Player Discussion The Slaf Thread - Parabolic Growth Edition

[Tabarouette]

who's moping? we were reminiscing about the toxic bullshit a handleful of slaf haters filled our boards at a childish and unbelievable rate. these, posters who cried and whined every f***ing post, trying to get people to join their crusade against an 18yo kid who's was just entering the nhl.. all so they can stroke their own egos and say that they were right?! ... talk about pathetic! grown ass men becoming so f***ing engrossed and obsessed with a teenage boy that it fills them up with literally and visceral hate? yup PATHETIC! LOL

But, our discussion was not directed at anyone in particular.. just about the overall cesspool this board had become because of the endless posts and then extreme one-uping both sides fell into at that time

I'm sorry that our discussion hurt your feelings and clearly caused a guilty ass negative reaction with in you.. but popping up now in a aggressive retort to a conversation that was just about the general toxicity around that time, is quite telling.

anyway thats the most effort i will be putting towards this clear bating bs... so hate on my hater! Cheers

idk man maybe it's your interpretation of what was being written, that's moping

for a minute there the only comparable we had to the level of play he was bringing was Yakupov, and so it was stated as such.
I know 417 thinks Slaf was literally never bad but that's just not true sadly. When he was bad, he was being called bad pretty fairly.

The other side of that conversation is that some people can't take any criticism on the beautiful, untouchable babies we draft while others like me are much harsher for what I consider to be pretty valid reasons, i'm pretty f***ing tired of suffering through wasted 1st picks and being told that i'm just not patient enough with dogshit players playing like dogshit, i.e: KK

After the all-star break it became a completely different story, the guy did a full 180 and i'm glad he did and i'm on board now, but i'm never gonna buy this revisionist "he showed all the signs" bs

 

[Rozz]

Hol' up. Nobody hated Slafkovsky, thats ridiculous lmao. He was playing like shit and the reactions were according to his play, not anything else.

For all I know people seemed more disappointed in the options available than the actual pick.

I'm sure YOU did not hate him..

but, claiming that all the posters were just being reasonable disappointed because Slafkovsky was shit at the time is just not accurate... sure there were some being like that cause that's how they saw it... but some post were definitely hate driven.

people can say they "don't hate" something or try to explain away their agression as reasonable because reason a or b...but when all that poster talks about, and obsesses about, is about one kid and how horrible or bad this kid is, low iq, wrong pick, blah blah blah ad nauseam.. their action would suggest otherwise. it's not just the words... its the actions and aggression that becomes telling af.

but it's all good now! Slafkovsky is a Beast... the reasonable people who were wrong about slaf maturely adjusted their opinions and moved on to cheering for our kid, and the immature toxic ones hide away waiting patiently for their next opportunity to bitch when he has a pointless game or makes a bad play.. so all is back to normal.

 

[Tabarouette]

Honestly this circles back to the conversation we've all had many times about expectations. Right now he's playing how i'd expect a 1st overall to play.

I totally expect him to pop off and turn into a near ppg player next season, that's kinda what's expected, a little under that could be fine too. But if he scores 50 points again in a similar context as this year? Then i'll be complaining and I apologize in advance, that's not what we tanked for

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

congrats on a great season, big man

 

[admiralcadillac]

Hol' up. Nobody hated Slafkovsky, thats ridiculous lmao. He was playing like shit and the reactions were according to his play, not anything else.

For all I know people seemed more disappointed in the options available than the actual pick.

There is a written record, and he wasn’t playing like shit.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

but it's all good now! Slafkovsky is a Beast... the reasonable people who were wrong about slaf maturely adjusted their opinions and moved on to cheering for our kid, and the immature toxic ones hide away waiting patiently for their next opportunity to bitch when he has a pointless game or makes a bad play.. so all is back to normal.

i ended up buying a jersey

 

[Habsfan18]

I acknowledged at the time of the draft that he was very much a boom or bust player. Risky selection. It was not the pick I would have made then. I think the majority of this board and Habs fans in general wouldn’t have made that pick at the time.

I’m sure as hell happy Kent and Jeff had the balls to do it. What a f***ing stud. Absolutely the right call.

 

[Tabarouette]

There is a written record, and he wasn’t playing like shit.

