Sabres Prospect Challenge September 15-19.

[Buffalonill]

I'm happy the prospects are doing good but this "prospect challenge" doesn't get me excited .

I've seen tons of prospects come and go in the buffalo system that have dominated this  Tournament and have not been that successful at the next level.

 

 

[RochesterExpat]

I'm going to put this in this thread I guess as opposed to the GDT, but Slafkovsky's play yesterday bothered me. He is talented and it showed by his ability to dominate the ice, but he dominated in a way that I don't think translates to NHL hockey and I don't believe he has the "awareness" of an NHL-ready player. At least not in the manner of a 1OA pick. This was essentially a juniors game where he was likely the strongest person on the ice and that's the only reason he stood out--at least positively.

When he got stood up on his net drive because he was skating with his head down (as noted by everyone--even the commentary) it really stood out to me and thus sparked this random deep dive.

To be clear, I never paid attention to him pre-draft, so I went and watched a bunch of highlights video of him as well as every shift from whole games and, frankly, he skates with his head down all the time when he has the puck and is using any kind of edge. Seriously, just go watch any of his play. It's crazy. It's near suicidal in the NHL.

This is a sample "highlight"... this is not a good play to translate to the NHL, I'm sorry:

Watch the rest of the video if you want and tell me that's 1OA material.

This was last night as we all remember:

It's the same concept. Head down and going to the middle. I guess in Finnish Juniors you can get away with it though. And, yes, the Montreal media and fans are bragging about Slafkovsky being a "solid" (and therefore invincible player), but if this is how you play hockey, you are not going to last long in the league. Ask Eric Lindros.

Here is a quote from a Montreal's SB Nation on the play above, "Of course, cutting into the middle of the ice in that manner isn’t always the best idea, but it made for a heck of a highlight the way his would-be checker bounced right off him. He’s incredibly strong on his feet, and as his awareness improves, that should continue to be a major asset for him."

Let me rephrase that, "Ok that was a stupid play but look at what a cool highlight it made as he stood up a hit against a bubble ECHL/AHL player. Big man strong."

Don't believe me?

Even JFresh called it out but the response he got was, well, spicy.

He also just makes plays that don't translate whatsoever to the NHL. 

In fact, in that video, he's not even close to the best player on the ice. He spends half the time just watching the puck. It's almost like lazy hockey(?)--I don't know the word.

Hell, Montreal's media is pushing these as "highlights" from yesterday.

That's an unnecessary offensive zone turnover by an impatient player. Also, he puts his head down twice when using his edges and then sets himself up for an easy finishing hit by a real NHL defenseman.

Is there a real highlight? Sure.

Is that really a highlight of Slafkovsky or just a "wtf is Buffalo doing here?"

Also, I'd argue it's more of a highlight of Mesar for pinching in perfectly on the open lane. Mesar was underrated in this game. But that's a different story.

I went and read scouting reports on Slafkovsky as well.  I could pretty much summarize them all as "won MVP at the Olympics. Is a big, strong player with silky smooth hands and a great shot. Skating is okay/good/average/improving (seriously there is no consensus on this one). Decision making needs work." Why is the last item listed last in every scouting report? Is this just an example of drafting on size and strength? If so, that's terrible.

Even his Olympic performance doesn't look that impressive to me after watching videos. 2 of his 7 goals were just examples of terrible goaltending (1st goal against Finland the goalie just left the puck in front of him, 2nd goal against Finland was possibly screened but the goalie was horribly positioned and Slafkovsky had other, better plays than throwing the puck on the net). Which goes back to... these Olympic rosters were not that strong. Look up the scoring leaders. Look up the goalies. It's also worth noting that he had zero assists in seven outings.

Of his four other goals? Two came in the Bronze medal game. One was an inaccurate saucer pass that deflected off a defenseman's stick and into the net by sheer luck. The other was an empty net goal. One goal against Sweden during the 4-1 group loss was a bouncing puck he honestly took a lucky swing at and was the result of lazy Swedish play--probably due to having a 4-0 lead with under 2 minutes left. His goal against Team USA was a properly good goal.  I'd argue the goal against Latvia was elite because he came off the bench and intercepted the puck, went to the net, and scored, but it's not a play that would work in the NHL where players play defense and goalies can read shots from the top of the circles. It was also dangerously close to too many men (as in, I had to go frame-by-frame to see if it was a missed call or not).

