Juraj Slafkovsky finally scored his first goal this season on Saturday and played with more confidence on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
Some fans may have breathed a sigh of relief (one wonders why so early in the process), but for the more pessimistic, this goal will probably change nothing, Slafkovsky will remain a poor choice in the first row of the 2022 draft.
They take great pleasure in recalling the production of the third overall pick, center Logan Cooley, 8 points after 11 games with the Arizona Coyotes.
The comparisons began during the previous winter between these two different players: Cooley, a fast and skilled 5-foot-10, 175-pound center, was a hit in the NCAA with 60 points in 39 games at the University of Minnesota while Slafkovsky, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound winger, was hanging on in the NHL with 10 points in 39 games before getting injured.
Cooley was not, however, a popular choice in Montreal at the dawn of the draft. Almost everyone had a crush on one Shane Wright, but since he’s still in the American League (where he’s doing pretty well, by the way), comparing Slafkovsky with the most productive player at the moment is a lot more efficient…
Since it must be remembered… again: Slafkovsky is 19 years old and the development of a young player varies from one individual to another. THE kid at 19 years old !!!
At 19, Nick Suzuki was playing his final season in the junior ranks and Cole Caufield was in his second season at the University of Wisconsin.
Slafkovsky is a first overall pick, unlike Suzuki, 13e in 2017, and Caufield, 15e in 2019, but this poor Slovak must live up to the expectations due to his rank by having been drafted first in a complex batch for recruiters. He would never have pierced the top 3 if the draft had taken place a year later with Bedard, Fantilli and Carlsson.
Unfortunately, Slafkovsky is not the first victim of the Montreal market’s lack of patience. Most draft enthusiasts were dreaming of forward Gilbert Brule at No. 5 in 2005.
With the setbacks of this sixth overall pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets, we subsequently turned to Anze Kopitar, 11e choice by the Los Angeles Kings, to evoke the mistake CH recruiters.
Then the comparisons emerged from within, with Jaroslav Halak, after the famous spring of 2010. Price finally stopped hearing the whispers… at the dawn of his 24th birthday, after three difficult seasons where we even asked if it would not be better to exchange it.
This flop finishes career with 361-261-79 record, 2.51 GAA, .917 save percentage, Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy, Stanley Cup Final, Extra Four and an Olympic gold medal. No goalie in the history of the Canadiens has won so many matches.
Max Pacioretty was also the victim of comparisons, with David Perron, during the first years of his career. Perron, drafted 26e in total, four ranks after Pacioretty, reached the NHL at age 18. Pacioretty was also 23 years old when he was able to settle permanently in Montreal. Perron was in his fourth season in the National Hockey League. And had already reached the plateau of 20 goals for the first time.
Pacioretty has 326 career goals. He had four years of more than 30 goals in Montreal, including one of 39 goals, and another of 32 goals in Vegas. He was one of the good scorers of his generation. Perron also had a prolific career. So much saliva wasted.
Recent history should have taught us to be patient. A majority of fans applauded the departure of Jesperi Kotkaniemi after the qualifying offer from the Carolina Hurricanes. After three seasons in Montreal, this young man had obtained only 62 points in 171 games.
Those who, at the dawn of the 2018 draft, dreamed of Filip Zadina, 44 goals in 57 games with the Halifax Mooseheads in his year of eligibility, switched allegiance in favor of Brady Tkachuk, fourth overall pick by the Senators, one rank after the Finn.
Kotkaniemi had just turned 21 when he joined the Hurricanes. At 22, he had his best career season last year, centering the second line in Carolina, the second overall club in the NHL, with 43 points, including 18 goals, in 82 games.
At 23, Kotkaniemi leads his team in scoring with 12 points in as many games. The season is still young, obviously, but this weekend again, he capped a comeback for his team with a timely goal and assist on the tying goal in the third period.
Former general manager Marc Bergevin also lacked patience and used the compensatory picks received from the Hurricanes to acquire Christian Dvorak. Very few protested at the time…
There will obviously always be failed choices. But should we rush after a year or two to classify them as flops?
Could we now finally be patient and wait for the 23rd?e Juraj Slafkovsky’s birthday before determining whether management made the right choice or not?
Change of guard in Anaheim
PHOTO GENE J. PUSKAR, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Coach Greg Cronin
After four miserable years under coach Dallas Eakin, his successor in Anaheim Greg Cronin, 60, imposed a new culture on the Ducks. The team’s top scorer last year, Trevor Zegras, 9e overall pick in 2019, 65 points, including 23 goals, last year, after a season of 61 points in just 65 games, was the first target.
Zegras is gifted offensively, but he was criticized for being too soft in the defensive zone. General manager Pat Verbeek refused to give him a long-term contract and the young man had to settle for a three-year deal.
We have now moved him to the wing, preferring Mason MacTavish, 20 years old, third choice overall in 2021, and Leo Carlsson, 18 years old, second choice overall in 2023, in the center of the first two trios.
Zegras’ production is suffering, he has only two points in eleven games, but the plan is working so far. Anaheim just handed the Golden Knights their first defeat of the season on Sunday and improved their record to 7-4.
Mason MacTavish is the leader with 13 points in 11 games, but defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, 19, the tenth overall pick in 2022, who isn’t talked about often enough, has eight points in eleven games and now fills the role of lone defenseman within the first wave in numerical superiority.
Little secret just for you: Mintyukov was listed first on at least one NHL team’s list heading into this draft, and it wasn’t Anaheim.