 on 1. Something we sorely lack, and something that, if he unlocks, is gonna make him one of the very best player on the planet.

The Suzuki pass is impressive, but hes displayed that kind of vision and hand-eye coordination multiple times already, it didnt show me any "new" information, the only difference is it converted but thats inconsequential to his development as a star player.

I think the play was against the Bruins but I dont remember exactly.

I'm not talking about the vision and I'm not talking about the hand coordination at all in my post.
I'm talking about the wherewithal to make those plays with no thought. It's called instinct because it's instinctive you can't teach it.
This is exactly what Marty St Louis has been stressing he wants to see since day one. Obviously those plays don't come off without the talent.
We have very few player who can do it and it is one of the reasons I wished Marty the best of luck with his "concepts" and "positionless" hockey.

 

[Jaynki]

You're not serious, right? You dont see a differenfe between Slaf 2023 and Slaf 2024? They are night and day. His puck touches are through the roof, his defensive involvement has never been as good, hes physical, hes confident and hes one of the best winger Ive seen on the Habs.

He went from shooting 1 time a game to 2, he went from .3 ppg to .8. This is not the same player. Youre doing a disservice to his insane development by trying to look smarter here.

You are both right.

He is way better than he has ever been.

But he played way better than his production suggested in the first 20 games of the season.

 

[Rapala]

You are both right.

He is way better than he has ever been.

But he played way better than his production suggested in the first 20 games of the season.

Not everyone was blind to it either.

 

[417]

You are both right.

He's not right, because I was talking about the 2024 season...never the 2023 season.

He is way better than he has ever been.

But he played way better than his production suggested in the first 20 games of the season.

Of course he's "better"...but he's also just playing more, it's natural progression.

Not some magical, not expected surge.

There were clear signs this was coming earlier in the season.

 

[Jaynki]

This is not the same player. Youre doing a disservice to his parabolic, exponential growth by trying to look smarter here.

Corrected it. Replaced insane development with the proper words.

 

[Mrb1p]

Corrected it. Replaced insane development with the proper words.

lmao, i was actually going to write this.

He's not right, because I was talking about the 2024 season...never the 2023 season.

Of course he's "better"...but he's also just playing more, it's natural progression.

Not some magical, not expected surge.

There were clear signs this was coming earlier in the season.

You know the "2024" season doesnt exist ? Its 2023-2024.

 

[417]

You know the "2024" season doesnt exist ? Its 2023-2024.

Now you're just tap dancing.

I wrote THIS season, I wasn't talking about LAST YEAR, like the post you mentioned lol.

Sit down lol

 

[Andy]

The problem with the Slaf debate (and it extends to all prospects) is that a lot of fans look only for details that confirm their pre-conceived assessment instead of assessing the overall play and trend/letting the details dictate their assessment.

Folks are too focused on being right instead of enjoying the process.

 

[Mrb1p]

Now you're just tap dancing.

I wrote THIS season, I wasn't talking about LAST YEAR, like the post you mentioned lol.

Sit down lol

I was very much talking about early this season when I said "2023", you know september, october, november, december...

 

[417]

I was very much talking about early this season when I said "2023", you know september, october, November, December...

I'm not going to play this shell game with you lol.

You want to act like what we're seeing from Slafkovsky is some cosmic event...but before you developed amnesia, some posters were telling you this was coming. Instead of acknowledging it at the time, you had jokes.

Today you want to play Dory in Nemo?

 

[Spring in Fialta]

The problem with the Slaf debate (and it extends to all prospects) is that a lot of fans look only for details that confirm their pre-conceived assessment instead of assessing the overall play and trend/letting the details dictate their assessment.

Folks are too focused on being right instead of enjoying the process.

This board would be a lot better off if it had the courage to admit the above.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

He’s starting to learn he can buy himself time with puck protection at this level. I sense more calm+confidence in his game every time he touches the puck.

Almost too calm at times. But at 19, this kid is already a core player on this developing team.

 

[WeThreeKings]

The problem with the Slaf debate (and it extends to all prospects) is that a lot of fans look only for details that confirm their pre-conceived assessment instead of assessing the overall play and trend/letting the details dictate their assessment.

Folks are too focused on being right instead of enjoying the process.

Cooley was my #1 and I don't think I'd take him over Slafkovsky at this point in time. Even when things were leaning Cooley earlier I said that it is too soon to do victory laps.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Such a beauty. 19 points in his last 21 games. That's 74 points on pace in 82 games.

Only 19 years old, already a good two-way player with great protection of puck. Imagine 2 seconds everyone in 2 years, how this guy will be. I can't imagine. He is going to dominate.

Best player in 2022 draft for sure and his skillset can be easily comparable to Fantilli and Carlsson at this point, even, I'd prefer the unique powerforward game of Slaf over both.

