Player Discussion The Slaf Thread - Parabolic Growth Edition

[Tyson]

I'd be lying if i didn't admit he's the only reason I've watched the team since Dach went down , there's really no point in tuning in aside from watching this kid develop

I was just thinking the same thing...he is the only reason I tune in.

 

[Rapala]

I'd be lying if i didn't admit he's the only reason I've watched the team since Dach went down , there's really no point in tuning in aside from watching this kid develop

I think most of us are fascinated by just how much of a difference he makes on a first line at his age.
I've actually enjoyed watching Roy Newhook and Armia as well along with Xhekaj and Guhle.
We've been competitive with some very good teams with these two lines.

It all falls apart with the lack of NHL caliber 3rd and 4th line role players.
With Dach coming back it puts a bullseye on that group of 7 or 8 players.
I think we can become a far better team quicker than some think if Hughes finds a way to address this.
Then and only then would I look to move some of our better assets and aim fixes higher up the roster.

 

[Tyson]

I think most of us are fascinated by just how much of a difference he makes on a first line at his age.
I've actually enjoyed watching Roy Newhook and Armia as well along with Xhekaj and Guhle.
We've been competitive with some very good teams with these two lines.

It all falls apart with the lack of NHL caliber 3rd and 4th line role players.
With Dach coming back it puts a bullseye on that group of 7 or 8 players.
I think we can become a far better team quicker than some think if Hughes finds a way to address this.
Then and only then would I look to move some of our better assets and aim fixes higher up the roster.

As long as the Habs carry this deadweight they will have substandard 3rd and 4th lines. Hard to fathom how many useless vets a team can have at the same time.

 

[LaP]

The thing that surprise me the most about him is his vision. I had already seen him a few time when we drafted him. I knew he was good. At the 2022 world champ he was a head and shoulder better than Josh Anderson and while it was yes a small sample size he really was like much better than Josh Anderson it was not really close. But his ability to make no look passes and find players on the ice is much better than i anticipated initially.

I think most of us are fascinated by just how much of a difference he makes on a first line at his age.
I've actually enjoyed watching Roy Newhook and Armia as well along with Xhekaj and Guhle.
We've been competitive with some very good teams with these two lines.

It all falls apart with the lack of NHL caliber 3rd and 4th line role players.
With Dach coming back it puts a bullseye on that group of 7 or 8 players.
I think we can become a far better team quicker than some think if Hughes finds a way to address this.
Then and only then would I look to move some of our better assets and aim fixes higher up the roster.

Most of the dead weight will be gone by the end of next season but yeah two big names will remain. They wont be easy to fix without buying them out. KH will have to be original.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Your friend Pierre has something to say about Slafkovsky

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

I can't imagine how internally excited Pierre is when he watches slaf play , he might just bust all over the place

 

[Hannibal]

I knew he was gonna be good, but man sky is the limit.

 

[Rapala]

The thing that surprise me the most about him is his vision. I had already seen him a few time when we drafted him. I knew he was good. At the 2022 world champ he was a head and shoulder better than Josh Anderson and while it was yes a small sample size he really was like much better than Josh Anderson it was not really close. But his ability to make no look passes and find players on the ice is much better than i anticipated initially.


Most of the dead weight will be gone by the end of next season but yeah two big names will remain. They wont be easy to fix without buying them out. KH will have to be original.

Yeah I know.
However I'll be looking at it as another wasted season if we don't do something.
This year did not go according to plan I don't think but it did open some eyes as to the possibilities.
I'm not an advocate of holding on to an asset that will fetch little to nothing if it's getting in the way of the team building process.
As it stands right now there seems to be very little wiggle room to make any significant changes and it flat out sucks.

 

[417]

Imagine when he gets to the point where he's no longer deferring to his linemates.

 

[MTL Dirty Birdy]

I understand your point.

Here is my two cents،

Pay your stars their due rather than wanting to save a couple of pennies.

No team has suffered from paying their stars their fair amount. Teams suffer for contract like Gallagher, Anderson, Armia.

I wonder at what point, having Gallagher on a bargain deal contributed to him being overpaid in his next deal and MB crying.

