Former Leaf Humiliates Juraj Slafkovsky and Calls Him a Bust

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James Connelly
November 4, 2023 (4:32 PM)

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A former Leafs-affiliated player sounded off on Juraj Slafkovsky and has caused a stir amongst the NHL community.

Schmaltz Humiliates Slafkovsky

Recently there has become a hotly debated topic on whether the Montreal Canadiens should send 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky to the AHL or leave him in the NHL.

In a recent post on X, formerly known as Twitter, former NHLer Jordan Schmaltz has given his unfiltered analysis of Slafkovsky.

I watched Juraj Slafkovsky play last night at Mullet Arena. And even dating back to the 2021-22 season in the Finnish Pro League where I played against this kid. Not much has changed with his game. At the time I remember thinking.. He's built like a Ford F250 for his age, he doesn't really understand time & space (he would get lit up like he does in the National), and he has absolute blinders for vision. While only 17-18 at the time, there was a disconnect from his computer aka his brain and what his frame was. I'm not saying I'm Scotty William Bowman by any means but it seems like MTL at the time got so h***y over a decent showing in an Olympics that featured no NHL players. Hindsight is always 20/20 but even a few years ago #1 overall seemed rather steep for this type of player. Be interesting to see how it pans out. Last night confirmed to my eyes what he needs, and the best thing for this young player is a jungle stint with no set timeline on it.

Schmaltz closed his post by claiming that Slafkovsky needed a stint in the "jungle" which means he believes he should be sent to the AHL. As somebody who competed against Slafkovsky, Schmaltz was able to see things on a level nobody else was able to see.

Schmaltz's Career

Schmaltz was originally drafted as the 25th overall pick in the 2012 NHL draft by the St. Louis Blues with the idea that he would become a top-four defenseman for them.

However, the Wisconsin native's game never translated to the NHL level as he played the majority of his professional career in North America in the AHL. He played in parts of three seasons in the NHL registering 42 total games. He scored zero goals and had five assists during his NHL tenure.

Schmaltz was traded from the Blues to the Maple Leafs in the 2019 offseason but was flipped later on in the year to the New York Islanders. He left in the NHL in 2021-22 where he would play in the Finnish LIIGA and against Slafkovsky where he got to understand the phenoms playing style.

He last played in 2022-23 in the Swiss NL and it seems like at the age of 30, his NHL career is over.

Now we will see if Slafkovsky is able to prove Schmaltz wrong or if he will become a bust like Schmaltz was himself.