Prospect Info: [2022 - 1st] Juraj Slafkovsky

Status
Not open for further replies.

The Last Red

Registered User
Jan 2, 2022
812
820
You said that Wright has a low ceiling did you not?
I said that the belief is that his ceiling is lower than Slaf's, not that it's low. I also said that his floor is thought to be higher than Slaf's, i.e., Slaf is the higher risk/higher reward player. So, yes, a riskier pick. But your reason for preferring Wright, because you think he's the next Bergeron based on age 18 comparables of the two, is very weak. Wright might turn out to be the better pick but not because he'll be the next PB. That's highly unlikely.
 
Last edited:

Nedved

Registered User
Mar 30, 2008
13,470
4,994
Slaf is nothing like Brady. He has 10 times the skills Brady has. Atleast with Slaf we can hope he's a playdriver. It's not the case with Brady.

Sounds like he’ll be able to play in the super elite league instead of the nhl. Brady is a proven all star. if slaf is oozing with so much skill I’m excited to see him at this year’s all star game. What a pick.
 

bcv

My french sucks.
Sep 18, 2010
4,575
2,540
Sounds like he’ll be able to play in the super elite league instead of the nhl. Brady is a proven all star. if slaf is oozing with so much skill I’m excited to see him at this year’s all star game. What a pick.
lmao ok
 
  • Like
Reactions: jrom

Tripledeke333

Registered User
Jun 25, 2021
926
897
Grovel, no. Have a good explanation for what he's doing to address his weaknesses and demonstrate that he isn't scared of the pressure and scrutiny, yes. The thing being conflated here is that it's not like you're gauging if a guy is good with the ladies or if he can make conversation at a bar and drafting based on that. It's fine to be shy or not the most outgoing person, and lots of shy people can respond well to tough questions even if they aren't the most assertive people in general.

He's being asked directly about on-ice, active flaws in his game. If he is unable to respond to some questions going over his own game tape, is he going to put in the work to fix those elements of his game? Will he shy away when a coach starts breaking those elements down and trying to fix them? It's not just about Wright being shy or frazzled by a weird interview question, it's about him being frazzled when directly confronted with the exact issues that caused him to drop to 4th overall, and not having a good answer for those shortcomings.

Well that's the thing, he wasn't arguably the best in his field. He was among the best for sure but he was certainly not in a position to be above reproach. He is there to field questions, and one of the questions they asked was about how he plans to improve flaws in his game. If he doesn't have a good answer for that it's a concern, and that's not the same thing as writing a guy off for looking at his shoes or being a bit awkward as a teenager. He didn't play last year, he didn't pop this year, and he got frazzled being asked about shortcomings in a way we can assume other players didn't. That's a concern.

It goes both ways. Outside of very high managerial/executive roles, getting a job at even a very prestigious normal company is different than being drafted at the top of the NHL draft. The Montreal Canadiens and any NHL franchise are one of 32 organizations that can put players in a position to be rich and famous beyond their wildest dreams and to experience the pinnacle of success in their sport.

Shane Wright was one of the best in his field going into this draft, but so were Simon Nemec, Logan Cooley, David Jiricek, and Juraj Slafkovsky, and for a variety of reasons Montreal, New Jersey, and Arizona all agreed that Wright was not the best in his cohort. The Canadiens and the other teams with high picks were the ones doing the choosing at the draft, not the players. If a player doesn't have a good answer for the team holding the #1 pick as to what they plan to do about their flaws, that team is going to be concerned, particularly if the player doesn't have an overwhelming on-ice advantage.
If Shane Wright was responding bad to criticism from his coaches that would be one thing. I don't think it means much from an interview with team management.

Most scouts had Wright#1. He was arguably the best in his draft class. The devils drafted for team need and the coyotes thought Cooley may stay long term as he is American.

Many of the best players in the world may not interview well. The fact is that Wright has taught himself to be one of the best players on the world for his age. I think the Hugo management team is the one that needs to improve most and not Wright.

