Slafkovsky, a better prospect than Lafrenière according to The Athletic

I’m going to start this text by suggesting we play a game.

You’re an NHL GM and you have to build your club from scratch. You have the choice of selecting Juraj Slafkovsky or Alexis Lafrenière, two guys who have been drafted first overall in recent years…

Which one do you choose? And why?

I ask for a simple reason. This morning, Corey Pronman (The Athletic) published a list of the top 168 NHL prospects under the age of 23, in which the CH is well represented…

But some have jumped at the fact that Slaf (19th) is ranked higher than Lafrenière, who is 29th.

And it’s also interesting to note that David Reinbacher (26th) is also ranked higher than the Quebecer. You can find the complete list right here :

I find it a little difficult to play the comparison game with the two main players.

Firstly, because we’re not really talking about the same style of player…

And two, because we’ve hardly seen Juraj Slafkovsky play since his NHL debut. He played just 39 games last season and had his season cut short by injury.

All in all, even if he didn’t play much, Slaf showed encouraging signs at times last year.

He had some nice “flashes” and perhaps that’s what prompted The Athletic’s journalist to rank him ahead of Lafrenière, who also had some nice flashes but is slow to establish himself as an impact player in the NHL.

But Pronman’s list is sure to get people talking. Logan Cooley at #24, Lucas Raymond at #26, Yaroslav Askarov at #68…

I find it hard to understand how a player who has never played in the NHL can be ranked ahead of a player who has already proven himself in the big league. But hey.

It gets people talking, and that was the ultimate goal.

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– Speak of the devil.

Did the Habs screw up Juraj Slafkovsky’s first year of development?@GagnonFrancois, @belly2020 and @MartinLemay discussed it.⬇️https://t.co/SzDSWHhW7x pic.twitter.com/P2gd1ZAbA7

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– He can do it.

– Yep .

– He’ll be one to watch this season.

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