Good businesses is a fair deal for both sides. f***ing the other party is as bad as business can be, even if it seems profitable in the short term.

I agree we need to pay our stars their fair due.

MB liked bridging guys because he was always scared to commit long term on young guys.looking back, it’s probably because they couldn’t develop talent worth an hoot. All his long term contracts came based on PAST performance. No vision. It bit us in the ass with Gallagher, Price and Subban.

With HUgO you see that in order to avoid cap he’ll, they are betting on our stars development. Sure some of these contracts seem rich in the first year or two. But with the cap going up finally it will be less and less significant.

I’d sign Slaf for the same as CC and NS. Get a full top six line , average age of 22, for under 25 mill a year for the entirety of their prime?! That is a good deal

 

[Jaynki]

I agree we need to pay our stars their fair due.

MB liked bridging guys because he was always scared to commit long term on young guys.looking back, it’s probably because they couldn’t develop talent worth an hoot. All his long term contracts came based on PAST performance. No vision. It bit us in the ass with Gallagher, Price and Subban.

With HUgO you see that in order to avoid cap he’ll, they are betting on our stars development. Sure some of these contracts seem rich in the first year or two. But with the cap going up finally it will be less and less significant.

I’d sign Slaf for the same as CC and NS. Get a full top six line , average age of 22, for under 25 mill a year is a good deal

100% agree

 

[Egresch]

Most of the dead weight will be gone by the end of next season but yeah two big names will remain. They wont be easy to fix without buying them out. KH will have to be original.

I think they will trade away Josh Anderson this summer even if it is for 7th round pick. He just does not fit with MSL. We are not in need of cap space now, but he is just not working well now in this team. They can sign some free agent instead for 2-3 years who would contribute more. This young core is sick of constant losing and they are ready for wildcard fight next year.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Yeah I know.
However I'll be looking at it as another wasted season if we don't do something.
This year did not go according to plan I don't think but it did open some eyes to the possibilities.
I'm not an advocate of holding on to an asset that will fetch little to nothing if it's getting in the way of the team building process.
As it stands right now there seems to be very little wiggle room to make any significant changes and it flat out sucks.

Honestly, outside of the Dach injury this season has gone almost exactly the way I expected and almost exactly the way management suggested.

It seems like a small, vocal portion of the fanbase expected Montreal to be much more competitive than either management or anyone outside Montreal expected. 2025 has been set up as the offseason that management can actually do something and all of their moves since their first offseason (2022) have reflected that. Hell, this is the first season you can actually start to see guys as being appropriate in certain roles on a competitive/contending team.

Caring about 3rd or 4th liners mid-rebuild also feels like a waste too. First of all, the priority must be developing an actual core, only guys like Bergevin care more about filling the 3rd line RW role over top pair D. Slaf's growth is important (as is Suzuki's and Caufield's more complete game), but take a broad view around the NHL and previous rebuilds and half the work for improving the bottom-3/bottom-6 is just pushing guys down to more appropriate roles.

Montreal's rebuild was a long time coming and also unavoidable. The lack of patience is expected, but still unwarranted.

 

[BaseballCoach]

I was just thinking the same thing...he is the only reason I tune in.

For me, Slaf is first in terms of interest. Dach would have been second.

The rest of my top 8 in interest to see how they develop are (by position):

• Montembeault
• Guhle
• Struble
• Xhekaj
• Newhook
• Roy
  

 

[Leto]

It seems like a small, vocal portion of the fanbase expected Montreal to be much more competitive than either management or anyone outside Montreal expected. 2025 has been set up as the offseason that management can actually do something and all of their moves since their first offseason (2022) have reflected that. Hell, this is the first season you can actually start to see guys as being appropriate in certain roles on a competitive/contending team.

I find the media have a huge role in that. All the old dinosaurs on radio and TV are constantly parroting that the team needs to be competitive now, oblivious to what a rebuild entail. Remember when Gorton wasn't willing to talk about the ''p word'' ? I mean, I get it, they have to make money and fill air time, but I cannot help but roll my eyes when I hear all that jazz.​

 

[Sorinth]

Honestly, outside of the Dach injury this season has gone almost exactly the way I expected and almost exactly the way management suggested.