Two of seven goals were solid. He had tons of ice time. He had 24 shots, most of which weren't very smart shots, but he had a shooting percentage of 30% because of luck. He had zero assists.

Granted, he had one assist in three games during the Olympic qualifier. In a 5-1 win against Poland. Of course he had zero goals so his one assist was his only point in three outings, but that's the same stat line as Zemgus Girgensons during the OGQ, so that's good for him. Slafkovsky had six shots in those three games. Two in each game (weirdly all in the first periods). 

I realize he is 18 and on the younger side, but if I were a Montreal fan I'd be really concerned about his selection. Do I think he will play in the NHL? Sure. After all, Nail Yakupov still played 350 games. Am I saying he is going to be a "bust?" Unlikely. Will he live up to be 1OA? I would wager money that's a no. In fact, I'd go so far as to say in 4 years, if there is a 2022 re-draft, he is outside of the top 10. Size only gets you so far.

So can someone tell me why he was the 1OA pick?

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

 

[That Aud Smell]

26 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[Flashsabre]

27 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

I'm going to put this in this thread I guess as opposed to the GDT, but Slafkovsky's play yesterday bothered me. He is talented and it showed by his ability to dominate the ice, but he dominated in a way that I don't think translates to NHL hockey and I don't believe he has the "awareness" of an NHL-ready player. At least not in the manner of a 1OA pick. This was essentially a juniors game where he was likely the strongest person on the ice and that's the only reason he stood out--at least positively.

When he got stood up on his net drive because he was skating with his head down (as noted by everyone--even the commentary) it really stood out to me and thus sparked this random deep dive.

To be clear, I never paid attention to him pre-draft, so I went and watched a bunch of highlights video of him as well as every shift from whole games and, frankly, he skates with his head down all the time when he has the puck and is using any kind of edge. Seriously, just go watch any of his play. It's crazy. It's near suicidal in the NHL.

This is a sample "highlight"... this is not a good play to translate to the NHL, I'm sorry:

Watch the rest of the video if you want and tell me that's 1OA material.

This was last night as we all remember:

It's the same concept. Head down and going to the middle. I guess in Finnish Juniors you can get away with it though. And, yes, the Montreal media and fans are bragging about Slafkovsky being a "solid" (and therefore invincible player), but if this is how you play hockey, you are not going to last long in the league. Ask Eric Lindros.

Here is a quote from a Montreal's SB Nation on the play above, "Of course, cutting into the middle of the ice in that manner isn’t always the best idea, but it made for a heck of a highlight the way his would-be checker bounced right off him. He’s incredibly strong on his feet, and as his awareness improves, that should continue to be a major asset for him."

Let me rephrase that, "Ok that was a stupid play but look at what a cool highlight it made as he stood up a hit against a bubble ECHL/AHL player. Big man strong."

Don't believe me?

Even JFresh called it out but the response he got was, well, spicy.

He also just makes plays that don't translate whatsoever to the NHL. 

In fact, in that video, he's not even close to the best player on the ice. He spends half the time just watching the puck. It's almost like lazy hockey(?)--I don't know the word.

Hell, Montreal's media is pushing these as "highlights" from yesterday.

That's an unnecessary offensive zone turnover by an impatient player. Also, he puts his head down twice when using his edges and then sets himself up for an easy finishing hit by a real NHL defenseman.

Is there a real highlight? Sure.

Is that really a highlight of Slafkovsky or just a "wtf is Buffalo doing here?"

Also, I'd argue it's more of a highlight of Mesar for pinching in perfectly on the open lane. Mesar was underrated in this game. But that's a different story.

I went and read scouting reports on Slafkovsky as well.  I could pretty much summarize them all as "won MVP at the Olympics. Is a big, strong player with silky smooth hands and a great shot. Skating is okay/good/average/improving (seriously there is no consensus on this one). Decision making needs work." Why is the last item listed last in every scouting report? Is this just an example of drafting on size and strength? If so, that's terrible.

Even his Olympic performance doesn't look that impressive to me after watching videos. 2 of his 7 goals were just examples of terrible goaltending (1st goal against Finland the goalie just left the puck in front of him, 2nd goal against Finland was possibly screened but the goalie was horribly positioned and Slafkovsky had other, better plays than throwing the puck on the net). Which goes back to... these Olympic rosters were not that strong. Look up the scoring leaders. Look up the goalies. It's also worth noting that he had zero assists in seven outings.

