Prospect Info: [2022 - 1st OA] Juraj Slafkovsky (LW) (Player Discussion ONLY)

[Redux91]

A shorter video with just Bobrovs take.....love this!

He looks like Steve Zahn lol

I like his well-spokenness , he conveys his points really well, and they're not filler points to make it sound like it's just hot air, these were very real and good points that matter

 

[ReHabs]

i don‘t think he is a “Project”. But if you consider him a ”Project”, then so is everyone in the 2022 Draft. Maybe we should have declined our picks and waited for 2023?

It's more like, if everyone is a Project (which I define as "needs to develop or confirm he has the proverbial NHL toolbox") the Habs should've gone with another pick. But I'm warming up to Slaf as a prospect and it doesn't really make a difference, he's a Hab! I really hope they don't rush him. I want to see him dominate in a league before he comes to the NHL to stay. Dominate Liiga or AHL, just dominate a league somewhere.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

He looks like Steve Zahn lol

I like his well-spokenness , he conveys his points really well, and they're not filler points to make it sound like it's just hot air, these were very real and good points that matter

He legit has a good speaking voice, he could be a voice actor or a documentary narrator or something in that vein.

 

[BlackEye from Xhekaj]

I'm simply saying we haven't had a PPG player since Kovalev and haven't had two PPG seasons since the 90s.

The Habs cannot develop "projects" into productive offensive players. And it's foolish to bet that the new guys in will be able to do what the last three sets of GMs could not. I wouldn't trust them until I see it happen and I think the 1OA was too important to risk on a player with Slafkovsky's profile.

No need to dwell on it, we can move on.

I'm not going to argue with anything here, but will point out that while there was debate amongst many of who the 1oa should be, Slafkovsky is not a project. He like every prospect has things to work on, but you keep calling him a project or a unicorn as if Hughes came way out of left field to draft this kid. You believe that they should have drafted Wright or Nemec to fill the C/D spot, but Slaf at W, Dach at C with Guhle coming up at D is definitely a strong potential trio of players to have in the top 6 fwd/top 4 D to build around.

 

[SlafySZN]

I made it a point to specify *forward* 1OA. Yes, it typically takes longer for defensemen to make it so it seems to be more widely accepted, but it just doesn't happen with forwards (at least it hasn't in decades)

But yeah, I guess we can blame it on the pandemic (just like those extra pounds)

It doesn't happen but sometimes it would've been better if some hasn't started yet at 18, like Jack Hughes.

 

[Twisted Sinister]

He looks like Steve Zahn lol

I like his well-spokenness , he conveys his points really well, and they're not filler points to make it sound like it's just hot air, these were very real and good points that matter

They... kind of seem like filler points to me. Very shallow stuff

 

[Redux91]

They... kind of seem like filler points to me. Very shallow stuff

Aaaand you'd rather hear what exactly?

 

[1909]

It's more like, if everyone is a Project (which I define as "needs to develop or confirm he has the proverbial NHL toolbox") the Habs should've gone with another pick. But I'm warming up to Slaf as a prospect and it doesn't really make a difference, he's a Hab! I really hope they don't rush him. I want to see him dominate in a league before he comes to the NHL to stay. Dominate Liiga or AHL, just dominate a league somewhere.

Have you ever asked yourself how come Arizona selected Cooley instead of Wright ?

 

[Twisted Sinister]

Aaaand you'd rather hear what exactly?

Actual analysis of his game. Pros and cons. What needs to be worked on. How you account for his Liiga production.

Anything other than "Ra Ra he da best, he cooks his own food lol"

 

[Adam Michaels]

Actual analysis of his game. Pros and cons. What needs to be worked on. How you account for his Liiga production.

Anything other than "Ra Ra he da best, he cooks his own food lol"

If you're expecting that, then these videos are not for you.

 

[JoelWarlord]

@JoelWarlord

I was replying chunk by chunk but I felt it was getting tedious. You're response is appreciated. You're right that I've been too pessimistic on the player and it's bled into my commentary.

All good, I'm happy to have the discussion (I think I've said it before but I do 90% of my posting wasting time at work so happy to go into detail usually haha) If I could distill what I'm getting at into two small points it would be that the failures of the past don't have any bearing on this pick, and that the level of agita over his risk profile is unwarranted compared to the alternatives.

I don't have faith in the Habs organization's ability to produce players (not until I see it), and especially not the Habs' ability to develop prospects that need a lot of refining in their hockey IQ

Hockey IQ is certainly one of the things he needs to improve on, but I think it's really encouraging that so much of the messaging we've had since the coaching change has been about empowering players to make decisions and teaching that skill. St. Louis deliberately talks about putting players in artificially time limited situations (like doing a 3v3 drill cross ice) to train this element, and it's clearly something they're taking seriously in a way previous groups didn't.

