Player Discussion The Slaf Thread - Parabolic Growth Edition

[Goalfield13]

Sounds like you are taking this too personally.

Don't worry, people think playmaking just happens on it's own unless the player is 5'5" and 150 lbs.

 

[Victoire HuGo]

Relevant to what? What is it you think I’m saying?


He’s not a teenager and he’s not coming in the NHL. It’s his third NHL season, he’s signed a 56m contract extension that kicks into action in six months.

I want to talk about his performance today, and what could be the source of the malaise. Why did MSL bench him?

Benching is one of the cards a coach has at his disposal to teach a lesson or motivate a player. Kucherov, Pastrnak, PK etc have been benched in the past. Pretty sure Suzuki and Caufield were at some point too. It's not necessary a sign that Slaf is on the wrong trajectory or has a bad attitude.

 

[Naslundforever]

Don't worry, people think playmaking just happens on it's own unless the player is 5'5" and 150 lbs.

you can make great reaction plays, and Slaf has great hands and reach. Does not mean he has high iq or anticipation in the slightest.

 

[Andy]

not a fan of trolls is all, this is generally a good forum. Make arguments, don't attack posters it’s weak af.

I just made the argument hand-eye can be confused with high iq, start there.

I made several arguments explaining why he has good IQ. You chose to not address any of those and instead got offensded.

Sure, hand-eye coordination helps you make quick passes, but it doesn't help you see passing lanes and understand how a play will unfold to create scoring chances. The latter is understanding the game.

Being able to see gaps on the ice, anticipating your teammates to be there, understanding how a play will unfold to know there will be space for a scoring chance is hockey IQ.

 

[Goalfield13]

you can make great reaction plays, and Slaf has great hands and reach. Does not mean he has high iq or anticipation in the slightest.

I don't see how anyone who watched his playmaking this year can say it was all reaction. He has high IQ when it comes to making offensive plays. It doesn't mean he has high IQ with everything related to being a hockey player.

 

[Naslundforever]

I made several arguments explaining why he has good IQ. You chose to not address any of those and instead got offensded.

Sure, hand-eye coordination helps you make quick passes, but it doesn't help you see passing lanes and understand how a play will unfold to create scoring chances. The latter is understanding the game.

Being able to see gaps on the ice, anticipating your teammates to be there, understanding how a play will unfold to know there will be space for a scoring chance is hockey IQ.

You stated that as fact, explained nothing.

Thing is I disagree he can’t complete a pass on low-average iq and great hands. I even think it’s why he rifles them so hard, he sees a lane and let’s it go.

 

[Goalfield13]

You stated that as fact, explained nothing.

Thing is I disagree he can’t complete a pass on low-average iq and great hands. I even think it’s why he rifles them so hard, he sees a lane and let’s it go.

You are doing the exact same thing, bro.

 

[FerrisRox]

Slaf isn’t McDavid-Crosby-Ovechkin level? Oh… I’m going to have to sit down. You’ve rocked my world with your bravery.

Now can we get back to earth. The guy’s getting benched 157 games into his career, he’s a core player and his coach benches him — what do YOU think is the problem here?

I think fans like you, that don't have a clue what they are talking about, are the problem.

 

[Naslundforever]

You are doing the exact same thing, bro.

How so? He makes 9 low iq plays for a nice genius-looking play is what I base my assessment on. I’m not saying he’s an amiba on skates, just that his flashy passes seem, to me, like good athleticism. The remaining 99% of the time he is visibly reacting.

 

[Goalfield13]

How so? He makes 9 low iq plays for a nice genius-looking play is what I base my assessment on. I’m not saying he’s an amiba on skates, just that his flashy passes seem, to me, like good athleticism.

You are stating your opinion. Throwing out made-up numbers doesn't mean you are stating facts. You need to chill out and not take things so personally. It's just a message board.

 

[Andy]

How so? He makes 9 low iq plays for a nice genius-looking play is what I base my assessment on. I’m not saying he’s an amiba on skates, just that his flashy passes seem, to me, like good athleticism. The remaining 99% of the time he is visibly reacting.

