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Post by maasart on Feb 15, 2024 15:24:26 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). The only one that i can remember that had this kind of turn around was Thornton but even then, it was over 2 years. In his rookie season Joe looked abysmal & people were really down on the bruins for drafting him but in the 2nd year you could see him really turn a corner. You can argue that Slaf only played half a season (That was MSL's big thing: that the first 40 games of this year was really the 2nd part of his first season) but to see this transformation, mid-season is...something else. Joshua Roy or Gignac, in their limited NHL ice time, look better than Slaf did in the first 20-25 games of the year. And yet, since then, he's been arguably our 2nd best player behind Suzuki.
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Post by ramcharger440 on Feb 15, 2024 16:27:16 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). I agree with this I think most of it was in his head he is just a kid still and he had to learn the language and a new country and smaller rink and a new style of play! I think it was always there he just had to find his way over here and plat enough games to figure it all out, add to that he is taking less crap from other players as he also gets used to the rough stuff which he has said in interviews was an eye opener for him as there is none of that over there. It is impossible to know if Laval would have been better but I for one think keeping him up to keep a closer eye on him may have been the right move? as for playing with the top line it just makes sense that you will get more points that way what is impressive to me is you also play against the other teams best defenders and players to still thrive means he has what it takes.
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Post by maasart on Feb 15, 2024 16:56:59 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). I agree with this I think most of it was in his head he is just a kid still and he had to learn the language and a new country and smaller rink and a new style of play! I think it was always there he just had to find his way over here and plat enough games to figure it all out, add to that he is taking less crap from other players as he also gets used to the rough stuff which he has said in interviews was an eye opener for him as there is none of that over there. It is impossible to know if Laval would have been better but I for one think keeping him up to keep a closer eye on him may have been the right move? as for playing with the top line it just makes sense that you will get more points that way what is impressive to me is you also play against the other teams best defenders and players to still thrive means he has what it takes. Well and we dont know what MSL was asking him to do. He has said they asked Slaf to work on some very specific things & they would move him up the lineup once he worked on those. So i think, shift-to-shift, game-to-game they couldnt really care how he was doing, as long as he got (whatever those things were, lol) out of the way.
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Post by electron58 on Feb 16, 2024 2:06:13 GMT
Great snipe tonight against the Rangers.
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Post by ramcharger440 on Feb 16, 2024 5:04:04 GMT
Great snipe tonight against the Rangers. Yep he keeps on getting points he fits really well on that line I would leave it alone! We will have Dach next season let's get him some wingers and build the second line to compliment the first one that works so well.
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Post by habsalways on Feb 16, 2024 6:34:03 GMT
Draft year +1
Slaf 12g 17a 29p in 54 games Cooley 7g 19a 26p in 52 games Wright 0g 0a 0p in 3 games
Think everyone is forgetting Slaf was 18 last year. And while it was an underwhelming season for a 1st overall, he's showing that so far he's progessing very well. He's 19, can't wait to see what more he brings next year
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Post by maasart on Feb 16, 2024 19:43:21 GMT
Draft year +1 Slaf 12g 17a 29p in 54 games Cooley 7g 19a 26p in 52 games Wright 0g 0a 0p in 3 games Think everyone is forgetting Slaf was 18 last year. And while it was an underwhelming season for a 1st overall, he's showing that so far he's progessing very well. He's 19, can't wait to see what more he brings next year Yup. He may never be a McDavid or Bedard 1st overall but I dont think we've got a Yakopov or even Lafreniere on our hands either. I think he's showing that he may well be as good as guys like RNH, Hall, etc. The hope was that he would one day be as good as Suzuki or Caufield but honestly, Im starting to see signs that he may end up better than either.
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Post by BigTed3 on Feb 16, 2024 20:28:10 GMT
Draft year +1 Slaf 12g 17a 29p in 54 games Cooley 7g 19a 26p in 52 games Wright 0g 0a 0p in 3 games Think everyone is forgetting Slaf was 18 last year. And while it was an underwhelming season for a 1st overall, he's showing that so far he's progessing very well. He's 19, can't wait to see what more he brings next year Yup. He may never be a McDavid or Bedard 1st overall but I dont think we've got a Yakopov or even Lafreniere on our hands either. I think he's showing that he may well be as good as guys like RNH, Hall, etc. The hope was that he would one day be as good as Suzuki or Caufield but honestly, Im starting to see signs that he may end up better than either.
Lafreniere has played pretty well this year and is only 22. Like Slafkovsky, he got written off early, but he's played two full seasons really and put up 19 goals/31 points then 16 goals/ 39 points. This year, he's on track for 21 goals and 47 points over a full season, so there's been clear progression there too. Slaf is doing it a big younger than AL, so we're a bit ahead of the curve, but AL could still easily become a 30 goal, 60 point player.
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Post by maasart on Feb 16, 2024 20:30:48 GMT
Yup. He may never be a McDavid or Bedard 1st overall but I dont think we've got a Yakopov or even Lafreniere on our hands either. I think he's showing that he may well be as good as guys like RNH, Hall, etc. The hope was that he would one day be as good as Suzuki or Caufield but honestly, Im starting to see signs that he may end up better than either.
Lafreniere has played pretty well this year and is only 22. Like Slafkovsky, he got written off early, but he's played two full seasons really and put up 19 goals/31 points then 16 goals/ 39 points. This year, he's on track for 21 goals and 47 points over a full season, so there's been clear progression there too. Slaf is doing it a big younger than AL, so we're a bit ahead of the curve, but AL could still easily become a 30 goal, 60 point player.