Of his four other goals? Two came in the Bronze medal game. One was an inaccurate saucer pass that deflected off a defenseman's stick and into the net by sheer luck. The other was an empty net goal. One goal against Sweden during the 4-1 group loss was a bouncing puck he honestly took a lucky swing at and was the result of lazy Swedish play--probably due to having a 4-0 lead with under 2 minutes left. His goal against Team USA was a properly good goal.  I'd argue the goal against Latvia was elite because he came off the bench and intercepted the puck, went to the net, and scored, but it's not a play that would work in the NHL where players play defense and goalies can read shots from the top of the circles. It was also dangerously close to too many men (as in, I had to go frame-by-frame to see if it was a missed call or not).

Two of seven goals were solid. He had tons of ice time. He had 24 shots, most of which weren't very smart shots, but he had a shooting percentage of 30% because of luck. He had zero assists.

Granted, he had one assist in three games during the Olympic qualifier. In a 5-1 win against Poland. Of course he had zero goals so his one assist was his only point in three outings, but that's the same stat line as Zemgus Girgensons during the OGQ, so that's good for him. Slafkovsky had six shots in those three games. Two in each game (weirdly all in the first periods). 

I realize he is 18 and on the younger side, but if I were a Montreal fan I'd be really concerned about his selection. Do I think he will play in the NHL? Sure. After all, Nail Yakupov still played 350 games. Am I saying he is going to be a "bust?" Unlikely. Will he live up to be 1OA? I would wager money that's a no. In fact, I'd go so far as to say in 4 years, if there is a 2022 re-draft, he is outside of the top 10. Size only gets you so far.

So can someone tell me why he was the 1OA pick?

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

 

Wow, this might be the longest post I have read😁 Montreal will pump anything he does, he is their 1oa pick. He is a huge kid with good hands. I thought Beck and Mesar were better players for them last night but they aren’t as sexy as the #1 pick. He will either learn to keep his head up or his career will go the way Lindros did at the end.  I don’t see him putting up big numbers to start but his frame will allow him to play this season in the league.

[dudacek]

Not gonna quote @RochesterExpat, but I saw a lot of the same things you did. His hockey brain has a ways to go.

Its a lot like the Lindgren commentary though. Kid’s got great edge work and popped to some people for that reason. He popped to me for some absolutely terrible puck decisions.

Both are relevant.

Slavkovsky’s going to pop early for his physical gifts. Then people will be down on him for his mental flaws. Development will determine where ultimately he lands on the Nichushkin/Jagr spectrum.

He’s got hands though and he will be able to physically dominate, even at an NHL level.

That and the competition are why he went 1st overall.

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, RochesterExpat said:

I'm going to put this in this thread I guess as opposed to the GDT, but Slafkovsky's play yesterday bothered me. He is talented and it showed by his ability to dominate the ice, but he dominated in a way that I don't think translates to NHL hockey and I don't believe he has the "awareness" of an NHL-ready player. At least not in the manner of a 1OA pick. This was essentially a juniors game where he was likely the strongest person on the ice and that's the only reason he stood out--at least positively.

When he got stood up on his net drive because he was skating with his head down (as noted by everyone--even the commentary) it really stood out to me and thus sparked this random deep dive.

To be clear, I never paid attention to him pre-draft, so I went and watched a bunch of highlights video of him as well as every shift from whole games and, frankly, he skates with his head down all the time when he has the puck and is using any kind of edge. Seriously, just go watch any of his play. It's crazy. It's near suicidal in the NHL.

This is a sample "highlight"... this is not a good play to translate to the NHL, I'm sorry:

Watch the rest of the video if you want and tell me that's 1OA material.

This was last night as we all remember:

It's the same concept. Head down and going to the middle. I guess in Finnish Juniors you can get away with it though. And, yes, the Montreal media and fans are bragging about Slafkovsky being a "solid" (and therefore invincible player), but if this is how you play hockey, you are not going to last long in the league. Ask Eric Lindros.

Here is a quote from a Montreal's SB Nation on the play above, "Of course, cutting into the middle of the ice in that manner isn’t always the best idea, but it made for a heck of a highlight the way his would-be checker bounced right off him. He’s incredibly strong on his feet, and as his awareness improves, that should continue to be a major asset for him."

