Player Discussion The Slaf Thread - Parabolic Growth Edition

[WeThreeKings]

Fixed. It's much easier to play well when you are with a credible center, that's why he couldn't produce away from NS, Laine is in the same situation.

Nah, Laine is creating his own issues at 5 on 5. Fumbling pucks. Skating into traffic and trying moves that aren't working.

Which is to be expected, he's rusty. His production is entirely off his S tier shot on the powerplay.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Wanna see him shoot more...................he is a pass first guy, but last year, he started to shoot more, and also park his butt in front of the net for rebounds.

Shooting unlocks the playmaking game. Hes getting his pace back up so hopefully the shot comes next with confidence.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

He did score 20 goals last season, a few on decent shots too. The potential is there .

 

[morhilane]

i thought he'd be on the PK by now but Anderson's slight resurgence has made that unnecessary. i still think Slaf gets that extra responsibility within a couple of years.

Slaf played on the PK in one pre-season game (with Suzuki). I thought it would mean he would get some PK TOI during the season, but I guess his season start changed those plans.

Wanna see him shoot more...................he is a pass first guy, but last year, he started to shoot more, and also park his butt in front of the net for rebounds.

Slaf has been shooting more since December started (or is missing the net/getting blocked less) and got even more constant once put back with CC/Suzuki. He had his highest total of the season last game (4). Since put back with CC/Suzuki, Slaf has on average 2 shots per games, his season total is still lower, but slowly raising like it did last season...just way sooner than last year.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Why do we always have to rush things or never be happy? So what if Slaf is still many years away from driving his own line or if he ever does. This reminds me of the Suzuki isn't a 1C talk that used to be on this board

 

[Hacketts]

Nah, Laine is creating his own issues at 5 on 5. Fumbling pucks. Skating into traffic and trying moves that aren't working.

Which is to be expected, he's rusty. His production is entirely off his S tier shot on the powerplay.

He's slowly getting better tho, you're seeing progress in his 5 on 5 game, regarding Laine.

 

[Jabba11]

Well, it may take time for Slaf to reach his potential, but the frustrating thing is not seeing consistent progression towards it. It's streaky, it's worrisome when Logan Cooley is progressing faster and better so far this season.

Slaf also started being a tad arrogant in interviews when he should be focusing on his game instead.

 

[OldCraig71]

Well, it may take time for Slaf to reach his potential, but the frustrating thing is not seeing consistent progression towards it. It's streaky, it's worrisome when Logan Cooley is progressing faster and better so far this season.

Slaf also started being a tad arrogant in interviews when he should be focusing on his game instead.

He needs to show some aggression on the ice and stop being marshmallow-soft. If he used his size and were successful we would see him break out in a big way.

 

[OneSharpMarble]

Nah, Laine is creating his own issues at 5 on 5. Fumbling pucks. Skating into traffic and trying moves that aren't working.

Which is to be expected, he's rusty. His production is entirely off his S tier shot on the powerplay.

Yup, won't be long now and Dach will be getting blamed for Slaf and Primeau.

 

[le_sean]

Yup, won't be long now and Dach will be getting blamed for Slaf and Primeau.

Let’s absolve the worst top 6 centre in the league because we liked his potential two years ago.

 

[SlafySZN]

Well, it may take time for Slaf to reach his potential, but the frustrating thing is not seeing consistent progression towards it. It's streaky, it's worrisome when Logan Cooley is progressing faster and better so far this season.

Slaf also started being a tad arrogant in interviews when he should be focusing on his game instead.

Him responding truthfully in scrums or showing a bit of personality (something he alway had) means he isn’t focusing on his game?

Young players are rarely consistent from game to game. The player in your avatar was not consistent game and game out until this year, at 25.

 

[OneSharpMarble]

Let’s absolve the worst top 6 centre in the league because we liked his potential two years ago.

Let's ignore his injury so we can blame and scapegoat one player for the failures of a team.

 

[BLONG7]

Let's ignore his injury so we can blame and scapegoat one player for the failures of a team.

'way too soon to write off Dach eh........................I do think he will have a great second half of the season....there is too much talent there guys.....
But, everyone does see how much he has struggled out of the gate, and no doubt in my mind that his injury has been a bigger issue than I thought it was going to be...............................tough to be patient.

 

[Jurivan Demidovsky]

Doesn't even buy his car in Quebec

When you order a car they ship it from where ever they have stock in Canada, it changes nothing he's dealing with BMW it's out of his control.

'way too soon to write off Dach eh........................I do think he will have a great second half of the season....there is too much talent there guys.....
But, everyone does see how much he has struggled out of the gate, and no doubt in my mind that his injury has been a bigger issue than I thought it was going to be...............................tough to be patient.

He's playing scared with low confidence, can we blame him? An innocent looking play ripped his knee appart for shit's sake.

 

[le_sean]

Let's ignore his injury so we can blame and scapegoat one player for the failures of a team.

I wouldn’t blame him for the issues of the entire team, that’s ridiculous. But I also see Laine missed just as much time and while he’s shit 5v5, at least he contributes something. Dach is a negative everytime he’s on the ice, even on the PP. At some point the player is to blame. Guy was skating last February, it’s not like he was hurt all summer.

Since it’s a thread about Slaf, we see that impact. Completely different player when taken away from the black hole that is Dach.