It seems like a small, vocal portion of the fanbase expected Montreal to be much more competitive than either management or anyone outside Montreal expected. 2025 has been set up as the offseason that management can actually do something and all of their moves since their first offseason (2022) have reflected that. Hell, this is the first season you can actually start to see guys as being appropriate in certain roles on a competitive/contending team.

Caring about 3rd or 4th liners mid-rebuild also feels like a waste too. First of all, the priority must be developing an actual core, only guys like Bergevin care more about filling the 3rd line RW role over top pair D. Slaf's growth is important (as is Suzuki's and Caufield's more complete game), but take a broad view around the NHL and previous rebuilds and half the work for improving the bottom-3/bottom-6 is just pushing guys down to more appropriate roles.

Montreal's rebuild was a long time coming and also unavoidable. The lack of patience is expected, but still unwarranted.

Yeah I don't get the wasted season type comments. There has been some solid/steady growth from key players and from the overall team.

From a team perspective our record has gone from 0.335->0.415->0.455 and our 5 on 5 GF% has gone from 44.13%->44.75%->47.62%, our GAs has gone from 3.87->3.72->3.43. And the list goes on, we have seen improvement across the board.

In terms of individuals
Slafkovsky has taken a huge step forward and has been producing at a 60ish point pace for almost half a season
Caufield has added dimensions to his game and has set career highs in games and points
Suzuki has continued to improve and even if he doesn't hit ppg will have shown it's within reach
Newhook has had his best ppg season and looks like he's a legit top-6 guy
Xhekaj has taken some pretty big steps recently
Montembeault has shown last year wasn't a fluke
Roy and Mailloux have had great AHL seasons with Roy even showing his game will translate at the NHL level. And I can go on a lot more if we start talking the prospect who haven't turned pro yet.

Like outside of Dach's injury this is pretty much the perfect rebuild season for us, a ton of growth, a top-10 pick, and we added a 1st round pick.

 

[Captain Mountain]

I find the media have a huge role in that. All the old dinosaurs on radio and TV are constantly parroting that the team needs to be competitive now, oblivious to what a rebuild entail. Remember when Gorton wasn't willing to talk about the ''p word'' ? I mean, I get it, they have to make money and fill air time, but I cannot help but roll my eyes when I hear all that jazz.​

Is it a Montreal/Quebec thing? Because I don't live in Quebec and its a completely different vibe when people outside the market talk about the Habs. Its mostly that they're going about it the right way, but haven't had the best luck.

Like, people have been complaining since I first joined these boards about Montreal not acquiring extra 1sts and now fans want to trade the extra 1sts for Andrew Shaw caliber players so Montreal can compete for a chance at sneaking into the playoffs next year. Its kind of wild seeing people who bashed Bergevin's approach advocating for it now because it turns out that it takes longer than two and half seasons with no cap to turn a team around. Some seem to expect an immediate impact by young guys, but Slafkovsky and Caufield are the highest scoring players in their age range and some of the criticsms of both seem to completely miss the context. Montreal has one of the youngest rosters in the NHL, but the Habs need be both younger, better and more win now.

 

[LaP]

Yeah I don't get the wasted season type comments. There has been some solid/steady growth from key players and from the overall team.

From a team perspective our record has gone from 0.335->0.415->0.455 and our 5 on 5 GF% has gone from 44.13%->44.75%->47.62%, our GAs has gone from 3.87->3.72->3.43. And the list goes on, we have seen improvement across the board.

In terms of individuals
Slafkovsky has taken a huge step forward and has been producing at a 60ish point pace for almost half a season
Caufield has added dimensions to his game and has set career highs in games and points
Suzuki has continued to improve and even if he doesn't hit ppg will have shown it's within reach
Newhook has had his best ppg season and looks like he's a legit top-6 guy
Xhekaj has taken some pretty big steps recently
Montembeault has shown last year wasn't a fluke
Roy and Mailloux have had great AHL seasons with Roy even showing his game will translate at the NHL level. And I can go on a lot more if we start talking the prospect who haven't turned pro yet.