True, its not fair to single him out as a bust (and id still take a chance on him if the cost wasnt too high to acquire) but my point was more that while we didnt have a "generational talent" 1st overall draft, i think we still got a pretty good player out of it.
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Post by maasart on Feb 18, 2024 23:17:41 GMT
12 points in his last 8 games, 22 in his last 25... only teenager ever to score a point in 8 consecutive games as a Hab.
Definitely one of the biggest turn-arounds ive ever seen in a season for a Hab player.
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rkgoalie
Little Viking
If it was easy, it would not be fun
Posts: 85
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Post by rkgoalie on Feb 18, 2024 23:34:07 GMT
he is starting to look very very good
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Post by seth505 on Feb 20, 2024 22:58:40 GMT
Draft year +1 Slaf 12g 17a 29p in 54 games Cooley 7g 19a 26p in 52 games Wright 0g 0a 0p in 3 games Think everyone is forgetting Slaf was 18 last year. And while it was an underwhelming season for a 1st overall, he's showing that so far he's progessing very well. He's 19, can't wait to see what more he brings next year I know everyone always gets fixated on talking about how players are doing TODAY but we have to remember...We don't need Slaf to be at his best today, we need him to be at his best in his prime and have that align with the teams prime (after this rebuild).
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Post by maasart on Mar 1, 2024 20:14:34 GMT
Draft year +1 Slaf 12g 17a 29p in 54 games Cooley 7g 19a 26p in 52 games Wright 0g 0a 0p in 3 games Think everyone is forgetting Slaf was 18 last year. And while it was an underwhelming season for a 1st overall, he's showing that so far he's progessing very well. He's 19, can't wait to see what more he brings next year I know everyone always gets fixated on talking about how players are doing TODAY but we have to remember...We don't need Slaf to be at his best today, we need him to be at his best in his prime and have that align with the teams prime (after this rebuild). Agree. Already he's probably one of our 4-6 best players... in a couple of years, he could be our best. Im definitely warming up to that pick - I didnt despise it like some, assuming the team knew what they were doing, but i still would have prefered Nemec or Cooley... now, im not so sure.
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Post by electron58 on Mar 1, 2024 21:55:16 GMT
I know everyone always gets fixated on talking about how players are doing TODAY but we have to remember...We don't need Slaf to be at his best today, we need him to be at his best in his prime and have that align with the teams prime (after this rebuild). Agree. Already he's probably one of our 4-6 best players... in a couple of years, he could be our best. Im definitely warming up to that pick - I didnt despise it like some, assuming the team knew what they were doing, but i still would have prefered Nemec or Cooley... now, im not so sure. Glad to see Slaf doing well. Honestly I wasn't enamored with the pick as well, seeing as RD &/or C were our needs & there was no clear #1OA. Slaf's transformation has been a pleasure to witness. Now, if he would only shoot more. Too many times he gets too cute but I believe that will come with experience & confidence although you can see his confidence growing. Let's hope we see the same progression with D. Reinbacher. 😎
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Post by maasart on Mar 17, 2024 3:55:25 GMT
Read that slaf (before tonight's game where he scored a point) was 4 points away from being the most productive u20 player in habs history. he turns 20 march 30th, so he has 5 more games to score 3 more.
Its a meaningless stat but still pretty cool, considering the history of this team. Of course this will only stand until we draft Cellebrini next year... haha.
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Post by ramcharger440 on Mar 17, 2024 4:17:13 GMT
Read that slaf (before tonight's game where he scored a point) was 4 points away from being the most productive u20 player in habs history. he turns 20 march 30th, so he has 5 more games to score 3 more. Its a meaningless stat but still pretty cool, considering the history of this team. Of course this will only stand until we draft Cellebrini next year... haha. Cool stat! really happy with the kid he is going to be a great one he has it all, size shot passing hockey IQ and some attitude!
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Post by HTL on Mar 22, 2024 12:28:47 GMT
So Slaf now sitting with 38 points as a 19 year old,,,15G 23A.
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Post by habsalways on Mar 22, 2024 14:42:56 GMT
So Slaf now sitting with 38 points as a 19 year old,,,15G 23A. And on another point streak ... 6 straight games, 2g5a He started the season with with 1g2a in his first 17 games Since then ... 52gp 14a 21a, a respectable .67ppg as a 19yr old in DFY+1. We're starting to see that potential people like Jagr and others saw. The pundits and Ontario centric media all dismissed Slaf as a reach over Wright .. Wright can't even make it out of the AHL.
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Post by habsalways on Mar 22, 2024 14:49:14 GMT
Actually ....
first 30gp he had 2g6a
next 39gp he has 13g 17a 30p
That's roughly the same point pace that CC is on this year, and CC is in his third full season and 4 years older than Slaf
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Post by maasart on Mar 22, 2024 23:02:09 GMT
Actually .... first 30gp he had 2g6a next 39gp he has 13g 17a 30p That's roughly the same point pace that CC is on this year, and CC is in his third full season and 4 years older than Slaf Yeah he's been a completely different player since the first 20 or so games of the year. Went from being a "fingers crossed prospect" to being a threat, game in, game out, seemingly overnight. 11 points in 11 games in February, 7 points in 9 games in March so far. 30 pts in 39gp is roughy 65 point pace... at 19. Wow.
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