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Post by BigTed3 on Dec 31, 2023 14:31:40 GMT
I can see how the NHL makes that hit on Slaf a grey zone because of its rules. The NHL vaguely defines its hit to the head rules as being illegal if the PRIMARY point of contact is the head. In this case, I think it was, in that the head absorbs most of the force of the blow. But it's also the case that Noesen makes contact with Slaf's body, and the NHL sees this as being legal a lot of the time. They kind of ignore the fact that the head is hit and say that Slaf was hit all over and therefore it wasn't a pick of the head.
The IIHF, on the other hand, makes illegal any contact to the head. So it's not a question of what got hit first or what got hit hardest or what else you hit while making contact to the head. It's just an automatic penalty if you contact a guy's head. This is 100% the right way to do things. Who cares if you also got a bit of the shoulder or chest? If you drive that much force into an opponent's head, it doesn't prevent a concussion just because you also touched something else. The IIHF has it right. Football is the same. You hit a quarterback or defenseless receiver in the head and it's a penalty. They don't care if you also tackle the player's body doing it. Betmman and company, and I've said this before, do not care in the least what happens to their players and their health. If they did, headshots would be removed in their entirety. But the NHL is too concerned with whether that will cause players to it less or slow the game down if they have to think about the consequences of their actions, so they don't do it. Sell the game first, safety second.
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Post by maasart on Jan 2, 2024 19:36:23 GMT
So slaf has 13 points in 36 games now - so, 46 more games to go (assuming he stays healthy)... what do we think he'll end the year with?
He's really hit a groove since the promotion to the top line about 10 games ago. Took a couple but in the last 7 games he's got 6 points. I obviously do not expect him to continue that pace (although its possible and would be very nice!) but i do think he could probably average 4 points every 7 games which would be around 26 more points for the year.
I think, if everyone stays healthy on that top line, he has a legit chance of hitting 35-40 points for the season which would be a huge confidence builder for him. He's looked like a completely different player the last month or so & boy is it a welcome change. If Caufield can actually start finishing again that would really help!
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Post by BigTed3 on Jan 2, 2024 20:13:21 GMT
So slaf has 13 points in 36 games now - so, 46 more games to go (assuming he stays healthy)... what do we think he'll end the year with? He's really hit a groove since the promotion to the top line about 10 games ago. Took a couple but in the last 7 games he's got 6 points. I obviously do not expect him to continue that pace (although its possible and would be very nice!) but i do think he could probably average 4 points every 7 games which would be around 26 more points for the year. I think, if everyone stays healthy on that top line, he has a legit chance of hitting 35-40 points for the season which would be a huge confidence builder for him. He's looked like a completely different player the last month or so & boy is it a welcome change. If Caufield can actually start finishing again that would really help!
Whether he stays healthy or not is a big question on this team. But assuming he plays at least 75 total games for the year, I think he'll finish up around 33-35 points. Maybe a tad under 0.5 PPG the rest of the way... I'm not so concerned about assists to be honest, but I'd really like to see him start to score more goals. That's what we really need out of him, and if he becomes a legit scoring threat, it likely starts to open more shooting lanes for CC.
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Post by ramcharger440 on Jan 2, 2024 20:23:16 GMT
So slaf has 13 points in 36 games now - so, 46 more games to go (assuming he stays healthy)... what do we think he'll end the year with? He's really hit a groove since the promotion to the top line about 10 games ago. Took a couple but in the last 7 games he's got 6 points. I obviously do not expect him to continue that pace (although its possible and would be very nice!) but i do think he could probably average 4 points every 7 games which would be around 26 more points for the year. I think, if everyone stays healthy on that top line, he has a legit chance of hitting 35-40 points for the season which would be a huge confidence builder for him. He's looked like a completely different player the last month or so & boy is it a welcome change. If Caufield can actually start finishing again that would really help!
Whether he stays healthy or not is a big question on this team. But assuming he plays at least 75 total games for the year, I think he'll finish up around 33-35 points. Maybe a tad under 0.5 PPG the rest of the way... I'm not so concerned about assists to be honest, but I'd really like to see him start to score more goals. That's what we really need out of him, and if he becomes a legit scoring threat, it likely starts to open more shooting lanes for CC.