When you micro analyze the shifts of any player you will notice mistakes that they make.

 

[Naslundforever]

You are stating your opinion. Throwing out made-up numbers doesn't mean you are stating facts. You need to chill out and not take things so personally. It's just a message board.

You are upset a guy shared his opinion on a hockey board? What numbers, I don’t understand you might have me crossed with someother guy?

I framed my opinion as an opinion, not pseudo-facts sandwiched between insults.

Do you disagree a guy with gread hand-eye coordination can make nice passes sometimes or no?

 

[FerrisRox]

You are upset a guy shared his opinion on a hockey board? What numbers, I don’t understand you might have me crossed with someother guy?

Are you joking?

You literally just said "he makes 9 low IQ plays for one genius play."

That's a "statistic" that you just made up.

 

[Naslundforever]

When you micro analyze the shifts of any player you will notice mistakes that they make.

I’m talking myeye test of his overall play this year so far compared to his nhl pro peers.

If this guy thinks he can ride his superior hockey sense insteadof learning to exploit his tools my OPINION is it caps his ceiling.

Are you joking?

You literally just said "he makes 9 low IQ plays for one genius play."

That's a "statistic" that you just made up.

You’re not wrong, I should have written « his low iq plays far outnumber his high iq plays going by my eye test ».

 

[ReHabs]

I think fans like you, that don't have a clue what they are talking about, are the problem.

Stick to hockey since you know what you're talking about. Do you think the Habs are so good and deep that Slafkovsky should be 13th on the team in CF%?

You’re not wrong, I should have written « his low iq plays far outnumber his high iq plays going by my eye test ».

They'll bicker and play games no matter what you say or how you say it because they don't want to actually talk about Slafkovsky, they want to talk about how much better they are at being fans than the "bad fans".

 

[Naslundforever]

Are you joking?

You literally just said "he makes 9 low IQ plays for one genius play."

That's a "statistic" that you just made up.

I looked but could not find any stats for « low-iq » vs « high iq » plays on nhl.com so you all got me.

I may have just been obviously trying to make a point I think his passing all hand-eye and not high iq.

 

[ReHabs]

Prove it.

Had to dust off an old file, sorry for the delay.

I was wrong, he's not the worst producing 1OA (or 2OA, first picked forward) of the last quarter century since his draft. I was totally wrong so thanks of the stat check.

He's in the bottom5 in PPG with: Patrik Stefan, Jordan Staal, Nail Yakupov, Alexis Lafreniere, and Juraj Slafkovsky.

My honest to God feeling is that I still do not understand why someone with his size, reach, horsepower, and bravado cannot produce more. When he tore the league up last year it felt like a revelation. I don't know why he's not doing it again. He has all the tools. Something is missing.

 

[EtLeBut2]

Just a thought:
Would Rangers trade former 1st pick Lafreniere, who has 21 pts in 38 games this year, for former 1st pick Slaf, 21 pts in 36 games?
Lafreniere contract, $7.45 million for 7 years
Slaf contract, $7.6 million for 8 years
Thoughts?

How about a trade with Carolina for Jesperi Kotkaniemi?

Hear me out. Kotkaniemi is a center and adds a defensive game that Slafkovsky struggles with and will likely never be good at. This season he has only 3-4 points less than Slafkovsky and 2 more goals, all while averaging 3 minutes per game less and no PP time. He's had bad luck too, considering he's shooting the puck significantly more than Slafkovsky in less time - he has 20 more shots on goal for the season!

He's only 24, and as you guys here love to point out, bigger players take a while to put it together. Plus the contract Carolina gave him looks like an absolute bargain compared to Slaf!

 

[LaP]

How so? He makes 9 low iq plays for a nice genius-looking play is what I base my assessment on. I’m not saying he’s an amiba on skates, just that his flashy passes seem, to me, like good athleticism. The remaining 99% of the time he is visibly reacting.

Your takes are quite weird. You act like there's nothing in between a high IQ player and a low IQ player. It's all or nothing. Either you are Wayne Gretzky or Turner Stevenson impossible to be anyhing in betwen ...