I bring up the recent top3 pick-busts Galchenyuk and Kotkaniemi because they ARE relevant to the discussion. There is more to a hockey club than the GM and president. Lapointe is a development guy and he's still there, Bouillon too for some reason. Allard is new and leading it but will he succeed? Do you have blind faith in him?

Eh. Galchenyuk was 10 years ago and Kotkaniemi was 5, and the only major person left is the AHL coach he played 9 games for. I don't have "faith" in guys like Lapointe/Bouillion/Ramage etc but I don't really think they're the ones that did most of the damage or a reason to carry the baggage from two very different prospects under very different organizational focuses into this era with this prospect. Bobrov I will admit concerns me, but I'm more thinking in terms of the coaching + things the organization values which clearly aren't the same things they did with Bergevin/Claude/Therrien or coaches like Martin/Vigneault/Claude 1.0/Therrien 1.0.

I don't have faith that they're certain to succeed, but I'm very confident that whether or not the current front office succeeds it will be in a wholly different way distinct from what we've seen for 20 years. If they hired some old guy to do the same grinding defensive hockey stuff it would be one thing, but unless St. Louis just decides to contradict everything he's said and become a grind deez guys coach like Therrien next year I don't think there's a compelling reason to be worried they'll repeat the past in terms of organizational philosophy.

It's a shame we had the 1OA in such a contentious draft but it's also a shame that the Habs didn't pick the safest and most necessary 1OA...

I'm not sure I would rank him as our #1 prospect given the uncertainty around him. I think in HF Prospects lingo there was a number assigned to a player's potential

Damn reading the HF prospects numbers has me feeling like the food critic at the end of Ratatouille having a flashback to my formative posting days lmao. Off the top of my head I'd probably cheat a bit and go with something like an "8.5B-" to denote a range of 7-8.5 for Slafkovsky. B is beyond what I'd be fully confident in but I don't think 8.5C is accurate either.

 

[Ezpz]

I quite remember every Rangers prospect being an 8.0 or 8.5 D, even 7th rounders. If you went by HF ranking the Rangers had the best prospects every single year. Kreider, at 31 years old, finally had a season worth the 8.5C they gave him(that likely won't be repeated). The days of Grachev being untouchable.

Slaf is probably an 8.5C or a 9.0D based on the old criteria. Essentially each letter down represents one point he could fall. 8.5C could be 6.5A, meaning floor is third liner. 9.0D could be anywhere from 1st line star to third-fourth tweener.

 

[MonkeyBusiness]

They... kind of seem like filler points to me. Very shallow stuff

Sorry but compared to most hockey interviews and speeches that I've heard in my life, that was one of the most eloquent and well-spoken dialogues. He conveyed his message well and had solid arguments as to why he wanted Slafkovsky. It's a breath of fresh air in comparison most of the monotonies one hears in the sport of hockey.

 

[Captain97]

It doesn't happen but sometimes it would've been better if some hasn't started yet at 18, like Jack Hughes.

You mean over Point per game player last year Jack hughes?

 

[SlafySZN]

You mean over Point per game player last year Jack hughes?

Was he a point per game at 18 or 19 years old? A year in college would’ve been great for him instead of starting at barely 18.

 

[aresknights]

Laf will be fine. We’ll see about Kakko snd Slaf.

Not really an answer to the question posed.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

I'm simply saying we haven't had a PPG player since Kovalev and haven't had two PPG seasons since the 90s.

The Habs cannot develop "projects" into productive offensive players. And it's foolish to bet that the new guys in will be able to do what the last three sets of GMs could not. I wouldn't trust them until I see it happen and I think the 1OA was too important to risk on a player with Slafkovsky's profile.

No need to dwell on it, we can move on.

Why would you call the #1 pick as voted by scouts to be a project? That's beyond ridiculous.

 

[cphabs]

I quite remember every Rangers prospect being an 8.0 or 8.5 D, even 7th rounders. If you went by HF ranking the Rangers had the best prospects every single year. Kreider, at 31 years old, finally had a season worth the 8.5C they gave him(that likely won't be repeated). The days of Grachev being untouchable.

Slaf is probably an 8.5C or a 9.0D based on the old criteria. Essentially each letter down represents one point he could fall. 8.5C could be 6.5A, meaning floor is third liner. 9.0D could be anywhere from 1st line star to third-fourth tweener.