100% We need him to score the assists are nice though but he has such a good shot!
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Post by ChiLla on Jan 3, 2024 9:16:37 GMT
It appears that Slafkovsky is really coming into his own recently, on top of his assist he was directly involved in two other goals last night, so it could have easily been a multi-point night for him. I want to see more goals but it's still a nice point streak and I feel that he's complementing both Caufield and Suzuki quite well. Once he learns to play a bit more selfishly, i.e. taking shots himself instead of always thinking pass-first, watch out. I do think his release needs some work, the one-timer is solid but I don't like his wrister – that's fixable to a certain extent though so there's still a lot of room for growth.
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Post by maasart on Jan 3, 2024 18:52:07 GMT
It appears that Slafkovsky is really coming into his own recently, on top of his assist he was directly involved in two other goals last night, so it could have easily been a multi-point night for him. I want to see more goals but it's still a nice point streak and I feel that he's complementing both Caufield and Suzuki quite well. Once he learns to play a bit more selfishly, i.e. taking shots himself instead of always thinking pass-first, watch out. I do think his release needs some work, the one-timer is solid but I don't like his wrister – that's fixable to a certain extent though so there's still a lot of room for growth. He's always been a playmaking winger but i agree, he has the tools to be a more dynamic scorer if he shoots more. The nice thing is that he's not just "on a line with good players" he's one of those good players so he's making Suzuki and Caufield better too. The very first game in this stretch they played together they didnt score any points but you could tell there was something special happening. I see them feeding off of each other and growing as a unit. Suzuki, after a really slow start to the year is now on pace for 75 points. Caufield 60+ but we need to figure out why he's not scoring goals more than points. Slaf is only going to help those 2 and thats really refreshing.
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Post by ramcharger440 on Jan 3, 2024 19:03:22 GMT
It appears that Slafkovsky is really coming into his own recently, on top of his assist he was directly involved in two other goals last night, so it could have easily been a multi-point night for him. I want to see more goals but it's still a nice point streak and I feel that he's complementing both Caufield and Suzuki quite well. Once he learns to play a bit more selfishly, i.e. taking shots himself instead of always thinking pass-first, watch out. I do think his release needs some work, the one-timer is solid but I don't like his wrister – that's fixable to a certain extent though so there's still a lot of room for growth. He's always been a playmaking winger but i agree, he has the tools to be a more dynamic scorer if he shoots more. The nice thing is that he's not just "on a line with good players" he's one of those good players so he's making Suzuki and Caufield better too. The very first game in this stretch they played together they didnt score any points but you could tell there was something special happening. I see them feeding off of each other and growing as a unit. Suzuki, after a really slow start to the year is now on pace for 75 points. Caufield 60+ but we need to figure out why he's not scoring goals more than points. Slaf is only going to help those 2 and thats really refreshing. The power play goal CC scored was a thing of beauty! Slaf had a lot to do with it along the boards then to Monahan then Nick and then to CC it was really a great job by all those players! on Nicks goal Slaf was a force again! and as for CC he seems to be in the zone now he has scored a few here and he seems to be back in the dirty areas, he was kind of floating before I think the break gave him some time to focus and he looks to be back on track. On this line we have to remember Nick has a few seasons but CC and Slaf are still just getting started but they look like they are going to be a really good line for us and they seem to have gelled!
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Post by maasart on Jan 3, 2024 22:21:32 GMT
He's always been a playmaking winger but i agree, he has the tools to be a more dynamic scorer if he shoots more. The nice thing is that he's not just "on a line with good players" he's one of those good players so he's making Suzuki and Caufield better too. The very first game in this stretch they played together they didnt score any points but you could tell there was something special happening. I see them feeding off of each other and growing as a unit. Suzuki, after a really slow start to the year is now on pace for 75 points. Caufield 60+ but we need to figure out why he's not scoring goals more than points. Slaf is only going to help those 2 and thats really refreshing. The power play goal CC scored was a thing of beauty! Slaf had a lot to do with it along the boards then to Monahan then Nick and then to CC it was really a great job by all those players! on Nicks goal Slaf was a force again! and as for CC he seems to be in the zone now he has scored a few here and he seems to be back in the dirty areas, he was kind of floating before I think the break gave him some time to focus and he looks to be back on track. On this line we have to remember Nick has a few seasons but CC and Slaf are still just getting started but they look like they are going to be a really good line for us and they seem to have gelled! Yup. Nick: 328 games Cole: 160 Juraj: 76
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Post by graeme on Jan 7, 2024 23:28:50 GMT
I hadn't been able to watch any games for the last month or so until last night and ... is this the same player?
