Player Discussion Juraj Slafkovsky, the high offensive potential edition.

[waitin425]

If a fan here believed that Slafkovsky would become a 80-90pts player. Those fans need to evaluate themselves and maybe realise they cant assess prospects correctly.

Slaf will be a 45pts type of player who might in his absolute prime hit 60-65pts once or twice. But at the end of the day he’ll be a powerforward on a 3rd or 2nd line.

Yes. Everybody wish for Draisatl or Eantanen, but he never ever had their skillset. I wish i was 6’3 but im not. You cant be what you arent

EVERYBODY evaluate yourselves....SnapVirus has peered into his crystal ball and spoken!

 

[Whitesnake]

I mean you can say rantanen was given time to develop in the ahl but could you really see slaf going over ppg in the ahl last season like rantanen did in his d+1 year?

No. Which proves even more that Laval has to be the way to go. And if it's 2 years it takes, it will. Slaf isn't a No1 overall pick. He's not. The sooner we accept this, the easier we treat him as a normal prospect.

Everyone needs to chill and give the player time to develop.

Do you know who needs to chill the most? THE TEAM. Send him to Laval. That,s where he'll develop. Not under Montreal scrutiny expecting him to produce against the best players in the world.

The day that the team, those pros, the ones that know it all, decide that a player is good enough for the NHL, that's the day where they tell the people to start having expectations. Yes, being 1st overall, that already comes with expectations. But when this is done and we know what we have....and ESPECIALLY since Hughes said that we were not picking the best player NOW but down the road, why in the world would you put him in the NHL now...

 

[Andy]

Do you know who needs to chill the most? THE TEAM.

Do they need to chill though? Hughes specifically said they gave him non-production based milestones last year for his development and felt he was reaching them. It sounds like they have reasonable expectations for slaf that fans don't have.

 

[Whitesnake]

Do they need to chill though? Hughes specifically said they gave him non-production based milestones last year for his development and felt he was reaching them. It sounds like they have reasonable expectations for slaf that fans don't have.

Everybody should. But you cannot expect a fanbase in its entirety to be sane. And also, you cannot expect some of that fanbase that has seen a terrible team and FINALLY get a top end prospect to just wait 5 years to maybe see a Tage Thompson. It comes with the territory.

So in order to help such fans to chill down, you send him to Laval. And play him in a position that he will succeed. Laval should be strong up front this year. He will get his share of points. And that will calm down people....a little.

 

[Jaynki]

Everybody should. But you cannot expect a fanbase in its entirety to be sane. And also, you cannot expect some of that fanbase that has seen a terrible team and FINALLY get a top end prospect to just wait 5 years to maybe see a Tage Thompson. It comes with the territory.

So in order to help such fans to chill down, you send him to Laval. And play him in a position that he will succeed. Laval should be strong up front this year. He will get his share of points. And that will calm down people....a little.

What if there is more upside to his development to give him an early taste of the NHL?

We should not have to wait 5 years for Slafkovsky to show something. That he would not have been a 1st overall in most of the past draft is irrelevant. He is the 1st overall pick of the 2022 because he did stellar things in his draft year. Players picked 2-3-4-5 in the past years have struggled in their D+1 and became megastar.

This status comes with a prestige but also with a lot of pressure. And Slafkovsky inherited all of that. He has to rise to it and its perfectly ok. He is in a very very privilegied spot.

We are toxic as f*** as a fanbase but i know one thing, as toxic and disgusting we can be, if Slafkovsky fulfill his duty and his potential, he will rise to mega stardom like nowhere else. And we are 1-2 highlights and 1-2 dominant performance to totally flip.

 

[waitin425]

Did he get rekt or something?

 

[Whitesnake]

What if there is more upside to his development to give him an early taste of the NHL?

We should not have to wait 5 years for Slafkovsky to show something. That he would not have been a 1st overall in most of the past draft is irrelevant. He is the 1st overall pick of the 2022 because he did stellar things in his draft year. Players picked 2-3-4-5 in the past years have struggled in their D+1 and became megastar.

