Yeah, I was on the fence. But leaning toward big Slaf. He's only just beginning to pay off too.
A little exercise I just did. I wondered:
What if we struck from Slaf's stats all those games where he was on the second and third line, playing with scrubs like Evans and Anderson and Gallagher. What if we then extrapolated his top line games to a full 82 games and have him 22 minutes of ice time per game - true "star" minutes? Where would that put Slafkovsky in relation to the true big guns in the league?
The short answer is: He's still a work in progress. He's on his way - mostly likely not to the rarefied air guys like Kucherov and McDavid breathe - but Slaf is definitely on his way to somewhere very nice. And he is shaping up to be an absolute NIGHTMARE for opposition defence corps across the league. Anyway, here is what Slaf's top-line numbers this year extrapolate to in a full 82 game, 22 minutes per game season:
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(GP-G-A-PTS-PIM-SHOTS-ICE)
I'm not trying to be funny here - I'm just looking for a little more insight into what kind of player Slafkovsky is going to become. Some say Joe Thornton though I disagree. Others have him pegged as some kind of sniper-to-be, like he'll be scoring 40 to 50 a year when he refines his shot. I disagree with that also.
I think, personally, Slafkovsky is going to be a terror to play against when he hits his prime. He's going to look like a Wayne Cashman type of player - without perhaps the wicked aggression and the pugilistic prowess.
You look at what a guy like Cashman brought to those great Bs teams back in the day - it was absolutely essential. Cash was a demon on the boards, great at digging out pucks for the scorers. Now Cash was FEARED as well, and I don't necessarily think Slaf will bring that quality, although he does have the size and strength to be a real terror.
Cash was good for, what, 25 goals and 50 assists "ish" back in the day - back at a time when scoring league-wide was similar to what it is right now? If Slaf becomes a solid, clutch 25-goal 50-assist man every year, well, then I think history will show that Montreal used their top pick VERY wisely.
Now, the possibly fly in the ointment there is that Cash had all these other great players to play with - and they had all that success because they had so many weapons (unless they played the Habs ha ha ha). The current Montreal Canadiens don't have a Phil Esposito or a Bobby Orr or a Ken Hodge or a John Bucyk or even a Gerry Cheevers in net, although Monty and Primeau are looking good most nights and we do have that kid Fowler.
So there are some key ingredients missing when it comes to the Montreal Canadiens so Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes have their work cut out for them if they want to get to that next level - and to ensure the Canadiens don't remain a one-line pony (Slaf-Suzuki-Caufield).
Who did I insult? I'm sorry you took it that way.
Meh, no one has a crystal ball - not important now I guess. It's just great to see Slaf morphing into Slafzilla before our eyes. I caught the Habs-Kraken game in Seattle recently - although Slaf wasn't the best player on the ice he was definitely very "big" on that ice.l