What's cool about metrics is that they exist and you can revisit them to see that he was, it's kinda like... a written record!

 

[Mrb1p]

There is a written record, and he wasn’t playing like shit.

Theres video evidence of him playing like absolute ass for a good 40-50 games.

I acknowledged at the time of the draft that he was very much a boom or bust player. Risky selection. It was not the pick I would have made then. I think the majority of this board and Habs fans in general wouldn’t have made that pick at the time.

I’m sure as hell happy Kent and Jeff had the balls to do it. What a f***ing stud. Absolutely the right call.

There was a vote made in march and only one person voted for Slaf, so all the virtue signaling is hilarious.

 

[Egresch]

Slaf parking his Gluteus Maximus in front of the net, Lane doing his Dirty dancing on blueline, I like that.

 

[Rozz]

idk man maybe it's your interpretation of what was being written, that's moping

for a minute there the only comparable we had to the level of play he was bringing was Yakupov, and so it was stated as such.
I know 417 thinks Slaf was literally never bad but that's just not true sadly. When he was bad, he was being called bad pretty fairly.

The other side of that conversation is that some people can't take any criticism on the beautiful, untouchable babies we draft while others like me are much harsher for what I consider to be pretty valid reasons, i'm pretty f***ing tired of suffering through wasted 1st picks and being told that i'm just not patient enough with dogshit players playing like dogshit, i.e: KK

After the all-star break it became a completely different story, the guy did a full 180 and i'm glad he did and i'm on board now, but i'm never gonna buy this revisionist "he showed all the signs" bs

belive me I'm not moping at all.. I'm a very happy guy

and I agree that there is extremes on both sides! ... and because of that, this place had become depressingly toxic .. as a happy guy, I was not gonna waste time reading childish and petty shit. which did suck cause I really enjoy this board and it's my go to pass time... that's not moping.. that's just calling it exactly what it was, as I am also not a revisionist.

I'm not sure what about that offended you or your objecting to.. I didn't say anything about people who were being reasonably let down or wanting to see more than he was showing. or the ones who were being level headed in their assement.. what I was calling out was the down right toxicity of these boards in general and the obsessiveness from a handful of people.

i don't really read the name of every post to see who posted what often... and I didn't call out anyone by name... so, if you took such objection to Wethreekings and I simply stating a few things about the toxicity around here during that time .. well thats more telling about your motivation and things you must of posted than anything I said.

I have no idea what you posted or said about him back then.. I'm far to lazy to go check the receipts, but if it was truly a reasonable "I'm cautiously waiting to get hyped because of x, y , or z .. then you are definitely not someone who I would consider to be toxic... and I love reading all the different opinions and takes.... helps me have a much more rounded and grounded approach in my views... but toxicity is toxicity... and at the end of last year and the beginning of this year this board was filled with it. thats the reality of it.

but this nerative has gone on long enough and I've made too many long ass post in this thread today, so I'm not gonna bog down the thread anymore.

I'm glad your on the slaf train and that this place is no longer in that toxic place!

 

[Tabarouette]

belive me I'm not moping at all.. I'm a very happy guy

and I agree that there is extremes on both sides! ... and because of that, this place had become depressingly toxic .. as a happy guy, I was not gonna waste time reading childish and petty shit. which did suck cause I really enjoy this board and it's my go to pass time... that's not moping.. that's just calling it exactly what it was, as I am also not a revisionist.

I'm not sure what about that offended you or your objecting to.. I didn't say anything about people who were being reasonably let down or wanting to see more than he was showing. or the ones who were being level headed in their assement.. what I was calling out was the down right toxicity of these boards in general and the obsessiveness from a handful of people.

i don't really read the name of every post to see who posted what often... and I didn't call out anyone by name... so, if you took such objection to Markovsknee and I simply stating a few things about the toxicity around here during that time .. well thats more telling about your motivation and things you must of posted than anything I said.

I have no idea what you posted or said about him back then.. I'm far to lazy to go check the receipts, but if it was truly a reasonable "I'm cautiously waiting to get hyped because of x, y , or z .. then you are definitely not someone who I would consider to be toxic... and I love reading all the different opinions and takes.... helps me have a much more rounded and grounded approach in my views... but toxicity is toxicity... and at the end of last year and the beginning of this year this board was filled with it. thats the reality of it.

but this nerative has gone on long enough and I've made too many long ass post in this thread today, so I'm not gonna bog down the thread anymore.