This status comes with a prestige but also with a lot of pressure. And Slafkovsky inherited all of that. He has to rise to it and its perfectly ok. He is in a very very privilegied spot.

We are toxic as f*** as a fanbase but i know one thing, as toxic and disgusting we can be, if Slafkovsky fulfill his duty and his potential, he will rise to mega stardom like nowhere else. And we are 1-2 highlights and 1-2 dominant performance to totally flip.

Stellar things....actually he had a great 15-game stretch in 2 tournaments. Nobody will ever think to say that Slafkovsky had a stellar regular season. Though he had a better playoff. Slafkovsky was not picked because he had a stellar year. He was picked because of his the ratio skills/size. He was picked because that Habs team want to get bigger. He was also picked because they had doubts in Wright's ability to bring it when it counts. And they didn't want a Cooley 'cause he was, for them, another small player.

He is a good player. He will be obviously better than he is. And should help us. But he won't be the best player of the draft. People should just accept it. And just concentrate on seeing him help the team in due time. Right now, the time is for development. In Laval.

 

[Scintillating10]

I thought Slaf did alright. He's 19, hasn't played since January.

 

[waitin425]

Stellar things....actually he had a great 15-game stretch in 2 tournaments. Nobody will ever think to say that Slafkovsky had a stellar regular season. Though he had a better playoff. Slafkovsky was not picked because he had a stellar year. He was picked because of his the ratio skills/size. He was picked because that Habs team want to get bigger. He was also picked because they had doubts in Wright's ability to bring it when it counts. And they didn't want a Cooley 'cause he was, for them, another small player.

He is a good player. He will be obviously better than he is. And should help us. But he won't be the best player of the draft. People should just accept it. And just concentrate on seeing him help the team in due time. Right now, the time is for development. In Laval.

I agree with you there....he won't be the best player from the draft. He will be the second best player from the draft, after.....

 

[BaseballCoach]

Slafkovsky ..... was also picked because they had doubts in Wright's ability to bring it when it counts. And they didn't want a Cooley 'cause he was, for them, another small player.

He is a good player. He will be obviously better than he is. And should help us. But he won't be the best player of the draft. People should just accept it. And just concentrate on seeing him help the team in due time. Right now, the time is for development. In Laval.

I'm not saying the right place is never Laval.

But Laval is not where you develop into an NHL star.

Laval is where you go if you are not able to handle a regular shift in the NHL yet, and need to start on the 5th-6th-7th line because you are not ready for the 3rd or 4th. Laval helps you develop into a marginal NHLer.

 

[BLONG7]

I'm not saying the right place is never Laval.

But Laval is not where you develop into an NHL star.

Laval is where you go if you are not able to handle a regular shift in the NHL yet, and need to start on the 5th-6th-7th line because you are not ready for the 3rd or 4th. Laval helps you develop into a marginal NHLer.

Price, Subban, Maxpac, Pleks all played in the AHL, so...............it warrants some conversation if he does not have a decent preseason.......that being said I think Slaf will be fine and everyone here can just relax.

 

[Deebs]

Price, Subban, Maxpac, Pleks all played in the AHL, so...............it warrants some conversation if he does not have a decent preseason.......that being said I think Slaf will be fine and everyone here can just relax.

Of course, there are countless examples of impact players getting time in the A. It doesn't ruin kids, it doesn't wreck their future, etc... If after the preseason it's determined he needs to go to Laval, then send him. Do what's best for the player and the team. They made a mistake last year and hopefully they've learned from it.

 

[Jaynki]

Price, Subban, Maxpac, Pleks all played in the AHL, so...............it warrants some conversation if he does not have a decent preseason.......that being said I think Slaf will be fine and everyone here can just relax.

Here is the twist.

Players dont get worse because they struggle in the NHL.

Players dont get better because they dominate the AHL.

