Prospect Info: 2022 - 1st OA] Juraj Slafkovsky (LW) Part 4

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DAChampion

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Playing more in the CHL wasn't going to help Galchenyuk learn anything, he didn't fail because he was rushed, he failed because as you say they did everything they could to sabotage him at every turn.
If the coach isn't in a position to help a young player succeed, the young player shouldn't be on the team.

Galchenyuk had plenty more to learn in the CHL. He could have learned to play C, take faceoffs, play defense, and play against better teams. It was noted at the time that his stats were inflated by beating up on bad teams.

Slafkovsky won't get to inflate his stats by beating up on bad teams in the AHL, not to the same extent.
 

Lafleurs Guy

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Galchenyuk failed due to two factors aligning - the speed of the game ramped up drastically year over year starting in 2015-2016 season and pace was never a strength of his + Galchenyuk proved time & again a complete lack of capacity to learn & grow - can’t teach stupid

Where there is a will there is a way.. Galchenyuk had nowhere near elite level hunger to improve his game
Galchenyuk was doing just fine… when we played him. When we finally did put him as our number one at the end of that year he was a top ten scorer in the league. The team was starving for offense and yet our idiot coach kept the midget in the first line. An absolute disgrace.

Chuck was badly misused and then ran into injury problems. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. I don’t think he was rushed..

As for Slaf, I think he might’ve been okay but we’ve misused him as well and the Monahan injury was killer. He probably should’ve just been left in the minors from the start.
 
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Sorinth

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Galchenyuk failed due to two factors aligning - the speed of the game ramped up drastically year over year starting in 2015-2016 season and pace was never a strength of his + Galchenyuk proved time & again a complete lack of capacity to learn & grow - can’t teach stupid

Where there is a will there is a way.. Galchenyuk had nowhere near elite level hunger to improve his game
It's hard to have that hunger to improve your game when you are in a toxic environment which Therrien most certainly created.
If the coach isn't in a position to help a young player succeed, the young player shouldn't be on the team.
Which leads straight to Therrien being the problem and not a case of being rushed. The problem is and always was Therrien just being terrible. It's also worth mentioning Galchenyuk and Kotkaniemi were in fact quite successful in their rookie years.
 

Lafleurs Guy

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It's hard to have that hunger to improve your game when you are in a toxic environment which Therrien most certainly created.

Which leads straight to Therrien being the problem and not a case of being rushed. The problem is and always was Therrien just being terrible. It's also worth mentioning Galchenyuk and Kotkaniemi were in fact quite successful in their rookie years.
Correct.

Now, let’s stay on topic. Fine to talk about Chuck in terms of comparison to Slaf. I don’t think it’s the same situation. Although I will say that I haven’t been happy with how we’ve used him.
 
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salbutera

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It's hard to have that hunger to improve your game when you are in a toxic environment which Therrien most certainly created.
Ask MSL about hunger & toxicity…. where there’s a will there’s a way.

What was the excuse with the other 8-NHL teams he failed with? Weird Crosby, Malkin, Letang all seemed ok post Therrien, so were Koivu & Markov

Woe is me…
 
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themilosh

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It's hard to have that hunger to improve your game when you are in a toxic environment which Therrien most certainly created.
scary as it may be - imagine how many youth Therrien Coaches there are in minor hockey - just ruining the experience for the bottom 3 lines.. on every team.. in every league.
 
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ReHabs

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The Kicherov
Kucherov didn't start in the NHL on the 4th lime.

After being drafted, he spent considerable time in each of the Q, the KHL, and the AHL.
that’s the issue with all these examples used to justify rushing Slaf — they’re all horribly flawed examples that miss one thing or the other, sometimes purposefully

Putting aside that it was 20+ years ago, both Lecavalier and Thornton smoked their respective CHL leagues in their Draft year while Slaf struggled big time in Liiga. Rushing Lecavalier or Thornton would’ve therefore made sense because they didn’t have much to learn and couldn’t go to the AHL — kinda like how these very same people are justifying the development strategy of Galchenyuk (who I believe was rushed but was the least rushed of the three Habs top3 picks of the last decade).

Slaf could’ve gone back to Liiga, could’ve gone to any European league, could’ve gone to the CHL, and he could’ve gone to the AHL. What was his level, really? He didn’t earn a spot on the Habs lineup out of personal merit — he happened to be on a team with some of the worst performing forwards in the NHL and even then, he’s not been able to get top minutes right off the bat.

There was NO benefit to rushing him and now we are at this point where it isn’t too late to put him in the AHL but it really seems like the Habs are going to stick with Slaf and hope he figures it out himself… while we all have to hope Slaf doesn’t get smoked and hurt while he’s chasing the play.

scary as it may be - imagine how many youth Therrien Coaches there are in minor hockey - just ruining the experience for the bottom 3 lines.. on every team.. in every league.
My friend grew up in Hockey Quebec and says the entire league is riddled with those types of coaches. They all learned from each other and come from the same cloth, so to speak.
 