Let me rephrase that, "Ok that was a stupid play but look at what a cool highlight it made as he stood up a hit against a bubble ECHL/AHL player. Big man strong."

Don't believe me?

Even JFresh called it out but the response he got was, well, spicy.

He also just makes plays that don't translate whatsoever to the NHL. 

In fact, in that video, he's not even close to the best player on the ice. He spends half the time just watching the puck. It's almost like lazy hockey(?)--I don't know the word.

Hell, Montreal's media is pushing these as "highlights" from yesterday.

That's an unnecessary offensive zone turnover by an impatient player. Also, he puts his head down twice when using his edges and then sets himself up for an easy finishing hit by a real NHL defenseman.

Is there a real highlight? Sure.

Is that really a highlight of Slafkovsky or just a "wtf is Buffalo doing here?"

Also, I'd argue it's more of a highlight of Mesar for pinching in perfectly on the open lane. Mesar was underrated in this game. But that's a different story.

I went and read scouting reports on Slafkovsky as well.  I could pretty much summarize them all as "won MVP at the Olympics. Is a big, strong player with silky smooth hands and a great shot. Skating is okay/good/average/improving (seriously there is no consensus on this one). Decision making needs work." Why is the last item listed last in every scouting report? Is this just an example of drafting on size and strength? If so, that's terrible.

Even his Olympic performance doesn't look that impressive to me after watching videos. 2 of his 7 goals were just examples of terrible goaltending (1st goal against Finland the goalie just left the puck in front of him, 2nd goal against Finland was possibly screened but the goalie was horribly positioned and Slafkovsky had other, better plays than throwing the puck on the net). Which goes back to... these Olympic rosters were not that strong. Look up the scoring leaders. Look up the goalies. It's also worth noting that he had zero assists in seven outings.

Of his four other goals? Two came in the Bronze medal game. One was an inaccurate saucer pass that deflected off a defenseman's stick and into the net by sheer luck. The other was an empty net goal. One goal against Sweden during the 4-1 group loss was a bouncing puck he honestly took a lucky swing at and was the result of lazy Swedish play--probably due to having a 4-0 lead with under 2 minutes left. His goal against Team USA was a properly good goal.  I'd argue the goal against Latvia was elite because he came off the bench and intercepted the puck, went to the net, and scored, but it's not a play that would work in the NHL where players play defense and goalies can read shots from the top of the circles. It was also dangerously close to too many men (as in, I had to go frame-by-frame to see if it was a missed call or not).

Two of seven goals were solid. He had tons of ice time. He had 24 shots, most of which weren't very smart shots, but he had a shooting percentage of 30% because of luck. He had zero assists.

Granted, he had one assist in three games during the Olympic qualifier. In a 5-1 win against Poland. Of course he had zero goals so his one assist was his only point in three outings, but that's the same stat line as Zemgus Girgensons during the OGQ, so that's good for him. Slafkovsky had six shots in those three games. Two in each game (weirdly all in the first periods). 

I realize he is 18 and on the younger side, but if I were a Montreal fan I'd be really concerned about his selection. Do I think he will play in the NHL? Sure. After all, Nail Yakupov still played 350 games. Am I saying he is going to be a "bust?" Unlikely. Will he live up to be 1OA? I would wager money that's a no. In fact, I'd go so far as to say in 4 years, if there is a 2022 re-draft, he is outside of the top 10. Size only gets you so far.

So can someone tell me why he was the 1OA pick?

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

 

Well this post is excellent. 

I want to talk about this clip because alllllllll the habs kids on twitter were raving about it. 

He does casually go 1 v 5 but he only beats 1 guy with a 2nd sabre poke checking and then turning out of the play. The other 3 players collapse on him and I think that is where I want to focus. His entry is good, we see some crossovers and speed and he uses his long reach to beat the first player and then he engages with the 3. We have a forward collapsing and the defenders closing off the lane (which is really good considering they barely played together). Now Slafskovsky pulls the puck away from the pressure to his left and back towards the middle. In doing so the gets cut off by the closing defender on his right while the left defender takes the body. The puck is actually cleared by that right defender as slafskovsky no longer has control. Once he makes that zone entry he basically goes into a glide with a few edges pushes but he doesn't cut or crossover or even make a decisive skating move once he glides, it is all upper body stick handling. That is why I think he was easy to take off the puck because he was basically gliding with a slight turn while doing all of this upper body stick handling. A smart defender would watch his waste because without a weight shift, he can't really change directions to far. We see that happen. Left defender plans to put his body in the way and the right defender sees that the puck is just left there so he can easily poke it away. 