I'm glad your on the slaf train and that this place is no longer in that toxic place!

now that we're BFFs, let's get back to my other proposal of trading Caufield before it's too late

 

[Rozz]

now that we're BFFs, let's get back to my other proposal of trading Caufield before it's too late

...ok now you straight up playing, bestie!

but seriously though, why would you want to trade Caulfield?

edit.. this is the wrong thread for that.. I will see you over in that thread for that convo

 

[WeThreeKings]

I acknowledged at the time of the draft that he was very much a boom or bust player. Risky selection. It was not the pick I would have made then. I think the majority of this board and Habs fans in general wouldn’t have made that pick at the time.

I’m sure as hell happy Kent and Jeff had the balls to do it. What a f***ing stud. Absolutely the right call.

Slaf wasn't my pick but I do remember saying after the draft that Hughes and Gorton put their balls on the table and said, with Dach and Slaf we think we can develop and we think we can do it better than most in the NHL.

It looks so far that they were right.

 

[EtLeBut2]

I got to give him a ton of credit for proving me wrong in the second half of this year. The talent was always there but before then he just seemed lost out there when everything wasn't going right for him.

He still needs to define his role as one of my concerns with him that remains is he seems torn between wearing different caps that he's all good at (playmaker, goal scoring power forward, utility forward), but he's become a much better playmaker especially.

 

[Schooner Guy]

There was a vote made in march and only one person voted for Slaf, so all the virtue signaling is hilarious.

March was before Slaf had a great Worlds that reaffirmed his play in the Olympics. It was also before Wright had a disappointing OHL playoff. It was also long before he took over #1 on Bob McKenzie's final poll of NHL scouts/execs.

The better written records are the ones leading up to the draft and the ones that took place for 18 months after that draft.

 

[Sorinth]

Honestly this circles back to the conversation we've all had many times about expectations. Right now he's playing how i'd expect a 1st overall to play.

I totally expect him to pop off and turn into a near ppg player next season, that's kinda what's expected, a little under that could be fine too. But if he scores 50 points again in a similar context as this year? Then i'll be complaining and I apologize in advance, that's not what we tanked for

Yes it's about expectations, and for those who were wrong about Slaf then they should probably revisit those expectations because chances are it was those expectations that were wrong.

Like just look at a 1st OA we all wish we had in MacKinnon, you know what his D+3 year production was 52 points in 72 games, his D+4 production, 53 points in 82 games. Yet you seem somehow confident that if Slaf only gets 50 points next year it's a problem and a sign he's a bad 1st OA pick whose not meeting expectations.

 

[Rozz]

Theres video evidence of him playing like absolute ass for a good 40-50 games.


There was a vote made in march and only one person voted for Slaf, so all the virtue signaling is hilarious.

to your first point... I didn't see it quite the same way. I feel he played semi disappointingly for about half of that.. while showing glimpses of the skills and potential... mostly in the fiest year ...the other half I'd say he had good - great games where he clearly showed that he was or was starting to be a dominant force but wasn't always getting rewarded with points.

the second point is accurate! I was definitely on the Wright train at the draft. I was worried about his ceiling and offense... i didn't watch his liiga games so I didn't know much about him and listened to the detractors and let them sway my opinion. but we drafted him and I said I'd cautiously be hoping he proves me wrong.

I was worried a bit in the first year with the head hits and looking a lost some nighs. and I was one of the AHL path supporters.. but I'm so damn happy with this kid now! he's such a f***ing beast

 

[FrankMTL]

Slaf wasn't my pick but I do remember saying after the draft that Hughes and Gorton put their balls on the table and said, with Dach and Slaf we think we can develop and we think we can do it better than most in the NHL.

It looks so far that they were right.

Even before the draft, I remember that you really liked the player and the potential but didn't necessarily trust the Habs to develop him properly. I didn't either for the record.