Players are who they are and there is no recipe for success or right trajectory.

There is upside to have some players play in the NHL in 18. There is upside for others to marinate a bit in minor league.

 

[Tyson]

Of course, there are countless examples of impact players getting time in the A. It doesn't ruin kids, it doesn't wreck their future, etc... If after the preseason it's determined he needs to go to Laval, then send him. Do what's best for the player and the team. They made a mistake last year and hopefully they've learned from it.

What management does now in regards to Slafkovsky is hugely important

 

[Jaynki]

Of course, there are countless examples of impact players getting time in the A. It doesn't ruin kids, it doesn't wreck their future, etc... If after the preseason it's determined he needs to go to Laval, then send him. Do what's best for the player and the team. They made a mistake last year and hopefully they've learned from it.

There is no basis to affirm it was a mistake to keep him in the NHL.

The argument would be that it will ruin or slow his development.

How can we label it a mistake before having seen the result?

If Slafkovsky scores 20 goals and have 50 points this year, will it be a mistake to have had him in the NHL at 18yo?

 

[BLONG7]

Here is the twist.

Players dont get worse because they struggle in the NHL.

Players dont get better because they dominate the AHL.

Players are who they are and there is no recipe for success or right trajectory.

There is upside to have some players play in the NHL in 18. There is upside for others to marinate a bit in minor league.

Some great points................either way this kid needs time.............they knew this when they drafted him.

We won the lottery one year too soon........everyone knew this.
I think the kid will be fine, but some time is what he needs............no matter to me where he gets his confidence, and points...

 

[Jaynki]

Some great points................either way this kid needs time.............they knew this when they drafted him.

We won the lottery one year too soon........everyone knew this.
I think the kid will be fine, but some time is what he needs............no matter to me where he gets his confidence, and points...

Bedard will need time at some points too my dear. McDavid got rocked in his 1st season and it was not perfect at the start.

Of course Slaf will need time but i think we should not dissociate him from his 1st overall status even if he dont have the unanimous 1st overall status or the generational etiquette. He is still a special prospect.

Personally i think its okay to held Slaf to high standard. Lets just make it fair. 39 games in his 1st season is not. After this season we will have a plentygood data. He will already have 100+ NHL games.

 

[admiralcadillac]

If a fan here believed that Slafkovsky would become a 80-90pts player. Those fans need to evaluate themselves and maybe realise they cant assess prospects correctly.

Slaf will be a 45pts type of player who might in his absolute prime hit 60-65pts once or twice. But at the end of the day he’ll be a powerforward on a 3rd or 2nd line.

Yes. Everybody wish for Draisatl or Eantanen, but he never ever had their skillset. I wish i was 6’3 but im not. You cant be what you arent

So no fan who believes in an 80 point potential can evaluate prospects correctly but you can evaluate his entire career on the basis of 39 games? Look in the mirror.

 

[Wats]

Here is the twist.

Players dont get worse because they struggle in the NHL.

Players dont get better because they dominate the AHL.

Players are who they are and there is no recipe for success or right trajectory.

There is upside to have some players play in the NHL in 18. There is upside for others to marinate a bit in minor league.

Basically, if a player fails... management is just bad at drafting. Nothing could have stopped it, need to find people who can actually assess talent.

 

[Deebs]

There is no basis to affirm it was a mistake to keep him in the NHL.

The argument would be that it will ruin or slow his development.

How can we label it a mistake before having seen the result?

If Slafkovsky scores 20 goals and have 50 points this year, will it be a mistake to have had him in the NHL at 18yo?

Yes

 

[BLONG7]

Bedard will need time at some points too my dear. McDavid got rocked in his 1st season and it was not perfect at the start.

Of course Slaf will need time but i think we should not dissociate him from his 1st overall status even if he dont have the unanimous 1st overall status or the generational etiquette. He is still a special prospect.