This clip I can't comment on his processing because he doesn't have a lot of options once he hits the zone. For the record, we could do some stuff like this with some things Rosen and Savoie did last night. They both skated into pressure a few times and mad bad plays, it is September after all. 

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

Wow, this might be the longest post I have read😁 Montreal will pump anything he does, he is their 1oa pick. He is a huge kid with good hands. I thought Beck and Mesar were better players for them last night but they aren’t as sexy as the #1 pick. He will either learn to keep his head up or his career will go the way Lindros did at the end.  I don’t see him putting up big numbers to start but his frame will allow him to play this season in the league.

I agree.

[PerreaultForever]

The only question on Slavkovsky in Montreal is how he adjusts to North American life (with money) and how he adjusts to a hotbed for hockey like Montreal . There are numerous, shall we say, temptations and unsavory countrymen in that town that can run a young kid off the rails fast if he doesn't have the maturity  and support structure to deal with it. I suspect he'll be fine, but time will tell. 

I'm personally glad to hear that lesser known Sabres prospects looked good, but I'd actually rather read that our top prospects dominated. 

[LGR4GM]

14 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

The only question on Slavkovsky in Montreal is how he adjusts to North American life (with money) and how he adjusts to a hotbed for hockey like Montreal . There are numerous, shall we say, temptations and unsavory countrymen in that town that can run a young kid off the rails fast if he doesn't have the maturity  and support structure to deal with it. I suspect he'll be fine, but time will tell. 

I'm personally glad to hear that lesser known Sabres prospects looked good, but I'd actually rather read that our top prospects dominated. 

Only 2 or 3 are even there. Savoie is coming off a shoulder injury. Rosen improved throughout the game I thought. Kisakov doesn't speak the language and just got to NA. Really only top guys we can comment on.

Kulich didn't play. Östlund is in Sweden. JJP, Quinn, and Power are all gearing up for Sabres camp. 

[RochesterExpat]

30 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Wow, this might be the longest post I have read😁 

Sorry, it started with "something seemed weird to me about his play yesterday" evolving to "I wonder if I can answer this by looking at old games" only to find it repeating itself. So then I started reading scouting reports. Those were all placing him between 7 and 25th if they were written pre-Olympics. Even more interesting, a lot of writers had him falling from pre-season rankings (especially analytics-based ones) until his selection for the Olympics. That led me to see what I could find from his Olympic performance which was just disappointing. That led to me just being confused and then trying to formulate it into a post.

29 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Slavkovsky’s going to pop early for his physical gifts. Then people will be down on him for his mental flaws. Development will determine where ultimately he lands on the Nichushkin/Jagr spectrum.

He’s got hands though and he will be able to physically dominate, even at an NHL level.

I have no doubt that he'll be a future power forward and he'll play for years in the NHL because he has the size, speed and hands. I just don't see him long-term as the justifiable 1OA pick. I have zero problem being wrong with this because I have no skin in the game. Like I said, I am not a Montreal fan, but I'm not biased against Montreal either. It's not like he was drafted by Toronto. I also recognize that all draft picks are gambles and projecting them is incredibly difficult.

I find it funny the biggest justification for Slavkovsky's draft position is his size and physical maturity, but he's going to be coached by Martin St Louis--a player who was undrafted and ignored for years because of his size. Granted it was a different era, but there is something fitting about it.

9 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

For the record, we could do some stuff like this with some things Rosen and Savoie did last night. They both skated into pressure a few times and mad bad plays, it is September after all. 

This is absolutely true and I didn't want to judge Slafkovsky off one game. Hence this weird deep dive I went on which, frankly, was made possible by traveling for work this week and being incredibly bored courtesy of airlines being reliably unreliable.

10 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

I'm personally glad to hear that lesser known Sabres prospects looked good, but I'd actually rather read that our top prospects dominated. 

Wish I could say they dominated.

