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Montreal Canadiens Select Juraj Slafkovsky


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21 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

I’m reading reports from twitter folks that Slaf is walking around Bell Centre introducing himself to fans. 
 

I think he is going to become a fan favourite 

 

I think he is a bright confident young man and has the personality to survive in Montreal.  The fans will like him BUT his performance on the ice is what matters.  They don't need to rush him. 

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45 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

I think he is a bright confident young man and has the personality to survive in Montreal.  The fans will like him BUT his performance on the ice is what matters.  They don't need to rush him. 


If he has a good camp I bet he starts the season in the NHL. I also think that he will be given plenty of ice time on top lines, PP. 

 

I can see him with Suzuki, Caufield 

 

I can’t wait to see 

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2 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:


If he has a good camp I bet he starts the season in the NHL. I also think that he will be given plenty of ice time on top lines, PP. 

 

I can see him with Suzuki, Caufield 

 

I can’t wait to see 

 

If they play that line, which would make the most sense, then they should move away from having 4 lines @ 15 mins/game.  They should play Caufield, Suzuki, and Slaf for 20 mins/game.  That line should be unarguably the best line so they should get more ice time.   Give the 2nd and 3rd lines at 14-15 mins and reduce the 4th line to 10-12 mins/game. 

 

They will do way better than last year and a small change like that would get them even more points and move them up further in the standings vs keeping at even time/line. 

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28 minutes ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

If they play that line, which would make the most sense, then they should move away from having 4 lines @ 15 mins/game.  They should play Caufield, Suzuki, and Slaf for 20 mins/game.  That line should be unarguably the best line so they should get more ice time.   Give the 2nd and 3rd lines at 14-15 mins and reduce the 4th line to 10-12 mins/game.

 

20 minutes a game for Slafkovsky in his rookie season?  That's asking for trouble.  Go back and look at the ice time for recent first-overall picks.  Lafreniere was under 14 minutes a night, Hughes was 15:52 and those two were more highly-touted.  If Slafkovsky averages 14 minutes a game next year in a regular role and holds his own, the Habs would be thrilled.  He's not jumping into a prime role right off the bat.  Remember, he wasn't getting big minutes in Finland.  Between that and a much more compressed pro schedule in North America, they have to ease him in.

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1 hour ago, Sir_Boagalott said:

 

If they play that line, which would make the most sense, then they should move away from having 4 lines @ 15 mins/game.  They should play Caufield, Suzuki, and Slaf for 20 mins/game.  That line should be unarguably the best line so they should get more ice time.   Give the 2nd and 3rd lines at 14-15 mins and reduce the 4th line to 10-12 mins/game. 

 

They will do way better than last year and a small change like that would get them even more points and move them up further in the standings vs keeping at even time/line. 

One of our biggest problems going back to that Gainey years has been rushing players, and you want to play Slafkovsky 20 min a game?😳

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Uggh. I pray we got this right. I hope snorkovsky becomes jagr, Wright becomes nuge  and Cooley becomes kadri.  I'll take that.

 

My fear is Cooley becomes marner, Wright becomes bergeron and juraj  becomes Alex tuch

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11 hours ago, BCHabnut said:

Uggh. I pray we got this right. I hope snorkovsky becomes jagr, Wright becomes nuge  and Cooley becomes kadri.  I'll take that.

 

My fear is Cooley becomes marner, Wright becomes bergeron and juraj  becomes Alex tuch

There is a fear attached to any high pick ... would have been the same regardless of who was selected ... with rare exceptions, we are all basing our opinions on what we have read/heard "experts" say ... and those rare exceptions are still just opinions, albeit very well-informed and hard-researched opinions ... even NHL scouts and management teams "ratings" are just opinions (it's just that in the long-term their jobs depend on those opinions).

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If you don’t swing for the fences you will never get a home run. 
 

Sure there will be strikeouts but if you never try?

 

We have had poor drafting for a long time. Maybe a new approach might change that. We have also had piss poor development and that area has been totally revamped. 
 

This team is going to be run differently than it was. Old boys club style of thinking and operating are gone. 
 

Let’s see what happens before we start pining for dumpster diving days. 

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Jagr?

We could only dream of such an outcome. Unfortunately his raw talent is not jagr'ish... jagr is one of the greatest hockey players of all time!

 

Drafting his boy Mesar and Dach already super tight with his Alberta boy Guhle should help tremendously. We should all be stoked right now that Hughes has gone out and done what we've all been begging for.