I had read some articles from Arpon and others saying how his advanced stats had gone from below replacement level to near-elite, so I wasn't totally surprised, but really interesting to see it with my own eyes.
If Slaf can be a legitimate top-line winger (obviously still a ways to go: needs to convert the good play to more points), it really changes my optimism level about our young core and prospect pipeline that has lots of depth but questionable top-end talent.
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Post by BigTed3 on Jan 8, 2024 3:00:38 GMT
I hadn't been able to watch any games for the last month or so until last night and ... is this the same player? I had read some articles from Arpon and others saying how his advanced stats had gone from below replacement level to near-elite, so I wasn't totally surprised, but really interesting to see it with my own eyes. If Slaf can be a legitimate top-line winger (obviously still a ways to go: needs to convert the good play to more points), it really changes my optimism level about our young core and prospect pipeline that has lots of depth but questionable top-end talent. There's a real change in how he's played since he got that promotion to the top line. He's still not scoring goals regularly, but he has been tremendous on the forecheck and at winning puck battles. He's using his size, he's using his reach, and he's playing with confidence. So yes, I would say he has started to look like a player who will be a top 6 guy after all. Is he going to end up being a 20-goal man or a 30-40 goal man? Too early to tell. But there has been definite progression in the past few weeks.
Long-term, I'm still not sure that the current line is the optimal solution though. I like Slafkovsky with Caufield because they do different things well. But I think once Dach is healthy, going back to CC-Dach-Slaf might be what turns Cole into a 40-goal scorer. Suzuki needs to find different linemates he can gel with, and I wonder whether Heineman or Ylonen becomes one of those guys down the line. Maybe Roy. Maybe someone we haven't drafted yet.
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Post by graeme on Jan 8, 2024 3:24:40 GMT
I hadn't been able to watch any games for the last month or so until last night and ... is this the same player? I had read some articles from Arpon and others saying how his advanced stats had gone from below replacement level to near-elite, so I wasn't totally surprised, but really interesting to see it with my own eyes. If Slaf can be a legitimate top-line winger (obviously still a ways to go: needs to convert the good play to more points), it really changes my optimism level about our young core and prospect pipeline that has lots of depth but questionable top-end talent. There's a real change in how he's played since he got that promotion to the top line. He's still not scoring goals regularly, but he has been tremendous on the forecheck and at winning puck battles. He's using his size, he's using his reach, and he's playing with confidence. So yes, I would say he has started to look like a player who will be a top 6 guy after all. Is he going to end up being a 20-goal man or a 30-40 goal man? Too early to tell. But there has been definite progression in the past few weeks.
Long-term, I'm still not sure that the current line is the optimal solution though. I like Slafkovsky with Caufield because they do different things well. But I think once Dach is healthy, going back to CC-Dach-Slaf might be what turns Cole into a 40-goal scorer. Suzuki needs to find different linemates he can gel with, and I wonder whether Heineman or Ylonen becomes one of those guys down the line. Maybe Roy. Maybe someone we haven't drafted yet.
Ya fortunately the question is moving back from how low his floor is (I'm sure I wasn't the only one worrying earlier this season we may have an all-time bust on our hands) to how high the ceiling might be. I don't think anyone expects him to be winning Hart trophies, but hard to know if he's going to be a true top-line winger or more of a second-line guy.
And ya, Dach returning (and hopefully a couple wingers stepping up) should open up new line options. Given we are unlikely to have any top-ten forwards in our system, having a couple wingers hit their ceilings so we have almost two 1a lines might be our only chance.