Rosen was invisible for the first half of the game, or when he was visible you wished he wasn't--but then started to have an impact including the nice blocked shot at the end. Take that for what you will.

Kisakov had a few good plays, but had a few misplays as well. He played with Savoie and Weissbach and wasn't on the level of either of them, frankly.

Savoie looked like the real deal as far as his passing and skating goes. His play with Weissbach made Weissbach look solid. But he didn't dominate the ice.

[Flashsabre]

20 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

The only question on Slavkovsky in Montreal is how he adjusts to North American life (with money) and how he adjusts to a hotbed for hockey like Montreal . There are numerous, shall we say, temptations and unsavory countrymen in that town that can run a young kid off the rails fast if he doesn't have the maturity  and support structure to deal with it. I suspect he'll be fine, but time will tell. 

I'm personally glad to hear that lesser known Sabres prospects looked good, but I'd actually rather read that our top prospects dominated. 

Remember the thing with this tournament is the top picks for each team want to play well but they also have one eye on main camp which starts right after so they also want to get through it unscathed. A lot of the lesser lights shine more because this is their only chance to make an impression and they go all out to try and catch someone’s eye. 

[kas23]

11 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Remember the thing with this tournament is the top picks for each team want to play well but they also have one eye on main camp which starts right after so they also want to get through it unscathed. A lot of the lesser lights shine more because this is their only chance to make an impression and they go all out to try and catch someone’s eye. 

I think first impressions are important. Anyone who is new, even if they went 1OA, is going to want to shine for their new boss. We all do it. And I’m sure they do too. 

[Doohickie]

Cautiously optimistic on Bloom:

 

[Buffalonill]

2 hours ago, RochesterExpat said:

I'm going to put this in this thread I guess as opposed to the GDT, but Slafkovsky's play yesterday bothered me. He is talented and it showed by his ability to dominate the ice, but he dominated in a way that I don't think translates to NHL hockey and I don't believe he has the "awareness" of an NHL-ready player. At least not in the manner of a 1OA pick. This was essentially a juniors game where he was likely the strongest person on the ice and that's the only reason he stood out--at least positively.

When he got stood up on his net drive because he was skating with his head down (as noted by everyone--even the commentary) it really stood out to me and thus sparked this random deep dive.

To be clear, I never paid attention to him pre-draft, so I went and watched a bunch of highlights video of him as well as every shift from whole games and, frankly, he skates with his head down all the time when he has the puck and is using any kind of edge. Seriously, just go watch any of his play. It's crazy. It's near suicidal in the NHL.

This is a sample "highlight"... this is not a good play to translate to the NHL, I'm sorry:

Watch the rest of the video if you want and tell me that's 1OA material.

This was last night as we all remember:

It's the same concept. Head down and going to the middle. I guess in Finnish Juniors you can get away with it though. And, yes, the Montreal media and fans are bragging about Slafkovsky being a "solid" (and therefore invincible player), but if this is how you play hockey, you are not going to last long in the league. Ask Eric Lindros.

Here is a quote from a Montreal's SB Nation on the play above, "Of course, cutting into the middle of the ice in that manner isn’t always the best idea, but it made for a heck of a highlight the way his would-be checker bounced right off him. He’s incredibly strong on his feet, and as his awareness improves, that should continue to be a major asset for him."

Let me rephrase that, "Ok that was a stupid play but look at what a cool highlight it made as he stood up a hit against a bubble ECHL/AHL player. Big man strong."

Don't believe me?

Even JFresh called it out but the response he got was, well, spicy.

He also just makes plays that don't translate whatsoever to the NHL. 

In fact, in that video, he's not even close to the best player on the ice. He spends half the time just watching the puck. It's almost like lazy hockey(?)--I don't know the word.

Hell, Montreal's media is pushing these as "highlights" from yesterday.

That's an unnecessary offensive zone turnover by an impatient player. Also, he puts his head down twice when using his edges and then sets himself up for an easy finishing hit by a real NHL defenseman.

Is there a real highlight? Sure.

Is that really a highlight of Slafkovsky or just a "wtf is Buffalo doing here?"

Also, I'd argue it's more of a highlight of Mesar for pinching in perfectly on the open lane. Mesar was underrated in this game. But that's a different story.

