Équipe: 2023-24 Canadiens de Montréal

Date de création initiale: 11 févr. 2024

Publié: 11 févr. 2024

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

Seperating into pre and post december

Pre december: 23 games, 2g-7 points
December on: 28g 8g-16 points

But let's look deeper.

Getting significant boost in linemates and deployment needs to be factored in.

Let's go to even strength numbers:

Pre
0.2g/60, 1.2 p/60
Post
0.72 goals/60, 1.3 points/60.

A VERY key factor is a shooting% of 3.8% before, and now a shooting% of 16%.

In fact he's generating less shots and shot attempts than he did before said breakout.

Improvement in on ice metrics but again primarily based on linemates rather than himself

Eye test says: slight improvements but nothing major

My conclusion, not nearly as much has changed with Slaf as is being claimed

The overall chance generation is worse.

But, going from 1 minute a night on an abysmal PP2 unit in montreal, to 4 minutes a night on a PP unit with Caufield leads to a vast change in production not driven by slaf himself.

That coupled with a vast improvement in the talent around him deployment also again leads people to see improvement that really isn't there.

Of course, add all that together with going from incredibly bad shooting luck pre december, to very good shooting luck since and it creates a mirage.

I think Slaf's performance was heavily underrated early in the year, and is now very much overrated.

Very good and promising young player, but no, he didn't suddenly become much better overnight.