Juraj Slafkovsky: Would you trade him for Leon Draisaitl?

Tony Patoine
Juraj Slafkovsky: Would you trade him for Leon Draisaitl?
Credit: Capture d'écran | Twitter Habs on Reddit

Oh, how people are talking about good old Slafer these days!

This morning, he literally led his native Slovakia to first place in its preliminary group.

Now he finds himself at the top of the scoring charts in the highly competitive Olympic tournament, ahead of, let's say, not exactly unknown players.

(Screenshot: IIHF.com)

Here's one who's looking more and more like an excellent first overall pick after all!

Ah, that vaguely reminds me of a newspaper article that has aged a little badly…

Joking aside, in the summer of 2024, after a 50-point campaign in his second season at just 19 years old, it was Slafkovsky who earned first place in our traditional summer ranking of the CH's most important prospects.
Already convinced that their gem would not be a flash in the pan, his bosses had just signed him to an eight-year contract worth $7.6 million per year.

In light of this new $60.8 million deal, which will end in 2033, I stated at the time that “very few hockey players would clearly have a higher market value than Slafkovsky in the hockey world.”

Even considering age, contracts, rarity, and talent, some laughed and others were stung when I dared to compare his market value to that of several big names such as Marner, Matthews, Rantanen, the Tkachuks, Barkov, Draisaitl, Kucherov, Celebrini, etc.

No one hits 1,000, but this is undoubtedly one of my predictions that is likely to age well.

Of course, Celebrini hadn't yet taken a single skate in the NHL, and he quickly defied even the most optimistic predictions about him. We can now say that he is in a class of his own.

Everyone would trade Slafkovsky for Celebrini any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Celebrini is becoming a generational player right before our eyes.

But for the others, considering their age, injuries, contracts, and tutti quanti, if you imagine what Slaf will give you and what he will cost you until 2033, would you trade him for one or two?

Let's focus on three players with “comparable” values that are particularly relevant to this exercise.

Against Kucherov?

Yes, at 32, Kucherov is far superior to him and, in the best-case scenario, could still be very good for another 5 or even 7 years.

But at 21 and even at 22, he was only a 65-66 point player per year, just like Slaf!

It's also important to consider that Kucherov will be 34 in July 2027 when he signs his next contract, which could be worth around $14-15 million annually, double what Juraj is making…

So, if you want to win now and you have a lot of dollars under the cap in the next few years, this is definitely a trade that many would make.

Perhaps, in absolute terms, Kucherov's value is greater than Slafkovsky's across the entire NHL.

Perhaps Julien BriseBois would also demand more than Slafkovsky in return for Kucherov.

But maybe not!
Especially if, as with Stamkos, he was reluctant to offer big money to a player in his mid-thirties who was approaching the twilight of his career… So, for me, it's a no!
All things considered, I wouldn't trade Slafkovsky for Kucherov, even if I had a guarantee that the latter would continue his career in Montreal until 2033. And for the Habs, in their context, it would probably be no as well…

Against Rantanen?
Last year, I talked about a comparison between Slafkovsky and Rantanen when the latter signed his 8-year/$96 million deal with Dallas.

At 29 years old, earning $12 million per year for another seven seasons, Rantanen has recorded 87 points in 74 games since being acquired by the Stars. And let's not forget his 22 points in 18 playoff games last year.

At 21, in Colorado, he also had his first big season: 84 points.

But at the same age, how many points would Slafkovsky score this season if he had the chance to team up with a young MacKinnon capable of scoring 97 points in 74 games?

In any case, since pairing up with future superstar Demidov, he has racked up 30 points in his last 28 games.

That gives you an idea!

And it's strangely similar to Rantanen's pace back in the day.

So no, I wouldn't trade Slaf, who is already averaging a point per game since his recent explosion, for the $12 million Rantanen, who is older and less nimble “in the corners”…

For what it's worth, on the same ice rink the other day against Finland, the young Slovakian completely outplayed the veteran Rantanen. This was also the case in the January 4 game in Dallas…

Against Draisaitl?

Leon Draisaitl is one of my favorite players.

At 30, he is in the first year of an eight-year contract that will earn him $14 million for every full cycle of the Earth around the Sun.

At 21, in his second full season in the NHL, he recorded 77 points in 82 games.

At 22, he took a slight step back, accumulating 70 points in 78 games.

But do you need to be reminded of the name of the guy he played with more often than not?

A certain Connor McDavid had recorded 100 and 108 points in those two seasons…

It was finally at the age of 23 that Draisaitl had his first 50-goal, 100-point (105) season, while his good friend McDavid scored 116 points.

And so, in his fourth full season—at the age of 23, remember—Draisaitl became Dr. Drai.

An absolutely dominant player.

One of the two best natural scorers of his generation, along with Auston Matthews.

All things considered – he will probably never play with a player of McDavid's caliber – I don't know if Slafkovsky will ever reach the level of play of a Draisaitl.

Maybe yes, maybe no.

He has the size, the passion, the skating ability, the strength, and probably the passing talent, but will he be able to achieve that level of confidence with the puck? Will he be able to improve his shot and his wrist shot to the same level as the German?

Maybe!

Will he be able to become as useful and well-rounded a player as Dr. Drai?

Maybe!

But he'll still need to reach another level, experience a kind of 3.0 explosion.
So, philosophical question of the week, considering age, contract, talent, organizational chart, young CH prospects, window of opportunity, and everything else, would you trade Slaf for Draisaitl, right now?

I'll let you think about it before I read your comments on Facebook, and maybe Twitter/X (if I get there)!

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