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Post by maasart on Feb 5, 2024 23:09:06 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. Early on this was something a few people talked about but its been largely forgotten. I actually could see a line with a skilled winger (Caufield, Newhook or even Ylonen) + a north south body (Anderson?) Doing well with Slaf at Pivot. I kind of doubt we'll see it but honestly its not a bad idea. Its not like we have anything to lose this season.
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Post by ramcharger440 on Feb 6, 2024 0:04:10 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. Early on this was something a few people talked about but its been largely forgotten. I actually could see a line with a skilled winger (Caufield, Newhook or even Ylonen) + a north south body (Anderson?) Doing well with Slaf at Pivot. I kind of doubt we'll see it but honestly its not a bad idea. Its not like we have anything to lose this season. Pass for me he is just starting to develop as a winger and adding faceoffs and the defensive work of a center may just pull him off track.
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Post by habsology on Feb 6, 2024 16:23:52 GMT
Early on this was something a few people talked about but its been largely forgotten. I actually could see a line with a skilled winger (Caufield, Newhook or even Ylonen) + a north south body (Anderson?) Doing well with Slaf at Pivot. I kind of doubt we'll see it but honestly its not a bad idea. Its not like we have anything to lose this season. Pass for me he is just starting to develop as a winger and adding faceoffs and the defensive work of a center may just pull him off track. I would look at it the other way. If there is a time for one to learn to play at C, then it is better to try it out earlier in their career so that it becomes a development process, unlike the Drouin fiasco.
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RCAF48
Captain Kirk
Posts: 359
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Post by RCAF48 on Feb 6, 2024 17:26:31 GMT
IMO Slaf has problems walking right now and asking him to run could be disastrous.
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Post by claremont on Feb 6, 2024 21:41:15 GMT
IMO Slaf has problems walking right now and asking him to run could be disastrous. In other words, Slaf's skating is not the best for centre (he's more a lumberer), and I don't like the way he puts himself in certain positions i.e. head down, for absorbing hits. So it just strikes me as an accident waiting to happen until he improves his foot speed, and his vision awareness of opponents.
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Post by maasart on Feb 7, 2024 19:21:02 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! Following up on my post from a month ago, the scoring continues & he has 15 points in his last 21 games. What a complete turn around. not just on the scoresheet but his overall game & value to the team. 22 points in 50 games... if he stays healthy & keeps this up he should come in at right around 35-40 points which is a massive increase after only 7 points in his first 29 games.
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Post by electron58 on Feb 8, 2024 4:04:25 GMT
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Post by graeme on Feb 8, 2024 6:55:44 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! Following up on my post from a month ago, the scoring continues & he has 15 points in his last 21 games. What a complete turn around. not just on the scoresheet but his overall game & value to the team. 22 points in 50 games... if he stays healthy & keeps this up he should come in at right around 35-40 points which is a massive increase after only 7 points in his first 29 games. I honestly don't even care what his season-long stats are since he was just a totally different player to start the season. The 15 points in last 21 games is much more telling than if he gets 40 points.
Judging a player based on their best stretch or excluding the bad stretches is normally a recipe for disaster, but in this case I think it's justified.
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Post by ramcharger440 on Feb 10, 2024 20:52:43 GMT
The big dog is really starting to roll!
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Post by electron58 on Feb 10, 2024 21:07:34 GMT
The big dog is really starting to roll! Good to hear!
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Post by maasart on Feb 13, 2024 18:21:40 GMT
The big dog is really starting to roll! You can say that again. 17 points in his last 23 games including 6 points in his last 5 games. The thing is, we've seen lots of players have nice streaks over 15 or 20 games but the difference here is just how good he looks when he's not scoring. Sure, he gets a point or two most games right now but almost every night you can point to 3 or 4 more times where he could have gotten points. I know we've been starved for young stars in montreal for a while but man its nice to see it with this kid. Every game you're left thinking "if he can just put together that last 5% or so, he's going to be insanely good*
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Post by ramcharger440 on Feb 13, 2024 18:35:16 GMT
The big dog is really starting to roll! You can say that again. 17 points in his last 23 games including 6 points in his last 5 games. The thing is, we've seen lots of players have nice streaks over 15 or 20 games but the difference here is just how good he looks when he's not scoring. Sure, he gets a point or two most games right now but almost every night you can point to 3 or 4 more times where he could have gotten points. I know we've been starved for young stars in montreal for a while but man its nice to see it with this kid. Every game you're left thinking "if he can just put together that last 5% or so, he's going to be insanely good* I agree you can see it building and it is one of the few fun things about this season, add the overall good play of the first line at least there is some hope for the team we still need bits here and there but there is a core at last!