ReHabs

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I find the referenced concern is normally oh we did this to KK and AG well, I hate to burst your bubble but those to have glaring personality flaws. Slaf from this point doesn't show any of those. Those personality flaws ultimately were the factor in why they never became successful.

Slaf imo will achieve his potential whether he plays in the ahl or plays in the nhl hes just that type of person. He'll there has only been 2 wingers better them him this season. Dach and Cole.
Neither player demonstrated any personality flaws in their rookie season. This is character assassination to deflect attention from the obvious issue on the table: they were rushed to the NHL.

Galchenyuk the least rushed of the three, and Kotkaniemi the most rushed — but none of these three would’ve been hurt by playing their D+1 somewhere other than the NHL.
 
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BehindTheTimes

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Last I checked Kucherov (2014) was 8-years ago
Last I checked Kucherov was picked 58th overall and no one expected him to jump into the top 6 on day 1 and he didn’t start directly in the NHL.

I didn’t address him because he’s comparable in zero ways.
 
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Lafleurs Guy

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Ask MSL about hunger & toxicity…. where there’s a will there’s a way.
After ten years of Marc Bergevin, I think we can safely say that this simply isn't true.

You can have talent and will and still not make it. If you're buried with moronic coaches who misuse you, you're going nowhere.

As for Slaf, the conditions aren't great for his development but they're nowhere near as bad as they were for our previous generation of prospects. It's surprising that MSL hasn't been more minute friendly with him but at least he's not holding him back the way MT did with other players.
 

salbutera

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Last I checked Kucherov was picked 58th overall and no one expected him to jump into the top 6 on day 1 and he didn’t start directly in the NHL.

I didn’t address him because he’s comparable in zero ways.
You’re getting too caught up with Slaf’s draft position in what every pundit agreed upon was a very weak draft cuvee
 

salbutera

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After ten years of Marc Bergevin, I think we can safely say that this simply isn't true.

You can have talent and will and still not make it. If you're buried with moronic coaches who misuse you, you're going nowhere.

As for Slaf, the conditions aren't great for his development but they're nowhere near as bad as they were for our previous generation of prospects. It's surprising that MSL hasn't been more minute friendly with him but at least he's not holding him back the way MT did with other players.
Yet Price, Subban & Pacioretty had their best years, yet Gallagher became an NHLer.

How many NHL players have you or any of us posters on this board ever developed exactly to make a claim they know better how to develop 18yr olds than HuGo or MSL?

Brind’Amour is heralded from all corners for his ability to get through to todays player, yet that hasn’t manifested in the slightest w KK.

It’s in every coaches best interest to make their players shine because that translates to team shining..
 
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DailyKaizen

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If the kid is only going to play 10 mins a night he is in the wrong league. There is no way to dress this up and turn it into something it isn’t. This is not beneficial to Slaf. He is losing development time in his prime years. Tortoise and Hare me arse.
Hindsight is 20-20 at the moment I get your point but it could be that these reps at this level is more valuable than you think.

I am not against your view but to claim that it is absolutely better either way is not probable that it is absolutely correct, in all likelihood his development is better served being a healthy mixture of AHL and NHL time. There is not one rule for all, different players develop differently and when things do not appear to go well it is easy to say a b and c but only with time can we see a clearer picture.
 

Lafleurs Guy

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Yet Price, Subban & Pacioretty had their best years, yet Gallagher became an NHLer.
Three of those players developed under the previous regime. They hit their prime under MT but he hardly helped them.

Gallagher is the only guy who developed well under that group. And he played a style that MT wanted. Galchenyuk played a skilled game and our leadership didn’t know what to do with that.
 
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salbutera

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Three of those players developed under the previous regime. They hit their prime under MT but he hardly helped them.

Gallagher is the only guy who developed well under that group. And he played a style that MT wanted. Galchenyuk played a skilled game and our leadership didn’t know what to do with that.
Tocchet loved skill players, so did Keefe etc. where was the development?
 

Lafleurs Guy

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Tocchet loved skill players, so did Keefe etc. where was the development?
Let’s stick with Montreal. What’s a skilled player supposed to do when they have to go through SL and then MT? It’s a recipe for disaster.

No matter how well he played Chuck wasn’t going to get more ice than DD. It was the stupidest shit I’ve ever seen and it happened for YEARS.

“Grid! Grind! Grind!” They didn’t know how to use skilled players. Everyone was supposed to be Prust. Except for some reason the guy they had as our number one. Remember him? He was the guy who Karlsson picked up off the ice tho get the puck.

Again though, this is the Slaf thread. I don’t think he’s going to have those challenges. That doesn’t mean we haven’t misused him though. I think we have. And I’d prefer him to be in the minors.
 

salbutera

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Let’s stick with Montreal. What’s a skilled player supposed to do when they have to go through SL and then MT? It’s a recipe for disaster.