You know that they very likely grilled Slafkovsky on his Liiga numbers too. It’s not like they were out to crap on Wright. They probably liked Slaf’s explanations far more than Shane’s.
IMO because two way centers are so valuable, to pass on Wright is a bet Wright will fail.
 

Tripledeke333

Registered User
Jun 25, 2021
926
897
I said that the belief is that his ceiling is lower than Slaf's, not that it's low. I also said that his floor is thought to be higher than Slaf's, i.e., Slaf is the higher risk/higher reward player. So, yes, a riskier pick. But your reason for preferring Wright, because you think he's the next Bergeron based on age 18 comparables of the two, is very weak. Wright might turn out to be the better pick but not because he'll be the next PB. That's highly unlikely.
You seemed to indicate Wright has a low ceiling (see below). I don't think Wright will be the next Bergeron but had the potential to be. IMO Wright's floor is about the same as Slaf, but Wright's ceiling is higher.

"The concern with Wright is that while his floor is pretty high, his ceiling is not"
 

ryan callahan

Registered User
Jan 25, 2014
1,942
1,704
Québec,Canada
Another thought I had on Slafkovsky: No matter what happens, never let him grow satisfied to be a 3rd line grinder. It's very easy for huge body types like Armia and Zubrus for example to be put in a 3rd line role early in their career and just gain a grinder mentality. If you don't put him in a top 6 role with PP time, I'd rather have him in AHL or Liiga. Slaf can be very special but we cannot let him get lazy or discouraged. I do like that his personality has some mamba characteristics though. Ditto for Dach's case. Caufield, Nick, Juraj, Kirby and Roy are our five offensive jewels and we need to treat them as so. You want your big body types to develop offensive skills? Then bite the bullet and let them struggle on offensive minutes. An offensive dynamo doesn't develop into one if he plays grinder minutes.
 

Kwikwi

Registered User
Feb 13, 2009
2,251
1,401
1657316672401.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: RandomTask26

HarrySPlinkett

Not a film critic
Feb 4, 2010
2,890
2,244
Calgary
Honestly, I would have been ok either Nemec or Cooley at 1st.

Nemec is supposed to be the best defenceman in the draft and have 1st pairing upside.

Cooley, while I felt was doing too much, and beneficiate from less bump in the road in his development, at least seemed more spectacular and seemed to have the IQ.

My problem was way more with Slaf, he is a project and I’m still searching the hockey IQ even when I look at his good games. He does not know how to be in good position on the ice and does not read the play well at all. Hockey IQ is the hardest thing to learn. He is really good with the puck on his stick and doesn’t even play that physical.

Seriously, I feel like the idea of Slaf is amazing and it is easy to get convince by it. But the reality of him is another thing entirely. Really, really raw prospect. I just hope the game will slow down for him at the nhl level otherwise this pick will be another mistake for us.

I had truly never heard of the kid until a week ago. I didn’t know how his name was pronounced until last night.

But in his highlights, he scores goals in dirty areas, he scores dirty goals from far away, at even strength, and on the powerplay.

I didn’t mean to make that rhyme.

I likely would’ve taken Wright, but if they think Dach and Wright are a push, they still got a 2nd centre behind Suzuki and added a scorer.

We’ll see.
 

lamp9post

Registered User
Jan 28, 2007
4,418
1,681
If Shane Wright was responding bad to criticism from his coaches that would be one thing. I don't think it means much from an interview with team management.

Most scouts had Wright#1. He was arguably the best in his draft class. The devils drafted for team need and the coyotes thought Cooley may stay long term as he is American.

Many of the best players in the world may not interview well. The fact is that Wright has taught himself to be one of the best players on the world for his age. I think the Hugo management team is the one that needs to improve most and not Wright.


IMO because two way centers are so valuable, to pass on Wright is a bet Wright will fail.