Maybe in 2-3 years, we would all put Slaf behind Bedard in a 2022-2023 re-draft combinaison. Who knows?!?! I really believe that.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Just a beautiful beast to watch out there! He went from not belonging here to playing like a 10 year vet in weeks!! Can't wait for what's to come down the road here with him. A dominating power forward

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Slaf is on another point streak, 6 in his last 5. Production consistency is one of the best possible attributes in a player and has to be considered a sign of high-IQ. It might be a tautology but you have to have high-IQ to be able to put points up in a consistent manner in the toughest league of the sport.

Tonight's point wasn't anything special except they made a good read like MSL always preaches and Slaf was found with the puck in a ton of open space and threw the puck into the slot to get the Suzuki deflection goal. Finding that space and making that pass might not have required a ton of difficult thinking but it cannot be considered anything other than the right instinct and right read... high-IQ.

In the absence of a reputation, it seems I don't know how to distinguish constant/consistent high-IQ performances with occasional ("random") good plays. Hockey is a random game with a lot of scrappy play (too much for my liking...) but there is nothing illegitimate about crash-and-bang goals and plays but when evaluating a player you want to identify actual qualities they may possess from the more random outcomes. It is easier to detect the former when there's a significant reputation for such things. I have to apologise for riling so many people up, it wasn't my intention to troll -- like any given Habs supporter, I wanted Slafkovsky to succeed but felt he was out of his depth in the NHL. I argued with the tools I had available to me and measurements I had made in earnest but it seems my tools were imperfect and my understanding of the measurements were therefore wrong. Slafkovsky does not show particularly low hockey IQ, my evaluation was wrong.

Damn Hughes Mafia got to my boy with their CCP tactics... blink twice if you need help

 

[Mrb1p]

I'm not going to play this shell game with you lol.

You want to act like what we're seeing from Slafkovsky is some cosmic event...but before you developed amnesia, some posters were telling you this was coming. Instead of acknowledging it at the time, you had jokes.

Today you want to play Dory in Nemo?

View attachment 838851

I was calling it like I saw it, I never said he wouldn't be good, which is something i said about a million times. He played like shit last year, he played like shit for the first two months of this campaign. He's amazing right now. Those are facts.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I was calling it like I saw it, I never said he wouldn't be good, which is something i said about a million times. He played like shit last year, he played like shit for the first two months of this campaign. He's amazing right now. Those are facts.

Exactly. I can't be mad at anyone who watched the first 20 games of the season and thought he had low IQ. There were many exceptionally bad plays where his timing was clearly off. There's one stuck in my mind where he was receiving a stretch pass for a breakaway and put himself 10 feet offside. He had to get his timing and conditioning down, but he was not an NHL caliber player at the start of this season.

 

[BLONG7]

Just a beautiful beast to watch out there! He went from not belonging here to playing like a 10 year vet in weeks!! Can't wait for what's to come down the road here with him. A dominating power forward

It almost seemed to be a switch like turn a round..............crazy how the kid just gained confindence in his play, and off to the races!! A nice story for him, and of course habs fans! We have not had much to cheer for these days.
Better days ahead with this plan!

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

In the absence of the majority of posters who simply pretend it didn't happen when they were wrong, good for you. I don't think there's any reason for anyone to keep bringing that stuff up now.

I don't want to mention names and some I forgotten but I felt there were plenty other posters being legit trolls on this thread with far more bad faith than @ReHabs imo.

I definitely know one who dug in quite hard and was very silly who just vanished like a puff of smoke.

 

[Tyson]

The emergency of Juraj Slafkovsky has made this rebuilding year more than tolerable. Imagine if he was repeating last year's numbers....

 

[417]

I was calling it like I saw it, I never said he wouldn't be good, which is something i said about a million times. He played like shit last year, he played like shit for the first two months of this campaign. He's amazing right now. Those are facts.

I don't personally care to re-live the things you said in the past...just ironic to see you post that "i'm trying to look smart" when you start off by misunderstanding a post, never mind say that after the discussions we had surrounding Slafkovsky the last 18 months or so (if you DO look back, i'd say I look pretty smart now don't ya think? lol ).

Again, this is a surprise for you...not for me.

I get it, not everyone has the humility to admit when they're wrong, especially not publicly...but please don't bite the hand that metaphorically slapped you.

 

[Tyson]

I was calling it like I saw it, I never said he wouldn't be good, which is something i said about a million times. He played like shit last year, he played like shit for the first two months of this campaign. He's amazing right now. Those are facts.

Every post I read from you is always negative. Have you ever found a Habs player you liked?

 

[Rapala]

I mean people were scoffing at what he was doing over the summer.
God forbid a young kid work on the two glaring weaknesses noted in year one.
He would not be who he is today without the significant improvements in stamina and reaction time.

 

[417]

Every post I read from you is always negative. Have you ever found a Habs player you liked?

It's also totally false to suggest he played like shit for the first 2 months of this campaign...it's just a convenient segue to promote the narrative that his current play was some unforeseen phenomenon that no could have saw coming.

Even though, again, several people here did forsee that.