No matter how well he played Chuck wasn’t going to get more ice than DD. It was the stupidest shit I’ve ever seen and it happened for YEARS.

“Grid! Grind! Grind!” They didn’t know how to use skilled players. Everyone was supposed to be Prust. Except for some reason the guy they had as our number one. Remember him? He was the guy who Karlsson picked up off the ice tho get the puck.

Again though, this is the Slaf thread. I don’t think he’s going to have those challenges. That doesn’t mean we haven’t misused him though. I think we have. And I’d prefer him to be in the minors.
That’s ironic since I vividly recall a quote from
Kirk Muller stating “we individually teach & show Galchenyuk something, he nods his head he gets it then can’t execute it on the ice, we do this over & over”.

The reality is Galchenyuk has the IQ of a gnat, and very poor ability to learn & grow. Players w elite hunger and determined to learn & grown, an NO coach, regardless of stylistic preferences will ever get in the way of a player who possesses elite hunger & determination.

Every single coach Koivu or Plekanec had worshipped at their alter…including Therrien
 

Lafleurs Guy

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That’s ironic since I vividly recall a quote from
Kirk Muller stating “we individually teach & show Galchenyuk something, he nods his head he gets it then can’t execute it on the ice, we do this over & over”.
Guy Lafleur was like that too. But Bowman was smart enough to play to his strengths. He couldn’t fit the system so they played him with guys who could and then let him do his own thing. That’s the difference between a good coach and a bad one.

And… again, we played a guy with the same weaknesses on the first line. Chuck was better in every way but we STILL went with the inferior player.

It’d be one thing if we played Pleks in front of him but we didn’t. We played a guy who was worse in every way.

I’m sorry but there’s no way for you to win this argument. It was colossally stupid and there’s no defense for it.
 

salbutera

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Guy Lafleur was like that too. But Bowman was smart enough to play to his strengths. That’s the difference between a good coach and a bad one.

And… again, we played a guy with the same weaknesses on the first line. Chuck was better in every way but we STILL went with the inferior player.
Not really, the reason Lafleur played mostly 3rd & 4th lines his first 3-seasons was because he refused to understand the concept of defensive zone awareness, and working hard at practice, once he did & started playing the 200-ft game (going hard on the back check) starting his 4th season, his TOI magically increased, as did quality of line mates & production levels

Scotty read that same riot act to a more NHL experienced Stevie Y years later in Det
 

Lafleurs Guy

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Not really, the reason Lafleur played mostly 3rd & 4th lines his first 3-seasons was because he refused to understand the concept of defensive zone awareness, once he did & started playing the 200-ft game (going hard on the back check) starting his 4th season, his TOI magically increased.

Scotty read that same riot act to a more NHL experienced Stevie Y years later in Det
Lafleur never was able to follow a system. This is well documented. Larry Robinson has a long interview on it somewhere.

And again… we played DD. There’s NO excuse.
 

salbutera

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Lafleur never was able to follow a system. This is well documented. Larry Robinson has a long interview on it somewhere.

And again… we played DD. There’s NO excuse.
That was in reference to Lemaire’s system (neutral zone trap), Scotty never believed in systems, except the Selke Sr concept of 200-ft hockey.

Scotty always loves to use concept terminology vs hard line systems…. I’m guessing that where MSL picked up that lingo w Scotty spending lots of time around the rink in TBay as advisor for Hawks
 

salbutera

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Lafleur never was able to follow a system. This is well documented. Larry Robinson has a long interview on it somewhere.

And again… we played DD. There’s NO excuse.
Sure there was Galchenyuk was a mental midget incapable of understanding and processing information to execute learnings on the ice. If he even had a morsel of ability to learn & grow he’d still be playing a top-6 role in NHL
 

Lafleurs Guy

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Sure there was Galchenyuk was a mental midget incapable of understanding and processing information to execute learnings on the ice. If he even had a morsel of ability to learn & grow he’d still be playing a top-6 role in NHL
And yet… he was better than DD. By far.

Again, if he’d played a guy like Pleks you’d have an argument. I still wouldn’t agree that it was the right choice but at least there’s be something coherent to argue.

That’s not the case.

We went with a player who was worse in every way. No excuse.

And Caufield is another example. His coach was killing him. The moment MSL took over, he blossomed.

Coaching matters a great deal. I don’t know how it is you still don’t understand this.
 

salbutera

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And yet… he was better than DD. By far.

Again, if he’d played a guy like Pleks you’d have an argument. I still wouldn’t agree that it was the right choice but at least there’s be something coherent to argue.

That’s not the case.

We went with a player who was worse in every way. No excuse.

And Caufield is another example. His coach was killing him. The moment MSL took over, he blossomed.

Coaching matters a great deal. I don’t know how it is you still don’t understand this.
Did it matter for Koivu? Plekanec? Markov? Crosby? Malkin? Letang? MSL?

It matters for mental midgets, you don’t win squat w mental midgets
 
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