Like outside of Dach's injury this is pretty much the perfect rebuild season for us, a ton of growth, a top-10 pick, and we added a 1st round pick.

I dont think i could ever agree more with a post than this one.

 

[Andrei79]

Yeah I don't get the wasted season type comments. There has been some solid/steady growth from key players and from the overall team.

From a team perspective our record has gone from 0.335->0.415->0.455 and our 5 on 5 GF% has gone from 44.13%->44.75%->47.62%, our GAs has gone from 3.87->3.72->3.43. And the list goes on, we have seen improvement across the board.

In terms of individuals
Slafkovsky has taken a huge step forward and has been producing at a 60ish point pace for almost half a season
Caufield has added dimensions to his game and has set career highs in games and points
Suzuki has continued to improve and even if he doesn't hit ppg will have shown it's within reach
Newhook has had his best ppg season and looks like he's a legit top-6 guy
Xhekaj has taken some pretty big steps recently
Montembeault has shown last year wasn't a fluke
Roy and Mailloux have had great AHL seasons with Roy even showing his game will translate at the NHL level. And I can go on a lot more if we start talking the prospect who haven't turned pro yet.

Like outside of Dach's injury this is pretty much the perfect rebuild season for us, a ton of growth, a top-10 pick, and we added a 1st round pick.

I agree, the young players by and large have taken steps forwards. Some, in every aspect of their game, while others have struggled in some regards while improved in others. Rebuilds are messy, but in general it's a far cry from every young player regressing like we've had in the last two or even three decades. It seems like it's sustainable growth too, meaning players adding new elements to their games.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Like, people have been complaining since I first joined these boards about Montreal not acquiring extra 1sts and now fans want to trade the extra 1sts for Andrew Shaw caliber players so Montreal can compete for a chance at sneaking into the playoffs next year.

Whom are you referring to?

Dach is better than Shaw, Newhook is better than Shaw, Zegras is better than Shaw, Lafreniere is better than Shaw.

We might not get the last two, but those are the main targets I've seen since season start. Even Dubois is better than Shaw ever was.

The UFA targets such as Monahan, Toffoli, Montour don't cost picks and are also much better than Shaw ever was.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Whom are you referring to?

Dach is better than Shaw, Newhook is better than Shaw, Zegras is better than Shaw, Lafreniere is better than Shaw.

We might not get the last two, but those are the main targets I've seen since season start. Even Dubois is better than Shaw ever was.

The UFA targets such as Monahan, Toffoli, Montour don't cost picks and are also much better than Shaw ever was.

I was unaware that anyone seriously thought Montreal could get Zegras, Lafreniere or Dubois with Calgary 1sts, Florida 1sts or Winnipeg 1sts. Rather its what fans would be willing to pay.

Its also worth remembering that Shaw was more NHL proven at a similar age to Dach and Newhook (even if Dach and Newhook have greater upside).

But I'd say Kakko is frequently mentioned, as were others.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Yeah I don't get the wasted season type comments. There has been some solid/steady growth from key players and from the overall team.

From a team perspective our record has gone from 0.335->0.415->0.455 and our 5 on 5 GF% has gone from 44.13%->44.75%->47.62%, our GAs has gone from 3.87->3.72->3.43. And the list goes on, we have seen improvement across the board.

In terms of individuals
Slafkovsky has taken a huge step forward and has been producing at a 60ish point pace for almost half a season
Caufield has added dimensions to his game and has set career highs in games and points
Suzuki has continued to improve and even if he doesn't hit ppg will have shown it's within reach
Newhook has had his best ppg season and looks like he's a legit top-6 guy
Xhekaj has taken some pretty big steps recently
Montembeault has shown last year wasn't a fluke
Roy and Mailloux have had great AHL seasons with Roy even showing his game will translate at the NHL level. And I can go on a lot more if we start talking the prospect who haven't turned pro yet.

Like outside of Dach's injury this is pretty much the perfect rebuild season for us, a ton of growth, a top-10 pick, and we added a 1st round pick.

