HF Habs: What Kind Of Impact Does Slafkovsky need to have for rebuild to be successful?

[LyricalLyricist]

It’s all relative to the opportunity cost.

If he ends up Nathan Horton but best in his draft class then so be it. If he ends up the 20th best player in his draft year but drafted 1st overall it’s definitely a lost opportunity and blow to the rebuild.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Perry should have been given a long term contract, but Bergevin is too dumb to identify key veterans. Only signs the bad ones long term.

Holy 20/20 hindsight Batman!

They took a flier on a player that most thought was washed up and just spent his final gasp in Dallas Nobody was offering him anything which is why he settled for what appeared to be a non contender in Montreal and was not going to re-sign anyways.

 

[Rapala]

To me, Slafkovsky have skillest of a PPG player. Like Andrei Kostitsyn (basically same skillest). Talent of a PPG player aswell. The difference between Slaf and Kostitsyn, Slaf looks have so much better work ethic, better attitude, better at everything off ice. Be patient guys and girls, Slaf will be that type of player in 2 years.

Kostitsyn's game took a huge nose dive after he got obliterated while admiring a pass. Hopefully Slaf isn't fated to follow that same path.

 

[Dach Vader]

I'm not seeing it the same way..

I think the experience he gained last year will help him better prepare. He knows what to expect & what to work on.

I have high expectations from Chadkovsky. I see a player who could become the best forward on the team.

He just needs to touch the puck more. He'll get his chance soon.

 

[AlexGretzchenvid]

My questions is does he play with Monahan and Newhook?

I kind of like a line with him and Newhook

 

[LaP]

I think the rebuild depends on way more than just Slaf. That pick was never going to be a McJesus or God type player. It was always going to be a player needing to be surrounded no matter who we would have picked with it.

Right now we are missing a 1B center. Suzuki is not Crosby, Yzerman, Sakic, ... he'll need help from a solid 2nd line center who is almost as good as him. Can Dach become this guy? If not then we'll need to draft one this season. Will we finish low enough to do that?

Will Guhle or Reinbacher develop enough offensively to support the offense with Hutson (15G/50P)? If not we will need to draft another offensive dman ideally. Will Hutson becomes good enough defensively to not need to be sheltered (Markov type dman)?

Ideally we want Slaf to be a 30/60 big winger strong on forecheck and hard to remove from the puck with at least a 7+ years windows where he is able to do that. If he can becomes that then it will be a good pick. This kind of players are hard to find specially the ones with a prime lasting more than 3-5 years.

 

[Kaiden Ghoul]

If he score between 70 and 80 points while creating chaos around him, its a success

I can see a line where Slaf and Dach create space with their body and possession skill to open shooting lane for Caufield

 

[Twisted Sinister]

He needs to contribute to winning a cup.

Pretty easy... That's the end result of any successful rebuild.

 

[LaP]

The question of the pool is hard to answer. Nathan Horton was a playoffs beast, If Slaf becomes Norton without the injuries it's a success imo. If he becomes Norton with the injuries and short career then not sure.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

The question of the pool is hard to answer. Nathan Horton was a playoffs beast, If Slaf becomes Norton without the injuries it's a success imo. If he becomes Norton with the injuries and short career then not sure.

Maybe if we want him to stay healthy and not get any viruses we can get Norton indeed!

But yeah Horton was definitely a guy who took his game up a notch a la Rene Bourque.

 

[MON4NHLTOR4MLB]

Nathan Horton was an allstar at one point, I don’t think Slaf ever will be

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Nathan Horton was an allstar at one point, I don’t think Slaf ever will be

I’m encouraged by the work ethic. His biggest challenge is that he’s green. But he seems coachable. That’s a big plus.

I honestly don’t know what to expect. Im hopeful though.

 

[The Real Timo]

Slaf needs to score a GWG in game 7 of the SCF. Not that complicated.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Slaf needs to score a GWG in game 7 of the SCF. Not that complicated.

Not as important of course, but KK scored a game winning goal in Game 6 vs the Leafs and 9 goals in 29 playoff games as a 19-20 year old, and still got run out of town by the management.

 

[MarioLeMoose]

Not as important of course, but KK scored a game winning goal in Game 6 vs the Leafs and 9 goals in 29 playoff games as a 19-20 year old, and still got run out of town by the management.

He ran himself out of town. And then went on to score 3 goals in his next 29 playoff games as a 21-22yo. If Slaf is anything like KK than he is a bust

 

[BaseballCoach]

He ran himself out of town. And then went on to score 3 goals in his next 29 playoff games as a 21-22yo. If Slaf is anything like KK than he is a bust

He was absolutely run out of town by the lack of appreciation and patience.

An early extension could probably have been had at $2.5Mish if he got playing time and proper development.

All this being said, I agree that my expectaton of Slafkovsky is higher than Kotkaniemi's. My comment was just about the tongue-in-cheek comment that he had to score the Stanley cup winning goal............

 

[Habs Halifax]

He needs to be a 30 goal threat, provide a physical element, and 60-80 pts of production. If he can do that or more, he bumps us up more.

I don't care about the 80-100 pts narrative. If we have a deep top 9 with good special teams, we can win.

 

[BaseballCoach]

He needs to be a 30 goal threat, provide a physical element, and 60-80 pts of production. If he can do that or more, he bumps us up more.

I don't care about the 80-100 pts narrative. If we have a deep top 9 with good special teams, we can win.

I'll live with 31 goals 27 assists

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

“If Cutis Leschysyn and Daniel Dore don’t become top great players, was the rebuild a failure?”

- Quebec Nordiques forum 1988

 

[nhlfan9191]

He was absolutely run out of town by the lack of appreciation and patience.

An early extension could probably have been had at $2.5Mish if he got playing time and proper development.

All this being said, I agree that my expectaton of Slafkovsky is higher than Kotkaniemi's. My comment was just about the tongue-in-cheek comment that he had to score the Stanley cup winning goal............

I’m the opposite. My expectations for Slafkovsky are lower then I had for Kohtkaniemi. Where they were drafted doesn’t really change anything for me. If Slafkovsky becomes a productive top 6 player, I’ll be satisfied because I’m not convinced even a little right now.

 

[waitin425]

For some reason, my head hurts reading this OP.

 

[Rapala]

“If Cutis Leschysyn and Daniel Dore don’t become top great players, was the rebuild a failure?”

- Quebec Nordiques forum 1988

It may inevitably cause a re-location.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

For some reason, my head hurts reading this OP.

What's so hard to understand lol.

 

[waitin425]

What's so hard to understand lol.

I don't know....lol....like others have said though, the rebuild is not contingent upon Slaf topping out as Nathan Horton.

The question...."is our rebuild a failure if Slaf only tops out as Horton?" is confusing to me.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

I don't know....lol....like others have said though, the rebuild is not contingent upon Slaf topping out as Nathan Horton.

The question...."is our rebuild a failure if Slaf only tops out as Horton?" is confusing to me.

Some feel that way, I understand how the Horton component may feel arbitrary but the Habs direction thread and the Reinbacher threads were filled with people claiming we messed up the rebuild with our last 2 drafts.