 

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12 minutes ago, IN THE HEARTS OF MEN said:

 

Drafting his boy Mesar and Dach already super tight with his Alberta boy Guhle should help tremendously

I would put it more as, it cant hurt. But, hope didnt factor into decisions, aside some insights from Guhle/Barron that also might be helpful background stuff?

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Some positive comments from Tomas Tartar (of course wouldn't expect TT to slag JS) from an article in The Athletic:

 

“He’s a very strong guy, he can do a lot of things on his own,” he said. “He’s very strong on the puck. He has a man body and a kid’s mind, which is awesome to see. He’s one of the strongest guys for his age that I’ve ever seen in my life.” ...Tatar said Slafkovsky and Nemec set themselves apart by their desire to learn and improve. They are sponges, he said, on and off the ice, and were looking to absorb every little detail ...

 

I take the "kid's mind" to mean youthful enthusiasm.

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For me personally, I love what HuGo and their team did in picking Slavkovsky over Wright.  Not because I know YS is better than Wright but because they picked who they thought was the best pick for us, after all their scouting, interviewing and analyzing. They didn't just go with the crowd favourite at that moment, they did what they thought was best and I believe they are very knowledgable hockey men. Because they are privy to much more info that we are I trust their judgement. 

 

There is a huge breath of fresh air blowing through our team from top to bottom and I sense many of us have not been this excited or optimistic for the future for a long time. 

 

Go Habs go has a new fresh, exciting ring to it today, for me!! 

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38 minutes ago, REV-G said:

For me personally, I love what HuGo and their team did in picking Slavkovsky over Wright.  Not because I know YS is better than Wright but because they picked who they thought was the best pick for us, after all their scouting, interviewing and analyzing. They didn't just go with the crowd favourite at that moment, they did what they thought was best and I believe they are very knowledgable hockey men. Because they are privy to much more info that we are I trust their judgement. 

 

There is a huge breath of fresh air blowing through our team from top to bottom and I sense many of us have not been this excited or optimistic for the future for a long time. 

 

Go Habs go has a new fresh, exciting ring to it today, for me!! 

 

Good post, agree with your thoughts. I am more excited about the future than I have been in a long time. 

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48 minutes ago, REV-G said:

For me personally, I love what HuGo and their team did in picking Slavkovsky over Wright.  Not because I know YS is better than Wright but because they picked who they thought was the best pick for us, after all their scouting, interviewing and analyzing. They didn't just go with the crowd favourite at that moment, they did what they thought was best and I believe they are very knowledgable hockey men. Because they are privy to much more info that we are I trust their judgement. 

 

There is a huge breath of fresh air blowing through our team from top to bottom and I sense many of us have not been this excited or optimistic for the future for a long time. 

 

Go Habs go has a new fresh, exciting ring to it today, for me!! 

I agree with that. I just hope we didn’t pass on a unicorn centre that we have been searching the last 25 years for.

 

if Dach pans out it’s all good. But after hearing for the last 10 years from MB that you have to draft those guys, and than we pass on one, it’s hard to take.

  
we reached for a centre earlier than he was ranked in 2017, I just hope that we didn’t reach again based on Slafkovsky play in two tournaments.

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3 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

...  I just hope that we didn’t reach again based on Slafkovsky play in two tournaments.

 

The difference is that, as I recall, KK suddenly rose into the 5-10th range in the last week or two before the draft and was still a reach at 3rd ... Slafkovsky has been in the top 3 for months, and a 1st overall coin-flip in the final week or two.

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https://theathletic.com/3408930/2022/07/08/juraj-slafkovsky-kirby-dach-canadiens/?source=weeklyemail&campaign=602288

 

"At the back of the Canadiens’ locker room, the team placed a “Slafkovsky” jersey in one of the lockers. It was flanked by a jersey with the name “Suzuki” and another with the name “Caufield.” If anyone had any doubt the Canadiens drafted Slafkovsky with the intention of playing him with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, they shouldn’t anymore."

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7 minutes ago, DON said:

https://theathletic.com/3408930/2022/07/08/juraj-slafkovsky-kirby-dach-canadiens/?source=weeklyemail&campaign=602288

 

"At the back of the Canadiens’ locker room, the team placed a “Slafkovsky” jersey in one of the lockers. It was flanked by a jersey with the name “Suzuki” and another with the name “Caufield.” If anyone had any doubt the Canadiens drafted Slafkovsky with the intention of playing him with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, they shouldn’t anymore."

 

IMO it's a leap to assume that proves that they will play together ... it may happen, but that picture is also a GREAT bit of PR ... the three young stars.

