wilfpaiement
Registered User
- Apr 8, 2024
- 26
- 39
On the one hand you have those who are of the mind that Juraj Slavkovsky is going to blossom into the greatest player who ever laced up skates. On the other hand you have those hockey geniuses (now much quieter, less "crowy" and visible) that say he's a Grade "B" first overall pick and that he might become good but will never be great.
I don't claim to have any special insight. However, when you look at how every top-pick forward since 1963 performed in their Age 19 season, you might be able to get a picture, however fuzzy, of where Slaf might end up sitting when he reaches the prime of his career in 3-5 years. Let's take a look:
Obviously these numbers are all "adjusted" (by Hockey-Reference) which gives one a clearer idea of where the players stand in relation to one another. Slafkovsky, as you can see, is firmly in the "B" pack, which includes some pretty heavy hitters - not Gretzky/Lemieux/McDavid level heavy hitters but bona fide stars nonetheless.
For anyone who's curious, if you were to take only Slafkovsky's games played this season on the first line, with Suzuki and Caufield, Slafkovsky would rank a little higher on the above list with 26 goals and 58 points over 82 pro-rated games - so just a point to the better of John Tavares.
If I'm a betting man, I say Slafzilla ends up a perennial 30-goal 80-90 point man. I think we have safely moved out of "Bust" territory (see poor Dougie Wick on the above list). I know that's something that would have given certain personalities on this board great mirth and glee, but it ain't gonna happen. Slaf is clearly going to be a very important piece of the puzzle in Montreal. And now with Hutson and Mailloux and other talent coming aboard, I don't know - dare I say the future looks very bright indeed in the true home of the Stanley Cup ... MONTREAL.
I don't claim to have any special insight. However, when you look at how every top-pick forward since 1963 performed in their Age 19 season, you might be able to get a picture, however fuzzy, of where Slaf might end up sitting when he reaches the prime of his career in 3-5 years. Let's take a look:
Obviously these numbers are all "adjusted" (by Hockey-Reference) which gives one a clearer idea of where the players stand in relation to one another. Slafkovsky, as you can see, is firmly in the "B" pack, which includes some pretty heavy hitters - not Gretzky/Lemieux/McDavid level heavy hitters but bona fide stars nonetheless.
For anyone who's curious, if you were to take only Slafkovsky's games played this season on the first line, with Suzuki and Caufield, Slafkovsky would rank a little higher on the above list with 26 goals and 58 points over 82 pro-rated games - so just a point to the better of John Tavares.
If I'm a betting man, I say Slafzilla ends up a perennial 30-goal 80-90 point man. I think we have safely moved out of "Bust" territory (see poor Dougie Wick on the above list). I know that's something that would have given certain personalities on this board great mirth and glee, but it ain't gonna happen. Slaf is clearly going to be a very important piece of the puzzle in Montreal. And now with Hutson and Mailloux and other talent coming aboard, I don't know - dare I say the future looks very bright indeed in the true home of the Stanley Cup ... MONTREAL.