I went and read scouting reports on Slafkovsky as well.  I could pretty much summarize them all as "won MVP at the Olympics. Is a big, strong player with silky smooth hands and a great shot. Skating is okay/good/average/improving (seriously there is no consensus on this one). Decision making needs work." Why is the last item listed last in every scouting report? Is this just an example of drafting on size and strength? If so, that's terrible.

Even his Olympic performance doesn't look that impressive to me after watching videos. 2 of his 7 goals were just examples of terrible goaltending (1st goal against Finland the goalie just left the puck in front of him, 2nd goal against Finland was possibly screened but the goalie was horribly positioned and Slafkovsky had other, better plays than throwing the puck on the net). Which goes back to... these Olympic rosters were not that strong. Look up the scoring leaders. Look up the goalies. It's also worth noting that he had zero assists in seven outings.

Of his four other goals? Two came in the Bronze medal game. One was an inaccurate saucer pass that deflected off a defenseman's stick and into the net by sheer luck. The other was an empty net goal. One goal against Sweden during the 4-1 group loss was a bouncing puck he honestly took a lucky swing at and was the result of lazy Swedish play--probably due to having a 4-0 lead with under 2 minutes left. His goal against Team USA was a properly good goal.  I'd argue the goal against Latvia was elite because he came off the bench and intercepted the puck, went to the net, and scored, but it's not a play that would work in the NHL where players play defense and goalies can read shots from the top of the circles. It was also dangerously close to too many men (as in, I had to go frame-by-frame to see if it was a missed call or not).

Two of seven goals were solid. He had tons of ice time. He had 24 shots, most of which weren't very smart shots, but he had a shooting percentage of 30% because of luck. He had zero assists.

Granted, he had one assist in three games during the Olympic qualifier. In a 5-1 win against Poland. Of course he had zero goals so his one assist was his only point in three outings, but that's the same stat line as Zemgus Girgensons during the OGQ, so that's good for him. Slafkovsky had six shots in those three games. Two in each game (weirdly all in the first periods). 

I realize he is 18 and on the younger side, but if I were a Montreal fan I'd be really concerned about his selection. Do I think he will play in the NHL? Sure. After all, Nail Yakupov still played 350 games. Am I saying he is going to be a "bust?" Unlikely. Will he live up to be 1OA? I would wager money that's a no. In fact, I'd go so far as to say in 4 years, if there is a 2022 re-draft, he is outside of the top 10. Size only gets you so far.

So can someone tell me why he was the 1OA pick?

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

 

So a meaningless scrimmage gave you all that to research and take a deep dive into Slafkovsky who wasn't even in the conversation for 1st overall in the beginning of the year.

 

[RochesterExpat]

4 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

So a meaningless scrimmage gave you all that to research and take a deep dive into Slafkovsky who wasn't even in the conversation for 1st overall in the beginning of the year.

 

More like having nothing better to do at SeaTac made me question the 1OA pick because he made mistakes I just don't expect a 1OA pick to make in a meaningless scrimmage. 

[North Buffalo]

so when is the next game? tomorrow?

[LGR4GM]

55 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

More like having nothing better to do at SeaTac made me question the 1OA pick because he made mistakes I just don't expect a 1OA pick to make in a meaningless scrimmage. 

It was in very much contrast to power at the prospects camp this summer. Power did whatever he wanted basically, calmly I might add, and you can really see he wasn't going all out. 

Slafkovsky was in some ways like Savoie, they were both genuinely giving it a ton of effort. 

[Pimlach]

7 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Samuelsson isn't on that list. 

Who is the 4th prospect that is not playing?   UPL?   I was not counting the college players either.  

 

Either way, I  think they are correct to not include Power, Quinn, Peterka and whoever #4 is. 

[K-9]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Well this post is excellent. 

I want to talk about this clip because alllllllll the habs kids on twitter were raving about it. 

He does casually go 1 v 5 but he only beats 1 guy with a 2nd sabre poke checking and then turning out of the play. The other 3 players collapse on him and I think that is where I want to focus. His entry is good, we see some crossovers and speed and he uses his long reach to beat the first player and then he engages with the 3. We have a forward collapsing and the defenders closing off the lane (which is really good considering they barely played together). Now Slafskovsky pulls the puck away from the pressure to his left and back towards the middle. In doing so the gets cut off by the closing defender on his right while the left defender takes the body. The puck is actually cleared by that right defender as slafskovsky no longer has control. Once he makes that zone entry he basically goes into a glide with a few edges pushes but he doesn't cut or crossover or even make a decisive skating move once he glides, it is all upper body stick handling. That is why I think he was easy to take off the puck because he was basically gliding with a slight turn while doing all of this upper body stick handling. A smart defender would watch his waste because without a weight shift, he can't really change directions to far. We see that happen. Left defender plans to put his body in the way and the right defender sees that the puck is just left there so he can easily poke it away. 