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14 minutes ago, DON said:

https://theathletic.com/3408930/2022/07/08/juraj-slafkovsky-kirby-dach-canadiens/?source=weeklyemail&campaign=602288

 

"At the back of the Canadiens’ locker room, the team placed a “Slafkovsky” jersey in one of the lockers. It was flanked by a jersey with the name “Suzuki” and another with the name “Caufield.” If anyone had any doubt the Canadiens drafted Slafkovsky with the intention of playing him with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, they shouldn’t anymore."


Yeah it was obvious and I love his new nickname “Slafsquach”

 

I would be surprised if Anderson starts the season in Montreal. I hope we get a first and a top prospect (RD hopefully). 

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19 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:


Yeah it was obvious and I love his new nickname “Slafsquach”

 

I would be surprised if Anderson starts the season in Montreal. I hope we get a first and a top prospect (RD hopefully). 

Anderson is a very entertaining player to have on the Habs; but, if looking long term and is said they did/are getting tons of calls on him and a 3rd 1st round pick net year would be nice ammo to have.

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On 7/9/2022 at 3:32 PM, DON said:

Anderson is a very entertaining player to have on the Habs; but, if looking long term and is said they did/are getting tons of calls on him and a 3rd 1st round pick net year would be nice ammo to have.

 

I totally agree, would love to get another 1st round pick but I think a 1st round pick (unprotected) will be hard to pry away from teams for the 2023 draft,  might have a better chance at the trade deadline when a team may be desperate. 

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10 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

I totally agree, would love to get another 1st round pick but I think a 1st round pick (unprotected) will be hard to pry away from teams for the 2023 draft,  might have a better chance at the trade deadline when a team may be desperate. 

 

 

I think it depends entirely on the team ... teams that see themselves (and/or are working hard to ensure they are - Chicago) as a lottery team certainly won't ... teams that aren't confident they are even a bubble team, let alone a playoff team, are unlikely at this point to give up their 2023 first ... but teams that see themselves as solidly playoff-bound/Cup contenders might well if they see a need and a chance to improve their playoff positioning from the get-go, giving themselves time to figure out how to optimize Anderson's role, might well ... those are not the optimal picks to get but Arizona certainly isn't trading theirs.

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10 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

 

I totally agree, would love to get another 1st round pick but I think a 1st round pick (unprotected) will be hard to pry away from teams for the 2023 draft,  might have a better chance at the trade deadline when a team may be desperate. 


A team like Edmonton would be a perfect fit for Anderson if they can’t sign Kane. 
 

Any team in their cup window would love Anderson. Speed, size, grit, scores. 
 

I expect a 2023 first and your top prospect and I think we get it. 

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On 7/9/2022 at 4:53 PM, DON said:

https://theathletic.com/3408930/2022/07/08/juraj-slafkovsky-kirby-dach-canadiens/?source=weeklyemail&campaign=602288

 

"At the back of the Canadiens’ locker room, the team placed a “Slafkovsky” jersey in one of the lockers. It was flanked by a jersey with the name “Suzuki” and another with the name “Caufield.” If anyone had any doubt the Canadiens drafted Slafkovsky with the intention of playing him with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, they shouldn’t anymore."

 

I initially thought the same, that he'd fit onto that line seamlessly. But as I thought about it I think that is the thinking of a fan but not a coach. 

 

He's 18 and never played in the NHL and never played on the smaller ice. The thought that we'd put him out against all the best wingers in the league night after night and ask him to play the same minutes that Suzuki and CC play and then expect him to succeed??? I think that's way too much.

 

In my mind I could see him starting on the 2nd line, maybe even platooning him there with someone else. 

 

We've all seen us rush prospects and we've seen the results. And we know what happens to those young guys in January and February when all the games and travelling catches up to them.

 

For me the best examples of first year players struggling was Jack Hughes and Alex Lafreniere. Neither one did much their first year. 

 

So I hope we bring YS along slower, we don't need to be in a rush with him, but I still hope he stays with the big team although it wouldn't disappoint me a bit to see him spend two or three months in Laval. 

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7 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

I think it depends entirely on the team ... teams that see themselves (and/or are working hard to ensure they are - Chicago) as a lottery team certainly won't ... teams that aren't confident they are even a bubble team, let alone a playoff team, are unlikely at this point to give up their 2023 first ... but teams that see themselves as solidly playoff-bound/Cup contenders might well if they see a need and a chance to improve their playoff positioning from the get-go, giving themselves time to figure out how to optimize Anderson's role, might well ... those are not the optimal picks to get but Arizona certainly isn't trading theirs.

 

I think you are correct, it would have to be a team that is pretty confident of being in the playoffs. 

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