Personally i think its okay to held Slaf to high standard. Lets just make it fair. 39 games in his 1st season is not. After this season we will have a plentygood data. He will already have 100+ NHL games.

We can hope, he stays healthy.......and then we can get a better idea of what he can do....

 

[Jaynki]

Basically, if a player fails... management is just bad at drafting. Nothing could have stopped it, need to find people who can actually assess talent.

There is other reason but yes players evaluation is the biggest one.

I will never buy the argument that a player busted because he has been rushed because there is no example to support that. But there is a lot of Kotkaniemi and Dach who have been rushed, mishandled and... it looks like they are growing into their potential and fulfilling it.

Drafting is very speculative especially after the first few picks. Its also full of variance and players are the first person responsible for the outcome of their career.

Organisation can certainly help. Development has to be optimised. But its first and foremost player evaluation but also luck.

Yes

Care to elaborate?

 

[417]

No. Which proves even more that Laval has to be the way to go. And if it's 2 years it takes, it will. Slaf isn't a No1 overall pick. He's not. The sooner we accept this, the easier we treat him as a normal prospect.

Question for you...do you know for sure that Laval is a better environment for Slafkovsky than playing for the Montreal Canadiens?

Is there a player currently on the roster, who spent time in Laval under Houle and his staff, and that we can all point to as empirical evidence that Laval is churning players out under Houle?

RHP maybe?
Ylonen?
Pezzetta?
Barron? (25 games)

Meanwhile...there's a bunch of players who skipped the AHL all together who acclimated to the NHL pretty well according to many here, who are currently on the roster

Suzuki
Caufield
Guhle
Xhekaj
Harris

Just a question - not a statement.

Do you know who needs to chill the most? THE TEAM. Send him to Laval. That,s where he'll develop. Not under Montreal scrutiny expecting him to produce against the best players in the world.

See above - is there evidence that this is a more proven method of developing players?

The day that the team, those pros, the ones that know it all, decide that a player is good enough for the NHL, that's the day where they tell the people to start having expectations. Yes, being 1st overall, that already comes with expectations. But when this is done and we know what we have....and ESPECIALLY since Hughes said that we were not picking the best player NOW but down the road, why in the world would you put him in the NHL now...

The organization clearly set what the level of expectation should be with Slafkovsky - they can't force people to listen or adopt that philosophy.

 

[Jaynki]

We can hope, he stays healthy.......and then we can get a better idea of what he can do....

Its the fun part. The rubber is about to meet the road. Lets hope we nailed this 1st pick. We need it.

RHP maybe?
Ylonen?
Pezzetta?
Barron?

Suzuki
Caufield
Guhle
Xhekaj
Harris

With which group does Slafkovsky fits better?

 

[Wats]

No. Which proves even more that Laval has to be the way to go. And if it's 2 years it takes, it will. Slaf isn't a No1 overall pick. He's not. The sooner we accept this, the easier we treat him as a normal prospect.


Do you know who needs to chill the most? THE TEAM. Send him to Laval. That,s where he'll develop. Not under Montreal scrutiny expecting him to produce against the best players in the world.

The day that the team, those pros, the ones that know it all, decide that a player is good enough for the NHL, that's the day where they tell the people to start having expectations. Yes, being 1st overall, that already comes with expectations. But when this is done and we know what we have....and ESPECIALLY since Hughes said that we were not picking the best player NOW but down the road, why in the world would you put him in the NHL now...

Exactly, he's a good prospect that may be a key part of the future but there's no need to pretend like he's a regular 1st overall pick. Comparisons to Jack Hughes is really silly. He was 2nd on his team in scoring in year 2... We all know Slaf won't even sniff at that.

If we're being completely honest, is he really better NHLer than Ylonen right now? If the answer is defending the fact that Slafkovsky got rare talent, showed some things last season, and will be elite one day... It doesn't answer the question truthfully. If Slafkovsky is not really better than Pinard/Ylonen right now, he shouldn't be in NHL until he is better than those AHL graduates.