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Post by HTL on Feb 13, 2024 19:06:23 GMT
The big dog is really starting to roll! You can say that again. 17 points in his last 23 games including 6 points in his last 5 games. The thing is, we've seen lots of players have nice streaks over 15 or 20 games but the difference here is just how good he looks when he's not scoring. Sure, he gets a point or two most games right now but almost every night you can point to 3 or 4 more times where he could have gotten points. I know we've been starved for young stars in montreal for a while but man its nice to see it with this kid. Every game you're left thinking "if he can just put together that last 5% or so, he's going to be insanely good* Certainly looks like it's sustainable based on his play of late. Consistency is what seperates the good from the elite so let's hope it's the later.
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Post by maasart on Feb 14, 2024 17:54:16 GMT
Stole this from a post on twitter:
Juraj Slafkovsky tonight:
— 1 goal — 3 points — 3 shots — 2 hits — on-ice for 21 shots for (1 against) — up to 20 points in last 25 games
And remember: he's only 19 years old. His defensive game is under the radar but insanely good, especially for his age. Wow.
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Post by claremont on Feb 14, 2024 19:55:59 GMT
Stole this from a post on twitter: Juraj Slafkovsky tonight: — 1 goal — 3 points — 3 shots — 2 hits — on-ice for 21 shots for (1 against) — up to 20 points in last 25 games And remember: he's only 19 years old. His defensive game is under the radar but insanely good, especially for his age. Wow. another interesting stat - same points per game at this juncture as Jack Hughes had. Now Hughes developed into a point a game per player but I am not convinced Slafkovsky can reach that same pinnacle but it's a start and Slaf's draft year cohorts have not been too impressive so far. Still too early to say they made the wrong pick. Who knows how Nemec, or even Gauthier will mature, but it does not look like a major draft pick mistake.
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Post by maasart on Feb 14, 2024 23:38:56 GMT
Stole this from a post on twitter: Juraj Slafkovsky tonight: — 1 goal — 3 points — 3 shots — 2 hits — on-ice for 21 shots for (1 against) — up to 20 points in last 25 games And remember: he's only 19 years old. His defensive game is under the radar but insanely good, especially for his age. Wow. another interesting stat - same points per game at this juncture as Jack Hughes had. Now Hughes developed into a point a game per player but I am not convinced Slafkovsky can reach that same pinnacle but it's a start and Slaf's draft year cohorts have not been too impressive so far. Still too early to say they made the wrong pick. Who knows how Nemec, or even Gauthier will mature, but it does not look like a major draft pick mistake. yeah, id be suprrised if he turns into a player like hughes but im absolutely shocked at how good he is defensively. There's a legit chance he's a 70+ player who is up for the selke in the very near future. That was unexpected imho. I dont think he'll ever be a 100 point offensive dynamo but we shall see. And i agree with you about his draft year. Right now he looks solid for sure. On a year where you dont have a Bedard or McDavid, 1st overall is more about making sure you get one of the top players because lets face it, in 2022 there were 5 gusy and everybody else and the chances of us actually drafting the best of those 5 was unlikely.... so far its looking good though that he'll at least be one of the top 5.
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Post by BigTed3 on Feb 14, 2024 23:43:22 GMT
Stole this from a post on twitter: Juraj Slafkovsky tonight: — 1 goal — 3 points — 3 shots — 2 hits — on-ice for 21 shots for (1 against) — up to 20 points in last 25 games And remember: he's only 19 years old. His defensive game is under the radar but insanely good, especially for his age. Wow. another interesting stat - same points per game at this juncture as Jack Hughes had. Now Hughes developed into a point a game per player but I am not convinced Slafkovsky can reach that same pinnacle but it's a start and Slaf's draft year cohorts have not been too impressive so far. Still too early to say they made the wrong pick. Who knows how Nemec, or even Gauthier will mature, but it does not look like a major draft pick mistake.