Is there a Likert scale, with alphabetical annotations no less, that involve a franchise’s developmental program’s success? Now that would be a worthy pseudo statistical analysis lmfao!

 

[Twisted Sinister]

Sorry but compared to most hockey interviews and speeches that I've heard in my life, that was one of the most eloquent and well-spoken dialogues. He conveyed his message well and had solid arguments as to why he wanted Slafkovsky. It's a breath of fresh air in comparison most of the monotonies one hears in the sport of hockey.

I'm not ok with scraps just because we usually get nothing. But that said, I have to evaluate the scraps we got... And I wasn't impressed.

Bobrov is a weird hiring. It's not as bad as Therrien was for Bergevin, but it definitely has the stink of hiring your buddy with no track record of success and was the first time I had concerns with this management team.

If they wanted to show otherwise, an impassioned speech saying "pick my guy because karakter!" is probably not the way to go, no matter how eloquently you say it.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Marty talking about players having no compete = NO BUENO 6 minutes in to video.

R.I.P Wright.


Bobrov speaks very well and makes a lot of good points.

I can see why Gorton would like him.

Bobrov made his argument well, and clearly he led the Slafkovsky camp.

Hopefully Slaf ends up differently than the long line of busts Bobrov has championed previously.

 

[Twisted Sinister]

Bobrov made his argument well, and clearly he led the Slafkovsky camp.

Hopefully Slaf ends up differently than the long line of busts Bobrov has championed previously.

Yeah, I'm worried he's very eloquently leading us to his previous level of success, which is very near zero.

 

[1909]

Yeah, I'm worried he's very eloquently leading us to his previous level of success, which is very near zero.

Bobrov is cerainly not the only one who had Slaf as #1. That video is misleading.

 

[cphabs]

Yeah, I'm worried he's very eloquently leading us to his previous level of success, which is very near zero.

Fantastic!

 

[Scriptor]

I'm not ok with scraps just because we usually get nothing. But that said, I have to evaluate the scraps we got... And I wasn't impressed.

Bobrov is a weird hiring. It's not as bad as Therrien was for Bergevin, but it definitely has the stink of hiring your buddy with no track record of success and was the first time I had concerns with this management team.

If they wanted to show otherwise, an impassioned speech saying "pick my guy because karakter!" is probably not the way to go, no matter how eloquently you say it.

How Bobrov's argument for choosing Slafkovsky is getting watered down to choose karacter is mind boggling. It's just another classic example of the BS that sometimes gets schlepped around on these forums.

I'm going from memory -- because I couldn't bother looking at the video again to make a rebuttal to someone who doesn't give a shit anyhow -- but here's the basic argument for choosing Slafkovsky, according to Bobrov:

1) Has proven he can play at a high level consistently over time. Wanted and was able to carry the mail on his line on two successive occasions internationally, both times, moving up and proving he belongs higher up in the line, from 4th line all the way to 1st line.

2) Kept getting better -- all year long and getting better in bigger pressure matchups.

3) The been under the microscope for three or four years as the next thing in his country and improving throughout the pressure cooker environment is just the cherry on top at the end to

a) show he will continue to develop in a pressure environment like Montreal
b) Indirect stab at Wright who was deemed the next thing for years,, but failed to keep improving significantly.

Gorton didn't say to not give a shit about character and only look at the skill set and Bobrov does not sound like he is doing that one bit regarding Slafkovsky. It is clearly a "The guy can play solid hockey and keeps improving -- plus he has great character, wanting to be a player that makes a difference on every shift" wanting to be a player that makes a difference is more than just a has good character remark.

It shows drive for excellence and desire to win, it shows a will to keep getting better and to put the work into it to get there. It confirms Slafkovsky's simple observation when asked how he would handle pressure in Montreal, "Just make sure I play well."

Slafkovsky, like all the other players drafted in 2022, is not a sure bet to reach his ceiling -- which is extremely high, IMO -- but his attitude and confidence after coming into his own during International play certainly sounds like a positive for the team.

Hopefully, Slafkovsky makes us proud. We can use a forward with skill who can also be dominant physically.

Anderson can be dominant physically, but in a limited fashion because he doesn't have huge puck skills and is limited tp a few predictable tactics that still can work out because he is so fast and strong and has a solid NHL shot off the rush, but he doesn't have the complete skill set that Slafkovsky has.

 

[dinodebino]

Actual analysis of his game. Pros and cons. What needs to be worked on. How you account for his Liiga production.

Anything other than "Ra Ra he da best, he cooks his own food lol"

They are not catering to you.