HF Habs: Your Thoughts on the 2022 Class

[Rapala]

It's not like Wright can't go on to have a good to exceptional career. I think we can, however, put to bed the concern that we passed on an elite level prospect having a down year after the pandemic absences.

Now we need Slaf to come out next season and give us reason to believe we haven't avoided one pitfall only to fall into another.

 

[CHwest]

Cooley will end up being the best of all. A kind of Point-Aho type of center. I think Slaf has lots of growing up to make. His maturity and hockey IQ don't match yet his physical shell. It is good that Hughes acquired Dach as his new big centre man.... Or Dubois down the road.

That would hurt.

 

[Sam de Mtl]

That would hurt.

It depends. If Slaf becomes a really good winger, we won't need to care what other players become. It's too early to tell one way or another.

 

[Habnot]

imagine if Cooley becomes the stud of that draft, and we also passed on Tkachuk , gave up Sergachev etc etc.. the team on mismanaged draft picks and prospects this org could build would be epic. Im my dream world Molson does NOT own this team and a real owner that cares about the on-ice product is here instead. I think GG cared more about the product then little Geoffy by a mile. Letting Bergevin destroy this franchise for that long is just an epic slap in the face to the fans, who apparently don't care either since they continue to show up and pay for this joke of a team

Oh my....the verdict is in. Seriously, can we wait at least a couple of years before we reserve judgement?

As for Cooley - not sure how he would fit. We didn't need another undersized forward. Would he play ahead of Suzuki or Dach who are still young? Cooley also benefited by playing o the best college team with a stacked line. Slaf was playing against the best of the best and had stretches of good play.

And KK/Tkachuk - notice how the gap is starting to shrink?

 

[Habs]

Oh my....the verdict is in. Seriously, can we wait at least a couple of years before we reserve judgement?

As for Cooley - not sure how he would fit. We didn't need another undersized forward. Would he play ahead of Suzuki or Dach who are still young? Cooley also benefited by playing o the best college team with a stacked line. Slaf was playing against the best of the best and had stretches of good play.

And KK/Tkachuk - notice how the gap is starting to shrink?

Um, nobody on this planet would think that gap is shrinking, Brady is 20x the player KK is. KK struggles on a loaded Canes team. Put both on a weak team and which player would you rather rebuild with? 10/10 its Brady all day long.

 

[le_sean]

Cooley will end up being the best of all. A kind of Point-Aho type of center. I think Slaf has lots of growing up to make. His maturity and hockey IQ don't match yet his physical shell. It is good that Hughes acquired Dach as his new big centre man.... Or Dubois down the road.

Maybe close to Point/Aho offensively, but no way will he be trusted with the extra responsibilities that those two take on. I see him more as a JT Miller.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

Um, nobody on this planet would think that gap is shrinking, Brady is 20x the player KK is. KK struggles on a loaded Canes team. Put both on a weak team and which player would you rather rebuild with? 10/10 its Brady all day long.

Ottawa has just as good top 6 forwards as Carolina especially with Svechnikov out. Tkachuk plays on the 1st line. KK plays on the 2nd with worse players and little PP time. Still a relatively big gap but less than it was a year ago. Tkachuk provides more than points but I am still waiting for a Tkachuk to win something.

 

[Habs]

Ottawa has just as good top 6 forwards as Carolina especially with Svechnikov out. Tkachuk plays on the 1st line. KK plays on the 2nd with worse players and little PP time. Still a relatively big gap but less than it was a year ago. Tkachuk provides more than points but I am still waiting for a Tkachuk to win something.

What exactly does Brady have to win to prove he's better than KK? lol.

 

[c3z4r]

Ottawa has just as good top 6 forwards as Carolina especially with Svechnikov out. Tkachuk plays on the 1st line. KK plays on the 2nd with worse players and little PP time. Still a relatively big gap but less than it was a year ago. Tkachuk provides more than points but I am still waiting for a Tkachuk to win something.

Funny enough, there's a bigger gap this season compared to last year between the two, at least in terms of points. So from a stats perspective, the gap has actually widened.

 

[David Suzuki]

I think Brady is still overrated by a fair margin but he's lightyears better than bambi lol.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Engstrom - will be the draft steal. He’ll be a Hab.

Perhaps. But taking Engstrom before Isaiah George will be a move that we will rue for a long time.

 

[Whitesnake]

I always have a great confidence in Slaf. Whether we think he will or won't be the best guy doesn't change the fact that he will be a very good player nonetheless. 30-35 goals. Play with physicality. Kid will evolve. I mean, honestly, I'd have him start in the AHL. But it won't happen. But it should. He gains his confidence back and he'll never look back.

 

[dcyhabs]

imagine if Cooley becomes the stud of that draft, and we also passed on Tkachuk , gave up Sergachev etc etc.. the team on mismanaged draft picks and prospects this org could build would be epic. Im my dream world Molson does NOT own this team and a real owner that cares about the on-ice product is here instead. I think GG cared more about the product then little Geoffy by a mile. Letting Bergevin destroy this franchise for that long is just an epic slap in the face to the fans, who apparently don't care either since they continue to show up and pay for this joke of a team

I’m not a Molson fan but Gillette only cared about sucking money out of the team. He made sure not to screw up enough to drop his selling price but he didn’t care about the habs.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Interesting piece of The Athletic Habs player poll.. Juraj got a lot of votes for one of the strongest in the gym and that he will get even stronger.

