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

[BenchBrawl]

In an Athletic article.

I red the article an hour ago. Their wording remained vague to me as to what it all meant. Too bad, we'll never know the truth.

 

[Ezpz]

Honestly regardless of how he looks in his first 9 I'd rather have him spend the year in Laval so we can maximize tank efforts. There's a few center prospects better than Wright at the top of the 2023 draft. I know that's "toxic" to some people but icing a bad team is necessary. We're not at the point where we can pivot into relevancy. Too bad Bergy signed a bunch of crap deals last summer so we can't weaponize our non-existent cap space.

If we somehow get Bedard the Slaf pick is going to look smart.

 

[HostileCapSpace]

I thought Rantanen played with nichushkin and burakovsky?

Played with MacKinnon and, believe it or not, our home boy Lekhonen in the playoffs. Earlier in the year the other winger was Nichushkin I believe. Might have been some scrambling around when Kadri missed games.

My point was as much as I like Rantanen, you have to look at who he plays with also. Makar is not too shabby either. We obviously don't have a Mac or Makar for Slaf.

I'm still excited in seeing what Slaf will do with Suzuki and Caufield. Caufield was really happy, according to Suzuki.

 

[Takeru]

You don't get it all. It's about finding the learner's personality, the one player that can be developed vs. the player that doesn't really want to change.

I know that’s the proper interpretation, just find mine funnier

 

[HankyZetts]

Played with MacKinnon and, believe it or not, our home boy Lekhonen in the playoffs. Earlier in the year the other winger was Nichushkin I believe. Might have been some scrambling around when Kadri missed games.

My point was as much as I like Rantanen, you have to look at who he plays with also. Makar is not too shabby either. We obviously don't have a Mac or Makar for Slaf.

I'm still excited in seeing what Slaf will do with Suzuki and Caufield. Caufield was really happy, according to Suzuki.

Yeah we definitely don't have Makar or MacKinnon lol. But we do have a nice young group of guys, so let's see how they grow together!

 

[Saxon]

I think in the Bergy Era this wouldn't end well. But now that we have an actual development department, hopefully we can feel better about picking "toolsy"/"raw" players and seeing them reach their potential.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

He's gonna be better than Rantanen. Maybe not in point production since rants linemates are pretty gross but in impact I think he will

 

[Justin11]

We need to temper our expectations with Slaf.

Patience will also be required.

 

[Chadstudsky]

The moment Slaf found out the Habs also drafted Mesar.

I caught up on tons of habsTV videos recently and holy that Dumont guy is weird AF lol. I love his enthusiasm, and I know there's such a thing as active listening, but my God haha.

Nice to see Slaf pumped about Mesar!

 

[Hannibal]

I’m so happy! We need to be patience, but i’m confident with HuGo, MSL and Adams nicholas to develop him properly!

 

[Deebs]

We need to temper our expectations with Slaf.

Patience will also be required.

Patience is absolutely required.

He should spend the better part of this year in Laval honing his skills and adjusting to our system. If he shows exponential growth during that time then maybe bring him up after the trade deadline but a full year would be ideal.

There is absolutely no need to rush this guy and make the same mistake we did with previous prospects.

 

[Sagikev]

He can’t fit in a Civic!

Akchually , civics are quite big! My friend is 6'5" and he bought a civic because, of all the smallish cars, it's one of the most spacious lol

 

[BehindTheTimes]

This is the problem with "personality", it's open to interpretation. We heard nothing but good things about Kotkamiemi until he signed an offer sheet, suddenly all this dirt came out. PK Subban's energy and talkative nature was inspiring for the team until he was traded, then he was a distracted locker room cancer unlike the true leader in silent Weber. Weber and Markov we're silent either because they were serious leaders or because they didn't care depending on how they were performing.

Slafkovsky seems like a confident, likable kid. A friend interviewed him after the Olympics and described him as a "chad". All good until he starts performing in the NHL like he did in Finland and suddenly his confidence is arrogance.

These quotes from him are nice but I don't care about how well he or Weight interviewed, let their games do the talking.

I feel the same way. These are kids, if you’re making your selection based on an interview and not their performance you are doing it wrong. I think we picked the wrong guy even if I like Slaf.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Honestly regardless of how he looks in his first 9 I'd rather have him spend the year in Laval so we can maximize tank efforts. There's a few center prospects better than Wright at the top of the 2023 draft. I know that's "toxic" to some people but icing a bad team is necessary. We're not at the point where we can pivot into relevancy. Too bad Bergy signed a bunch of crap deals last summer so we can't weaponize our non-existent cap space.

If we somehow get Bedard the Slaf pick is going to look smart.