Since the All Star break, Montreal's actually been an average 5v5 team. Which for how bad this team has been since the bubble season is a big deal. A large part of that is a healthy Newhook and Roy being called up, but you can actually start to see where guys may fit on a competitive team. A top 6 next season of Slafkovsky, Szuki, Caufield, Roy, Dach and Newhook has a good chance of being pretty effective. Not necessarily playoff worthy, but definitely encouraging. And lower in the lineup guys like Evans, Gallagher, Armia and Anderson should be more effective. And that's if Dach is healthy and none of them take another step.

Adding more offensive talent is near or at the top of the list of needs, but the next really important step for the rebuild may actually be how the D develops. Someone other Guhle has to show more consistent top-3/4 caliber play.

 

[417]

Yeah I don't get the wasted season type comments. There has been some solid/steady growth from key players and from the overall team.

From a team perspective our record has gone from 0.335->0.415->0.455 and our 5 on 5 GF% has gone from 44.13%->44.75%->47.62%, our GAs has gone from 3.87->3.72->3.43. And the list goes on, we have seen improvement across the board.

In terms of individuals
Slafkovsky has taken a huge step forward and has been producing at a 60ish point pace for almost half a season
Caufield has added dimensions to his game and has set career highs in games and points
Suzuki has continued to improve and even if he doesn't hit ppg will have shown it's within reach
Newhook has had his best ppg season and looks like he's a legit top-6 guy
Xhekaj has taken some pretty big steps recently
Montembeault has shown last year wasn't a fluke
Roy and Mailloux have had great AHL seasons with Roy even showing his game will translate at the NHL level. And I can go on a lot more if we start talking the prospect who haven't turned pro yet.

Like outside of Dach's injury this is pretty much the perfect rebuild season for us, a ton of growth, a top-10 pick, and we added a 1st round pick.

The thing that gives me the most hope is that most of these improvements you've singled out, are incremental and substantive progress.

They're not outliers, it's not empty calories...like say what we saw with the Ottawa Senators during their "rebuild years", where they'd have Josh Norris scoring 35 goals in a losing season on a crazy shooting %, or them winning a bunch of games when there was no pressure.

A lot of the improvements we're seeing is sustainable and leaves room for even more growth.

 

[Rapala]

Honestly, outside of the Dach injury this season has gone almost exactly the way I expected and almost exactly the way management suggested.

It seems like a small, vocal portion of the fanbase expected Montreal to be much more competitive than either management or anyone outside Montreal expected. 2025 has been set up as the offseason that management can actually do something and all of their moves since their first offseason (2022) have reflected that. Hell, this is the first season you can actually start to see guys as being appropriate in certain roles on a competitive/contending team.

Caring about 3rd or 4th liners mid-rebuild also feels like a waste too. First of all, the priority must be developing an actual core, only guys like Bergevin care more about filling the 3rd line RW role over top pair D. Slaf's growth is important (as is Suzuki's and Caufield's more complete game), but take a broad view around the NHL and previous rebuilds and half the work for improving the bottom-3/bottom-6 is just pushing guys down to more appropriate roles.

Montreal's rebuild was a long time coming and also unavoidable. The lack of patience is expected, but still unwarranted.

I say wasted simply because Dach and Dvorak to some extent weren't available.
We have no idea how much pushing players down would move the needle.
I agree we are probably where I expected we would be which was always .500 with a healthy center line.

However what I don't believe is that pushing talent lower automatically makes our team better as some do.
I guess what I'm saying is next year will be the evaluation season I was expecting this year to be.
My expectations were that we would be flirting with the bubble and I don't see it now.
Doesn't mean I'm right. It's very possible we end up exactly where we are supposed to be in two years time.

 

[Rapala]

I find the media have a huge role in that. All the old dinosaurs on radio and TV are constantly parroting that the team needs to be competitive now, oblivious to what a rebuild entail. Remember when Gorton wasn't willing to talk about the ''p word'' ? I mean, I get it, they have to make money and fill air time, but I cannot help but roll my eyes when I hear all that jazz.​

To some extent but I always base my expectations on what is coming from the front office.
They clearly stated they want to be competitive next season.