Give him time, he might be a tough player to handle.

 

[nhlfan9191]

I think Brady is still overrated by a fair margin but he's lightyears better than bambi lol.

Brady is what we hope Slaf could be from a production stand point. And he was right there to be drafted in 2018. Hindsight’s a b****.

 

[David Suzuki]

Brady is what we hope Slaf could be from a production stand point. And he was right there to be drafted in 2018. Hindsight’s a b****.

I still prefer Quinn Hughes but he's a good player and a hell of a lot better than what we got lol

 

[TheYardMachine]

Interesting piece of The Athletic Habs player poll.. Juraj got a lot of votes for one of the strongest in the gym and that he will get even stronger.

Give him time, he might be a tough player to handle.

Although the main concern isnt his physical strenght but his worrysome hockey IQ which is the hardest thing to improve

 

[Scintillating10]

Hutson made our draft. Other than that is was underwhelming draft. Slaf looks 4 or 5 years away. He has long ways to go. If he misses much time to injury, which decent chance he could, he could busts. Beck is future bottom 6 center. Mesar the only reason I can see we picked him was the Slovakia connection. I had Hutson with our 25th pick. Minten at 33. I wanted Ty Nelson with our 66th pick. But that was traded for Dach . I probably take Nelson with Oilers 2nd. I also keep Islanders 13th, or trade it for first in this upcoming draft. Then trade it for Dubois. Or Dach if he still available. Either or, Dubois or Dach not much difference to me. Dach good player but really wanted Bedard or Fantilli.

 

[ReHabs]

Although the main concern isnt his physical strenght but his worrysome hockey IQ which is the hardest thing to improve

Yevgeni Artyukhin at eliteprospects.com

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Yevgeni Artyukhin, 1983-04-04 Moskva, RUS Russia. Most recently in the KHL with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

Remember him? The downside case of Slaf is this guy.

God knows what the upside case could look like -- we've seen many names bandied about, from Jagr to Hossa to B. Tkachuk to Rantanen to Rick Nash, etc. Hopefully next year we see some really exciting things from Slaf which will give us confidence in his trajectory and growth as a skilled forward.

 

[Vachon23]

How can Slafkovsky who is playing in the NHL can be considered a bust but Lane Hutson is the steal of the draft when he’s still in the NCAA and never played a game in the NHL ??

 

[Doublechin]

The alarmist views towards Slafkovsky are overkill. People are pretending that 18 year Olds always come in and dominate. I, personally had so much expectation towards Mackinnon that by year 3 I almost wrote him off as a 2nd liner at best.

Mind you, this coming from someone that preferred Cooley and Nemec last year overall

 

[Gustave]

The problem isn't the pick per say, it's the ridiculous notion that an 18 year old euro comes in on small NA ice and play against the best of the best. Sink or swim approach. Geez guys, how about you develop him instead of having him not knowing what to do half of the time.

He missed out on so many phases of development.. small ice, more contacts, style of play, WJC opportunity, take a leadership role, get mature at his own rhythm, etc etc.

They better take care of this next season.

 

[River Meadow]

The problem isn't the pick per say, it's the ridiculous notion that an 18 year old euro comes in on small NA ice and play against the best of the best. Sink or swim approach. Geez guys, how about you develop him instead of having him not knowing what to do half of the time.

He missed out on so many phases of development.. small ice, more contacts, style of play, WJC opportunity, take a leadership role, get mature at his own rhythm, etc etc.

They better take care of this next season.

It's absolutely sickening how we amateur folk on HFBOARDS see this but our mgnmt think they are right.

MAYBE they are but it's sure hard to believe that seeing how darn raw Slaf looks out there playing against NHL players....

 

[Mrb1p]

How can Slafkovsky who is playing in the NHL can be considered a bust but Lane Hutson is the steal of the draft when he’s still in the NCAA and never played a game in the NHL ??

I mean, was Kotkaniemi a better pospect than Quinn Hughes and Noah Dobson? He was in the NHL at 18 and did infinitely better than Slaf.

 

[ReHabs]

How can Slafkovsky who is playing in the NHL can be considered a bust but Lane Hutson is the steal of the draft when he’s still in the NCAA and never played a game in the NHL ??

Slaf is not a bust and there is no way anybody can claim such a thing and have any credibility.

With that said, he did not earn a spot on the NHL roster (he was outplayed by both Beck and Mesar) and was behind the play a significant enough amount of times that almost every Habs fan would admit he looked unprepared or “raw”. So his playing in the NHL the past season is not indicative of his trajectory or quality, the Habs would’ve rushed Wright or Nemec or Jiricek if they had drafted any of them too. Cooley was likely committed to the NCAA and would’ve been spared such a fate.