 

[MarioLeMoose]

What do we all think should be Slaf's major focus this off season? what does he need to work on? What can he improve?
Obviously we see this kid has what it takes to put in the work. Really looking forward to seeing what kind of player he turns into. Feels like the sky is the limit

 

[Mrb1p]

What do we all think should be Slaf's major focus this off season? what does he need to work on? What can he improve?
Obviously we see this kid has what it takes to put in the work. Really looking forward to seeing what kind of player he turns into. Feels like the sky is the limit

Just being faster and bigger while working on his shot. He's already an A grade passer, his defensive game is good too. He'll never be Suzuki IQ wise but Suzuki wishes he had the physical package Slaf has. Maxing those stats is very important, over bridging the IQ gap.

 

[Rozz]

What do we all think should be Slaf's major focus this off season? what does he need to work on? What can he improve?
Obviously we see this kid has what it takes to put in the work. Really looking forward to seeing what kind of player he turns into. Feels like the sky is the limit

keep working his shot and accuracy, overpowering and driving through opponents and dangles ... I want dangles for days!

also puck protection... he's already very good but I think with his drive to improve and put in work, he can become absolutely elite here... like top 5 kinda guy you just can't get the puck off. you already see it at times at 19/20yo!

 

[417]

idk man maybe it's your interpretation of what was being written, that's moping

for a minute there the only comparable we had to the level of play he was bringing was Yakupov, and so it was stated as such.
I know 417 thinks Slaf was literally never bad but that's just not true sadly. When he was bad, he was being called bad pretty fairly.

From November 2023

Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

Slaf is still getting used to NA hockey. My take was always this league is not a great place to acclimatize a raw Euro to this style of game. He's definitely taking strides in the right direction and I don't know who could argue the point.

forums.hfboards.com

(edit, some of y'all may want to avoid this thread, just saying)

I've got a lot more posts where i'm critiquing his play.

There was even a stretch earlier this season where I was advocating for him to have a stint in the AHL.

Please don't try to re-write history because you don't sit on the right side of it.

The other side of that conversation is that some people can't take any criticism on the beautiful, untouchable babies we draft while others like me are much harsher for what I consider to be pretty valid reasons, i'm pretty f***ing tired of suffering through wasted 1st picks and being told that i'm just not patient enough with dogshit players playing like dogshit, i.e: KK

After the all-star break it became a completely different story, the guy did a full 180 and i'm glad he did and i'm on board now, but i'm never gonna buy this revisionist "he showed all the signs" bs

Criticism is one thing, what many here were doing is a whole other.

 

[BaseballCoach]

20 goals and 50 points is an outstanding season.

Especially since so much of the production was backloaded, rather than having a fast start and then a slow fizzle like say Matthew Poitras.

 

[417]

idk man maybe it's your interpretation of what was being written, that's moping

for a minute there the only comparable we had to the level of play he was bringing was Yakupov, and so it was stated as such.
I know 417 thinks Slaf was literally never bad but that's just not true sadly. When he was bad, he was being called bad pretty fairly.

The other side of that conversation is that some people can't take any criticism on the beautiful, untouchable babies we draft while others like me are much harsher for what I consider to be pretty valid reasons, i'm pretty f***ing tired of suffering through wasted 1st picks and being told that i'm just not patient enough with dogshit players playing like dogshit, i.e: KK

After the all-star break it became a completely different story, the guy did a full 180 and i'm glad he did and i'm on board now, but i'm never gonna buy this revisionist "he showed all the signs" bs

Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

Wright is in the AHL putting up pt/game at 19 like he should be... Slaf has 1 point in his last 24 games in the NHL. In that span he only has 21 shots and a -13. Not sure what he is learning in the NHL when the last time he scored a goal was 11 months ago. But sure, we're complainers. Canes...

forums.hfboards.com

Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

Wright is in the AHL putting up pt/game at 19 like he should be... Slaf has 1 point in his last 24 games in the NHL. In that span he only has 21 shots and a -13. Not sure what he is learning in the NHL when the last time he scored a goal was 11 months ago. But sure, we're complainers. Canes...

forums.hfboards.com

Juraj Slafkovsky - Year Two

In b4 “take it to the Slaf thread” lock. Last girl that told me to go down “NOW” I ended up spending 22 years with so I agree. Somehow the first time i read this i read "Last girl that told me to go down “NOW” I ended up spending 22 years in prison" and i was like WTF lol

forums.hfboards.com

Stop playin' with me man lol

This isn't critiquing a player's game...please don't try to re-write history that's already been written.