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Post by maasart on Jan 8, 2024 18:47:26 GMT
There's a real change in how he's played since he got that promotion to the top line. He's still not scoring goals regularly, but he has been tremendous on the forecheck and at winning puck battles. He's using his size, he's using his reach, and he's playing with confidence. So yes, I would say he has started to look like a player who will be a top 6 guy after all. Is he going to end up being a 20-goal man or a 30-40 goal man? Too early to tell. But there has been definite progression in the past few weeks.
Long-term, I'm still not sure that the current line is the optimal solution though. I like Slafkovsky with Caufield because they do different things well. But I think once Dach is healthy, going back to CC-Dach-Slaf might be what turns Cole into a 40-goal scorer. Suzuki needs to find different linemates he can gel with, and I wonder whether Heineman or Ylonen becomes one of those guys down the line. Maybe Roy. Maybe someone we haven't drafted yet.
Ya fortunately the question is moving back from how low his floor is (I'm sure I wasn't the only one worrying earlier this season we may have an all-time bust on our hands) to how high the ceiling might be. I don't think anyone expects him to be winning Hart trophies, but hard to know if he's going to be a true top-line winger or more of a second-line guy.
And ya, Dach returning (and hopefully a couple wingers stepping up) should open up new line options. Given we are unlikely to have any top-ten forwards in our system, having a couple wingers hit their ceilings so we have almost two 1a lines might be our only chance.
Definitely night and day. Last year he looked unsure but you could see moments where you thought "there's potential there" but then the beginning of the year once Dach went down - especially when he was playing on lines like Slaf-Newhook-Anderson he looked absolutely lost at times. I remember him just standning in the neutral zone, pivoting on the spot & thinking "does he even know where he's supposed to be??" But clearly the coaching staff knew what they were doing (getting him to work on *something* because once they bumped him to the top line a month ago or so, its been a different player. He may still end up being an underwhelming 1st overall but thats the draft we were dealt. If you look at 2012 for example, the top picks were all horrible - Yakupov, Murray, Galchenyuk, Reinhart... In slaf, i think we may look back on it like we walked away with Foresberg (who went 11th that year I think?). Most GMs would not have taken Slaf 1st and it still may not be the right decision but im feeling better about it for sure.
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Post by graeme on Jan 9, 2024 6:24:08 GMT
Ya fortunately the question is moving back from how low his floor is (I'm sure I wasn't the only one worrying earlier this season we may have an all-time bust on our hands) to how high the ceiling might be. I don't think anyone expects him to be winning Hart trophies, but hard to know if he's going to be a true top-line winger or more of a second-line guy.
And ya, Dach returning (and hopefully a couple wingers stepping up) should open up new line options. Given we are unlikely to have any top-ten forwards in our system, having a couple wingers hit their ceilings so we have almost two 1a lines might be our only chance.
Definitely night and day. Last year he looked unsure but you could see moments where you thought "there's potential there" but then the beginning of the year once Dach went down - especially when he was playing on lines like Slaf-Newhook-Anderson he looked absolutely lost at times. I remember him just standning in the neutral zone, pivoting on the spot & thinking "does he even know where he's supposed to be??" But clearly the coaching staff knew what they were doing (getting him to work on *something* because once they bumped him to the top line a month ago or so, its been a different player. He may still end up being an underwhelming 1st overall but thats the draft we were dealt. If you look at 2012 for example, the top picks were all horrible - Yakupov, Murray, Galchenyuk, Reinhart... In slaf, i think we may look back on it like we walked away with Foresberg (who went 11th that year I think?). Most GMs would not have taken Slaf 1st and it still may not be the right decision but im feeling better about it for sure. If you go by Mckenzie's survey (which granted was scouts rather than GMs, but still tends to be quite good at feeling out what teams will do), Slaf actually did seem to be the most popular option across the league.
But otherwise, yeah it's possible he was the right pick and also the draft was just underwhelming. It's still way too early to evaluate, but at least Cooley's slowed down and Wright has struggled to even get playing time with a bad Kraken team, so neither are looking like clearly better options. Nemec remains the biggest wildcard, especially given 2023 was forward heavy.