 

[FerrisRox]

I looked but could not find any stats for « low-iq » vs « high iq » plays on nhl.com so you all got me.

I may have just been obviously trying to make a point I think his passing all hand-eye and not high iq.

This is odd. Two posts ago you agreed that what you said was utter fabricated nonsense.

Now you are replying to me - again - and your counter to me pointing out that you just "made up" a stat is to tell me that no such statistic exists?

Are you serious? That was my entire point, that you made up a stat to try and support your opinion. So why are now telling me that the stat is made up?

Are you okay?

 

[Goalfield13]

This is odd. Two posts ago you agreed that what you said was utter fabricated nonsense.

Now you are replying to me - again - and your counter to me pointing out that you just "made up" a stat is to tell me that no such statistic exists?

Are you serious? That was my entire point, that you made up a stat to try and support your opinion. So why are now telling me that the stat is made up?

Are you okay?

He's not. He and ReHab need to relax and understand that we all have our opinions, and it's ok that others don't see things their way. It's OK, guys.

 

[Victoire HuGo]

Had to dust off an old file, sorry for the delay.

I was wrong, he's not the worst producing 1OA (or 2OA, first picked forward) of the last quarter century since his draft. I was totally wrong so thanks of the stat check.

He's in the bottom5 in PPG with: Patrik Stefan, Jordan Staal, Nail Yakupov, Alexis Lafreniere, and Juraj Slafkovsky.

My honest to God feeling is that I still do not understand why someone with his size, reach, horsepower, and bravado cannot produce more. When he tore the league up last year it felt like a revelation. I don't know why he's not doing it again. He has all the tools. Something is missing.

View attachment 957030

Thank you for providing data. So you're only looking at forwards then?

 

[Naslundforever]

This is odd. Two posts ago you agreed that what you said was utter fabricated nonsense.

Now you are replying to me - again - and your counter to me pointing out that you just "made up" a stat is to tell me that no such statistic exists?

Are you serious? That was my entire point, that you made up a stat to try and support your opinion. So why are now telling me that the stat is made up?

Are you okay?

Dunno, but no-one on this entire page wants to talk about how it might be possible he may be compensating low play-reading skills with high athleticism.

 

[FerrisRox]

They'll bicker and play games no matter what you say or how you say it because they don't want to actually talk about Slafkovsky, they want to talk about how much better they are at being fans than the "bad fans".

I didn't play games nor did I say you were a "bad fan."

I said, based on what you have been saying in this thread, that you don't have a clue what you're talking about. I stand by that, and it has nothing to do with your quality as a fan, it has to do with your knowledge of the game.

These are not the same thing.

Dunno, but no-one on this entire page wants to talk about how it my be possible he may be compensating low play-reading skills with high athleticism.

Did it occur to you that maybe people don't agree with you that he has "low play reading skills?"

If I don't agree with that, why on earth would I then discuss it with you? Why would anybody "want to talk about" something that is quite clearly not the case if you simply watch the player in question?

The suggestion that Slafkovsky has low hockey IQ is, in my opinion, idiotic. Why, based on that opinion, would I entertain your theory with a discussion?

You seem completely incapable of accepting the idea that someone doesn't agree with your take.

 

[LaP]

How about a trade with Carolina for Jesperi Kotkaniemi?

Hear me out. Kotkaniemi is a center and adds a defensive game that Slafkovsky struggles with and will likely never be good at. This season he has only 3-4 points less than Slafkovsky and 2 more goals, all while averaging 3 minutes per game less and no PP time. He's had bad luck too, considering he's shooting the puck significantly more than Slafkovsky in less time - he has 20 more shots on goal for the season!

He's only 24, and as you guys here love to point out, bigger players take a while to put it together. Plus the contract Carolina gave him looks like an absolute bargain compared to Slaf!

If Slaf is traded it will be in a package deal for a bona fide first line talent.

At this point KH should trade him there's no coming back from the fefans doghouse. Slaf is done in Montreal no matter what he does.