That last point is the most important thing. I'm still not sure who will end up being the best player from that draft year... early on it looked like Jiricek might take the lead, then Cooley, now it's more between Slafkovsky and Nemec. It will probably swing a few times more before all is said and done. But what's vital to us is that we find a star player from that pick, not that he ends up being the best player from his draft year. I had some doubts Slafkovsky would get to that status... as we said, he had the potential to be a star, but there was probably a higher likelihood he became a player like Josh Anderson or Erik Cole. Still a decent player but not clearly a guy who deserved to be picked 1st overall, and when you had players at more important positions like C and RHD available, I think you really wanted to be confident the winger was BPA if you were going to take him. That wasn't clear to me. I probably would have gone with Nemec and if not then Wright or Cooley. All that said, you have to be ecstatic with Slaf's progression, and he's certainly looking like he may well end up being a 1st line winger. If he is, the pick's a hit regardless of how any of the others do.
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Post by graeme on Feb 15, 2024 3:10:33 GMT
Maybe I'm forgetting someone, but honestly I'm not sure I've ever seen a player improve as much as Slaf has in a few months. He went from looking just absolutely terrible (even having him on 4th line was hard to justify) a few months back to now playing like a clear top-six (if not top-line) winger.
I'm still kind of in shock this is the same player.
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Post by BigTed3 on Feb 15, 2024 3:27:33 GMT
Maybe I'm forgetting someone, but honestly I'm not sure I've ever seen a player improve as much as Slaf has in a few months. He went from looking just absolutely terrible (even having him on 4th line was hard to justify) a few months back to now playing like a clear top-six (if not top-line) winger. I'm still kind of in shock this is the same player.
Max Pacioretty kind of did the same thing... he came up and played parts of two seasons where he was really meh and mainly got tossed around the bottom 6. Then he went down to Hamilton and credits Randy Cunneyworth for actually giving him a chance to shine and build confidence. He came back up the next season and put up a better-than-30-goal pace and never looked back. In both cases, these were players with strong pedigrees but who were played with lower-skilled players and given weak opportunity early on. They both really took off when they were given a chance to play in the top 6. Pacioretty, if you recall, was lined up with Gomez and Gionta upon his recall, while Slafkovsky looked good in pre-season with Dach and then got a chance midway through this season with Suzuki and Caufield. The moral of the story remains the same for me: you want to see what skill players can do, play them as skill players. Find out if they sink or swim playing the role you want them to play in longterm. Don't pair skill players with the likes of Brian Flynn or Glen Metropolit or Georges Laraque and then say, nope, they haven't got it. That hasn't taught you much of anything. We did this with Eller, Galchenyuk, Kotkaniemi, and countless others. Right now, you look at a guy like Ylonen and he's having an awful stretch, but he's also playing with Pezzetta most nights now. Those two don't play a style of game that gels. Players like Pezzetta, Evans, and Gignac play a forechecking game. They use their speed to put pressure on the defence and try to force turnovers, but their puckhandling skill is limited. Ylonen plays a possession game. He offers a strong transition game but he needs to play with someone who can score off the transition and finish at the net. That ain't Pezzetta. A player like Caufield and a player like Dach might be better fits for Ylonen. Ylonen is a guy who can get you into the zone with possession, Dach is a guy who recovers pucks and maintains control, and Caufield is a guy who has the speed and lurkiness to get free for those two to get him pucks and bury them. Give me 25-30 games of that trio before you tell me Ylonen can't produce at the NHL level. If we had judged Slafkovsky before he got this shot with Suzuki and Caufield, we'd be where we were last year and earlier this season and be questioning if he was more than a 3rd line player or more than an Anderson or Armia.
So part of Slafkovsky's progression is hard work and experience. But part of it has also been opportunity. I agree that it's been a pleasant surprise and that I was far from expecting this, but it's been a perfect mix of circumstances that have allowed this to happen.
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Post by graeme on Feb 15, 2024 6:14:29 GMT
What I don't recall with Pacioretty or most others is it happening in the same season. And a lot of players who didn't put up points early in their careers at least didn't look horribly out of place in the bottom six, while Slaf just looked completely lost.
But you're right, I don't think the timing was coincidental that things really turned around when he started playing with Suzuki and Caufield. Some of that was likely players who complimented his game, and part of it was likely breaking a low-confidence-cycle he seemed caught in (no confidence makes you play worse, playing worse further erodes your confidence).
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