Agree. Unless Juraj is just clearly ready for the NHL, like he looks like Brady Tkachuk did right off the bat, he needs to be in the AHL. AHL is already a step up from Liiga, and Juraj had his struggles there, even. He needs to be ''the man'' offensively. It's a crucial part of his development, I wish we could play him for a whole season long WC, because that's what he was getting in that tournament. The conception of himself as the best player on the ice.

If he can do that at the AHL level, that will bode really well for him and us going forward. Let him f*** the AHL up.

 

[Jabba11]

I just hope we don't teach him defense. At least not early in his career. He needs to play with his skillset and let him have fun. Please, do not put him on a 3rd line. It's top 6 or AHL. Let him get the taste for scoring. I don't want him to be juggled up and down the lineup either like Chucky and KK. Please keep Therrien away from him.

 

[Skip Bayless]

Agree. Unless Juraj is just clearly ready for the NHL, like he looks like Brady Tkachuk did right off the bat, he needs to be in the AHL. AHL is already a step up from Liiga, and Juraj had his struggles there, even. He needs to be ''the man'' offensively. It's a crucial part of his development, I wish we could play him for a whole season long WC, because that's what he was getting in that tournament. The conception of himself as the best player on the ice.

If he can do that at the AHL level, that will bode really well for him and us going forward. Let him f*** the AHL up.

Id let him f*** Liiga up first and foremost but I agree with you.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

We need to temper our expectations with Slaf.

Patience will also be required.

Well most people seem to think he'll bust, so I would say expectations are tempered.

 

[Justin11]

Well most people seem to think he'll bust, so I would say expectations are tempered.

He was not my first pick but to make such statements and worst of all to wish it upon him is ridiculous.

He was drafted by the Habs and all of us fans should get behind him.

I believe and I want him to hit his projected ceiling.

 

[Walrus26]

We've drafted this guy to be the billy big bollocks, dominant presence in the other team's end, regardless of which team has the puck.

First line and PP1 in Laval please, let him do his thing and don't try to turn him into a responsible 200-ft player just yet.

How I'd love to see even a poor man's early-years Ovechkin steaming around the rink in our colours.

 

[morhilane]

I just hope we don't teach him defense. At least not early in his career. He needs to play with his skillset and let him have fun. Please, do not put him on a 3rd line. It's top 6 or AHL. Let him get the taste for scoring. I don't want him to be juggled up and down the lineup either like Chucky and KK. Please keep Therrien away from him.

Too late for that, he played in Liiga for one of the most defensive coach...

 

[xX SEYF Xx]

Well this looks like Slaf is in town to stay

 

[ForeverHabs97]

View attachment 566670

Well this looks like Slaf is in town to stay

I'll admit I was very skeptical of this pick but now I'm totally on board and praying he becomes a war machine for us.

Also praying they don't throw him to the wolves next season...

Have him prove us he belongs vs. Him trying to survive is gonna be really important

Hope he starts in Laval and if he does I'll be going to see him play there for sure

 

[McGuires Corndog]

I'll admit I was very skeptical of this pick but now I'm totally on board and praying he becomes a war machine for us.

Also praying they don't throw him to the wolves next season...

Have him prove us he belongs vs. Him trying to survive is gonna be really important

Hope he starts in Laval and if he does I'll be going to see him play there for sure

Physically he is more than ready for the NHL, he’s already bigger than 95% of NHL vets.

As long as he can hang with Suzuki and Caufield and he’s producing, there’s no harm in having him in Montreal in my opinion. This isn’t Kotkaniemi who is going to fall down every shift because he’s built like Bambi.

I want to temper expectations, but if he players with Suzuki and Caufield all season I don’t think 45-50pts is out of the question. He is physically dominant.

 

[1909]

I don't think they gonna put him right away with Suzuki and Caufield. The step is huge between Finnish Liiga and NHL, especially for a 18 yo kid. I am scared they gonna burn him like they have done with KK, Galchy and few others. Habs have also the option to sent him down to AHL at any point of the season.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

I don't think they gonna put him right away with Suzuki and Caufield. The step is huge between Finnish Liiga and NHL, especially for a 18 yo kid. I am scared they gonna burn him like they have done with KK, Galchy and few others. Habs have also the option to sent him down to AHL at any point of the season.

They’ll use training camp to evaluate it. If he plays well with them, he starts the season there and they have the ability to send him down to Laval whenever they like.

People are underestimating how physically dominant he will be. Both Kotkaniemi and Gachenyuk had difficulty staying on their feet and Chucky had no physical element to his game at all which hurt his ability to translate to the NHL.