Source?
 

dackelljuneaubulis02

Registered User
Oct 13, 2012
11,567
6,901
so does anyone have an inkling whether he goes back to Liiga or goes pro? I think it's a huge huge mistake having him play in the NHL. There just seems to be way too much risk without enough reward to have him on the habs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Skip Bayless

JoelWarlord

Registered User
May 7, 2012
6,125
9,385
Halifax
If Shane Wright was responding bad to criticism from his coaches that would be one thing. I don't think it means much from an interview with team management.
Yes it does, they're the team with the #1 pick! The team that he wants to draft him was interested in what he thinks of the deficiencies in his game, and he froze up. That absolutely means something if a player who styles himself as the #1 pick is unable to respond to legitimate criticism of his flaws. If he can't handle Jeff Gorton's scrutiny, how is he going to handle the media pressure, or a Hall of Famer like St. Louis criticizing his play?
Most scouts had Wright#1. He was arguably the best in his draft class. The devils drafted for team need and the coyotes thought Cooley may stay long term as he is American.
"Most scouts", "arguably" the best in his draft class, and then excuses for two more organizations to pass on the guy you are presenting as above reproach. If Wright is truly self-evidently so good that it's insulting for Montreal's front office to question his game, the other two teams that picked #2 and #3 wouldn't have let positional need and "he's American" stop them from snatching up a surefire star. If a player you are talking about as a #1 talent drops to #4 because of team need and his (non-Russian) passport, why do you believe it is inappropriate to ask him to respond to the exact criticisms that got him dropped to #4?
Many of the best players in the world may not interview well. The fact is that Wright has taught himself to be one of the best players on the world for his age.
Again they aren't passing on Wright because he looked at the floor too much or was a bit nervous talking to a panel of scouts and executives. It's about him freezing up under pressure and having no answer for a real and legitimate question about serious flaws in his game. He taught himself to be one of the best, but not the best. Nobody was wondering if Connor McDavid would be a difference-maker in big moments, and there's a reason for that.

so does anyone have an inkling whether he goes back to Liiga or goes pro? I think it's a huge huge mistake having him play in the NHL. There just seems to be way too much risk without enough reward to have him on the habs.
Hughes said the plan is North America. I would assume he ends up in the NHL.
 

nhlfan9191

Registered User
Aug 4, 2010
19,710
17,655
Did he stare down the devils and coyotes too? Drama queen. So much for the team first mentality. Glad we took the Slovakian savage. 40/40 player. No doubt in my mind. Highest upside.

Slav - Suk - Cole


Jesus h f*** what a line
Suzuki and Caufield seem to have some chemistry. There’s no guarantee Slaf will with them. I kind of hope he doesn’t so we don’t become a one line team long term. We need to have depth or we’ll be shut down.
 

salbutera

Registered User
Sep 10, 2019
13,749
14,723
Almost everyone except Bob's list. And maybe Bob got the tip the Habs were taking Slaf?
How could that be, JF Chaumond asked scouts and pick was Slaf, Corey Pronman had Slaf etc.

As Bobby Mac said “it’s a coin toss between Wright & Slaf”

BTW - Bobby Mac’s polling of 1OA picks has been perfect since 2004
 

lamp9post

Registered User
Jan 28, 2007
4,418
1,681
Almost everyone except Bob's list. And maybe Bob got the tip the Habs were taking Slaf?

Bob's list was a consensus ranking of 10 scouts so he just reported the sentiment rather than influence the ranking.

Pronman's list also had Slaf at #1, as did Mccagg, etc...
 

salbutera

Registered User
Sep 10, 2019
13,749
14,723
so does anyone have an inkling whether he goes back to Liiga or goes pro? I think it's a huge huge mistake having him play in the NHL. There just seems to be way too much risk without enough reward to have him on the habs.
Hughes said at yesterday’s presser they want Slaf to play in North America, and they’ll work together to best determine where.

IMO Slaf should play in Laval
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad