Juraj Slafkovsky is getting set for his second season after the Canadiens picked him first overall in the 2022 NHL draft. When compared to other top picks, he definitely fell short with 10 points in 39 games. Craig Button joins TH to discuss if he thinks Slafkovsky can prove he’s worthy of being a top pick this season.
@Montreal Canadiens
19 Comments
I argue with some friend if Slaf would have a better career then Vincent Lecavalier
Look at Vinny stats and tell me what do you think?
The guy only played 39 games and is only 19 and people already calling him a bust… smh is he the next McDavid? Probably not, but even if he can be 80% of what Rantanen is that would be good. Not every 1rst overall pick is bound to be a Mcdavid or Crosby…
Button is the same guy who traded Giguere at 22 for a 2nd rd pick so… id take his player development opinion w a grain of salt 😅
He’s very young as well
He reminds me of Jesse Puljujärvi
Why do we listen to this guy? How many times he has to be wrong AGAIN so we stop listening to him?
I think Mtl being in this complete rebuild is the perfect opportunity for any young player to succeed. He was 18. Give him time.
Maybe he should worry more about proving he’s even an NHL player at this point. Cause without his 1st overall status, he’d be in the AHL.
Must be another quiet news day. Who cares? He has not even played a game yet in the NHL. Geeeez.
Lot of people put a lot of pressure.
The important for a player is to play well at first.
Milan Lucic really? Common man!!!!
Why is this channel's audio always subpar at best
Everyone want to direct the Canadiens team cause of Shane Right.
* Shane Right. Shane Wright is not as you can expect.
Slafkofsky that's cause of his way of playing hockey,it's different.
Sometimes it's not that good but sometimes it's even better.
They want the Canadiens to be at their nasty image to fullfil there nasty world with lot of nasty stuffs.
It's most the Canadiens that doesn't make enough either.
This can depend on what you have in your team and what you are facing.
But this was last season,now they can get a even greatest player.
They could have drafted someone even better or lot better of course but it's not that that bad.
When they do so it's the players that make their own things.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi all over again
I think he should start in the AHL, build confidence, then go to the World Juniors where he’ll dominate. And then get him into a few more AHL games in early January with the intention of calling him up for the second half of the season—that is, when the Canadians are out of a playoff spot and there will be less pressure
"what went wrong?" nothing went wrong. an 18 year old got a taste of the best hockey league in the world.
Where's that's hockey.?
Ironic that he's emphasizing patience and trusting the process yet 39 NHL games was enough for Craig to determine that he should have been playing overseas. Slafkovsky's presence was missed as soon as he got injured.
Habs fan here. Unfortunately, we bottomed out a year too early, and no matter who we drafted in 2022, we had a poor selection. Even from that poor selection, I was disappointed that we selected Slaf, which I wouldn't have picked top 5 (I even, in jest, suggested Hutson might be a better pick; I jest no more). He's a bit of a physical unicorn, but I think he was overvalued thanks to his fantastic performance in tournament play. Then again, I didn't interview the guys and know little about player development, so what do I know.
That being said, I still wish the kid the best of luck. I hope he beats my expectations (I think he'll be closer to Josh Anderson than Rick Nash). I'll root for him, and I am not at all concerned about what I saw last season. I don't think his upside is higher than Guhle/Hutson/Reinbacher, and I'd much sooner bet on Dach than him, but as long as in 3-4 years he ends up being an elite forward, I don't care what the path to get there is. He didn't impress me, nor did he disappoint me.
May he have a long and productive career in Montréal 🙂