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Post by maasart on Jan 29, 2024 18:10:11 GMT
7 points in his first 29 games, 13 points in his next 20. Up to 20 points on the year (49 games) and controlling play almost every shift. Dude has gone from being a big question mark to actually looking like a core-piece. What a wonderful turn around.
Its interesting, at the beginnig of the year MSL said (paraphrasing) 'he hasnt played a full season yet. Let him play his first 82 NHL games & then we'll see where he's at' He's now played just over a season (88 games) and the last 20 games has been a revelation. Really really happy with where this kid seems to be going.
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Post by ramcharger440 on Jan 29, 2024 19:05:13 GMT
7 points in his first 29 games, 13 points in his next 20. Up to 20 points on the year (49 games) and controlling play almost every shift. Dude has gone from being a big question mark to actually looking like a core-piece. What a wonderful turn around. Its interesting, at the beginnig of the year MSL said (paraphrasing) 'he hasnt played a full season yet. Let him play his first 82 NHL games & then we'll see where he's at' He's now played just over a season (88 games) and the last 20 games has been a revelation. Really really happy with where this kid seems to be going. Yep, I am pretty happy about his play right now and he is still just a kid, if we get lucky and he keeps developing this will be a truly great pick for us in a year that was really hard to evaluate! All I can say is I am glad they took the shot on this guy instead of Wright as I think he will end up being much more useful to us!
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Post by maasart on Jan 29, 2024 19:37:00 GMT
7 points in his first 29 games, 13 points in his next 20. Up to 20 points on the year (49 games) and controlling play almost every shift. Dude has gone from being a big question mark to actually looking like a core-piece. What a wonderful turn around. Its interesting, at the beginnig of the year MSL said (paraphrasing) 'he hasnt played a full season yet. Let him play his first 82 NHL games & then we'll see where he's at' He's now played just over a season (88 games) and the last 20 games has been a revelation. Really really happy with where this kid seems to be going. Yep, I am pretty happy about his play right now and he is still just a kid, if we get lucky and he keeps developing this will be a truly great pick for us in a year that was really hard to evaluate! All I can say is I am glad they took the shot on this guy instead of Wright as I think he will end up being much more useful to us! Yeah i was just reading a re-draft and he was still #1 (Cooley & Nemec flipped, wright falling down to like 8th) I think in a year when there was no clear cut #1 the chances were we were unlikely to end up with the best pick & as long as he was one of the best of the 5 we'd be ok - and of course, its too early to tell - but right now, it looks like we might have made the right choice after all.
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Post by habsalways on Feb 4, 2024 5:17:48 GMT
Concerned how losing Monahan impacts Slaf. He was playing ok with Nick and Cole, but seemed to be really developing chemistry with Sean. If we leave Slaf on the 2nd line who's his center? Newhook, who I don't think is a valid center. Evans? We can't recall Beck due to CHL rules, leaving what we have in the AHL unless Hughes makes another move.
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Post by electron58 on Feb 4, 2024 5:29:36 GMT
Concerned how losing Monahan impacts Slaf. He was playing ok with Nick and Cole, but seemed to be really developing chemistry with Sean. If we leave Slaf on the 2nd line who's his center? Newhook, who I don't think is a valid center. Evans? We can't recall Beck due to CHL rules, leaving what we have in the AHL unless Hughes makes another move. Need to put Slaf back on the first line with NS & CC. He didn't work out well with Newhook before.
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Post by habsology on Feb 5, 2024 15:57:53 GMT
I'd love to give Slaf a chance at centre position. He has a pass-first mentality and has the hands and vision to be directing the play. His defensive ability isn't so bad either.
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Post by maasart on Feb 5, 2024 23:07:41 GMT
Concerned how losing Monahan impacts Slaf. He was playing ok with Nick and Cole, but seemed to be really developing chemistry with Sean. If we leave Slaf on the 2nd line who's his center? Newhook, who I don't think is a valid center. Evans? We can't recall Beck due to CHL rules, leaving what we have in the AHL unless Hughes makes another move. Really legitimate concern. I think Slaf looked strong with Dach and Monahan. He looks good with Nick - and Cole - but i think thats because they both can read off of him. Im not sure who else on this roster would be good next to him, espcially at centre. I dont think his game translates well next to Evans.
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