 

[overlords]

When you order a car they ship it from where ever they have stock in Canada, it changes nothing he's dealing with BMW it's out of his control.

I bet you Messi wouldn't have to drive to Kingston to get his car

 

[Jurivan Demidovsky]

I bet you Messi wouldn't have to drive to Kingston to get his car

Pretty sure they shipped it to Montreal, they had it stock in Kingston, so the owner probably drove it down himself for the photo opp.

 

[overlords]

Pretty sure they shipped it to Montreal, they had it stock in Kingston, so the owner probably drove it down himself for the photo opp.

Slaf getting a pre-driven car

 

[JianYang]

is it crazy that he's not a line driver at 20 years old? he might be a complimentary player the rest of his career, or maybe by the time he's 24 he'll be the guy you move to a different line to get it going when the team's in a slump.

i thought he'd be on the PK by now but Anderson's slight resurgence has made that unnecessary. i still think Slaf gets that extra responsibility within a couple of years.

Everything I've seen out of slaf suggest to me that he won't necessarily be a line driver, but he should be a guy that the top guys want to play with.

Slaf is a disruptor. He creates chaos without the puck either through a strong forcheck or taking up dangerous real estate. When he's on, he's got a good stick which breaks up passes. He knocks pucks loose. He's got decent enough vision to make a play in traffic.

If you go through a random set of highlight packs, you will notice several plays where slaf did not get a goal or assist but was still vital to the end result.

I think he is most comfortable playing with Suzuki and Cole because he has a solidified formula that works with them, and he does things on that line that the other two cannot do and vice versa.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Everything I've seen out of slaf suggest to me that he won't necessarily be a line driver, but he should be a guy that the top guys want to play with.

Slaf is a disruptor. He creates chaos without the puck either through a strong forcheck or taking up dangerous real estate. When he's on, he's got a good stick which breaks up passes. He knocks pucks loose. He's got decent enough vision to make a play in traffic.

If you go through a random set of highlight packs, you will notice several plays where slaf did not get a goal or assist but was still vital to the end result.

I think he is most comfortable playing with Suzuki and Cole because he has a solidified formula that works with them, and he does things on that line that the other two cannot do and vice versa.

You'll also see last year where Slaf did an elite play to set up a linemate.

 

[Jurivan Demidovsky]

Slaf getting a pre-driven car

It's new lol, go to BMW Montreal and try to buy that car, they probably don't have it in stock and will have it shipped from a dealership in Canada that does have it in stock. The guy drove it down from Kingston and took the opportunity to advertise his dealership.

 

[OneSharpMarble]

I wouldn’t blame him for the issues of the entire team, that’s ridiculous. But I also see Laine missed just as much time and while he’s shit 5v5, at least he contributes something. Dach is a negative everytime he’s on the ice, even on the PP. At some point the player is to blame. Guy was skating last February, it’s not like he was hurt all summer.

Since it’s a thread about Slaf, we see that impact. Completely different player when taken away from the black hole that is Dach.

Yeah good job comparing 2 different players who had 2 entirely different problems. What a amazing comparison. Also very astute deduction that Dach is struggling. Everyone has said it would be a hard road back for him and of course since he's struggling you have decided to blame him for everyone else's struggles as well. Slaf playing like shit is now fixed because he can sponge off our best players and not be dragged down.

 

[Heffyhoof]

Yup, won't be long now and Dach will be getting blamed for Slaf and Primeau.

Yes, Dach was 100% the reason Slaf has had a 'bad' year. I've been sounding the bell for most of the year to get Slaf away from Dach .

Go check his stats with and without. In fact, both Suzuki and Caufield had a 4 game pointless streak this year, I wonder who was on their wing for 3 1/2 of those games? You get one guess. Nick's next longest drought is 2 games, Cole's is 1 game.

 

[Andy]

Why are people so obsessed with finding other people to blame for an player's performance.

There is a much more reasonable explanation which is that Slaf is still young and learning how to manage ups and downs at the nhl level. That's it. He had a great camp and a great first few games and then went into a deep slump no matter who he played with. It doesn't mean he sucks or he's doomed to fail. It's just that, a slump.

Part of growing as a player is learning how to be useful even during a funk. Slaf will figure it out, he's a smart player, but he's still so young.

Too many habs fans are obsessed with instant success. It's a process. The kid isn't even 21 yet. Yah, Yah, "1st overall blah blah blah." Get over it folks, it wasn't a typical draft year with a clear elite talent at the time. Where the draft ends up, no one knows.

 

[Heffyhoof]

Why are people so obsessed with finding other people to blame for an player's performance.

There is a much more reasonable explanation which is that Slaf is still young and learning how to manage ups and downs at the nhl level. That's it. He had a great camp and a great first few games and then went into a deep slump no matter who he played with. It doesn't mean he sucks or he's doomed to fail. It's just that, a slump.

Part of growing as a player is learning how to be useful even during a funk. Slaf will figure it out, he's a smart player, but he's still so young.

Too many habs fans are obsessed with instant success. It's a process. The kid isn't even 21 yet. Yah, Yah, "1st overall blah blah blah." Get over it folks, it wasn't a typical draft year with a clear elite talent at the time. Where the draft ends up, no one knows.

Because anyone with eyes can see that Dach drags down his linemates and people are pointing it out? That's wrong and mean apparently. Obsessed is cute from a guy with 32k posts.