This clip I can't comment on his processing because he doesn't have a lot of options once he hits the zone. For the record, we could do some stuff like this with some things Rosen and Savoie did last night. They both skated into pressure a few times and mad bad plays, it is September after all. 

 

Long story short, Slafkovsky gives the puck away and Savoie heads back up ice with it. I see nothing special at all in that play. 

[Flashsabre]

45 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Who is the 4th prospect that is not playing?   UPL?   I was not counting the college players either.  

 

Either way, I  think they are correct to not include Power, Quinn, Peterka and whoever #4 is. 

Levi is 4th.

I agree that those guys shouldn’t play and many of the others can’t play because they are with their teams already.

The point of posting the article was to give some perspective to the fact that this roster doesn’t truly represent the prospect pool.

After following this tournament since its inception I have seen some fans that don’t follow things as closely and come into this thinking that this roster literally represents the prospect corps.

If they had lost to Montreal there are some that would post “Well Montreal’s rebuild is already ahead of ours” or that a prospect is a bust because he didn’t explode in his first competitive game in a few months.

(And I’m not talking about anyone here😀 I tend to visit a few different boards)

 

[LabattBlue]

I was shocked at the number of scouts at the game last night.  I am guessing around 30.  
 

Then again, I guess it doesn’t get any easier for them, when you have prospects for 5 or 6 teams together for games over a long weekend. 

[Doohickie]

4 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

If they had lost to Montreal there are some that would post “Well Montreal’s rebuild is already ahead of ours” or that a prospect is a bust because he didn’t explode in his first competitive game in a few months.

I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by the Sabres win against 1OA and with the Sabres using 2 goalies they just kinda threw in there.  I may be overextrapolating but it tells me that the Sabres lower level prospects are actually pretty high quality (Tyler Kozak for instance).

[Two or less]

10 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

I'm happy the prospects are doing good but this "prospect challenge" doesn't get me excited .

I've seen tons of prospects come and go in the buffalo system that have dominated this  Tournament and have not been that successful at the next level.

 

 

 

I mean it's only a 3-game tournament and teams don't always use their best 18 skaters. I think your expectations are just too high.

That said, pre-covid JJ Peterka was one of the best performers. He put on a show in each game he was in. Last season, JJP and Jack Quinn were very good, but the best player was probably Brett Murray who then followed with his best season in his career and was steady during his call-up to the Sabres. I think the reason the Sabres prospects prior to 2018 not having success isn't because what they did in the tournament doesn't translate but because the Sabres just lacked good prospects.

They have some really good prospects now and it's worth going to see them play imo.

[PerreaultForever]

10 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Only 2 or 3 are even there. Savoie is coming off a shoulder injury. Rosen improved throughout the game I thought. Kisakov doesn't speak the language and just got to NA. Really only top guys we can comment on.

Kulich didn't play. Östlund is in Sweden. JJP, Quinn, and Power are all gearing up for Sabres camp. 

I was thinking of Savoie and Rosen. 

Is the "coming off a shoulder injury" a thing or are you just saying? I read he was all gung ho and ready to go. 

[PerreaultForever]

10 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

Remember the thing with this tournament is the top picks for each team want to play well but they also have one eye on main camp which starts right after so they also want to get through it unscathed. A lot of the lesser lights shine more because this is their only chance to make an impression and they go all out to try and catch someone’s eye. 

You know what, that might be true, but I always want character guys who simply hate losing ALL the time so they give you full effort but maybe that's unrealistic in 2022. 

Bunch of coddled woke sissies these new players 🙂

 

[thewookie1]

2 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I was thinking of Savoie and Rosen. 

Is the "coming off a shoulder injury" a thing or are you just saying? I read he was all gung ho and ready to go. 

Being excited and ready differs from being truly ready. Just because your health is back to good doesn’t mean you’ll immediately pick up where you left off.