Ed Olczyk " Laine has the ability to be a 65-70 goal scorer. Agree?

[Hockeyholic]

Zero chance

 

[Halla]

65? Absolutely.

It´s not exactly unusual for goalscorers to have the odd peak year. Daniel Sedin scores around 30 for years with one 41 (and one 36) goal season. Laine clearly is a 45-50 goals guy so I don´t see why he couldn´t hit 65 in a "perfect" year.

he isnt clearly a 45-50g guy until he has done it multiple times.

he is currently a 36-44g guy


and no, he isnt gonna get 65-70. he might get a few 50g seasons though

 

[Havre]

he isnt clearly a 45-50g guy until he has done it multiple times.

he is currently a 36-44g guy


and no, he isnt gonna get 65-70. he might get a few 50g seasons though

He is as clearly as a guy just turned 20 can more or less ever be.

But fair enough. If you don’t agree with the first premise then you won’t agree with the rest either. I’m fully aware of the risk that a young player might not take that next step.

I believe based on his stats and his skill set that he has a fair shot at scoring 65.

 

[Cyborg LeClair]

I think Laine has a legitimate shot at 50 in 50. I can't say that about anyone else in the league. May not be next year, but in a couple years time, hes really gonna be way too dangerous.

 

[GoJetsGo55]

he isnt clearly a 45-50g guy until he has done it multiple times.

he is currently a 36-44g guy


and no, he isnt gonna get 65-70. he might get a few 50g seasons though

So he's essentially peaked at age 20?

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

To be Finnish and have a 40 goal scorer is great.
But if we seriously get a NHL player that pots 70.
70. Goals. It just sounds too good to become true.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Laine scored 80 goals in 155 games as a teenager. I think he has that potential although I doubt he reaches it.

 

[Halla]

So he's essentially peaked at age 20?

math is hard huh?

he is a 36-44g scorer NOW
I said I think he will get 50+ a few times
how is that peaking at 20?

 

[Halla]

He is as clearly as a guy just turned 20 can more or less ever be.

But fair enough. If you don’t agree with the first premise then you won’t agree with the rest either. I’m fully aware of the risk that a young player might not take that next step.

I believe based on his stats and his skill set that he has a fair shot at scoring 65.

I just dont believe in the premise you can call a guy a 45 or even 50g scorer when he has never done it even once

and by the way me saying i think laine gets at least a few 50g seasons clearly shows i think he will continue to improve.
50g/80pts should be achievable as early as next year. im still gonna say no to 65-70 though

 

[grieves]

I just don't see it. 60+ has only happened twice since 1996. I can see him hitting 60, but 65-70 seems like a stretch. Though I'd be happy if I were wrong cause that'd be really exciting.

Edit to add: The points made about ice time are definitely interesting. Goals per 60 in all situations this season is below:

Laine - 1.954
Matthews - 1.815
JVR - 1.790
Ovechkin - 1.780
E Staal - 1.725
Malkin - 1.701
Lee - 1.695
Karlsson - 1.681
Carter - 1.619
Hall - 1.610

So hypothetically, if Laine got as much ice time as Ovi, and stayed at the same pace he could've scored 53 goals this year.

Yeah, this is a good point that gets overlooked a lot. People just look at the raw total number of goals scored while ignoring the fact that if you consider ice-time, Laine as a 19yo is already the best in the league in terms of goal-scoring efficiency.

And really if you had followed his season closely, you could see that he could have done so much better even during this season with a little different deployment. This was nowhere near what you can get out of Laine even now. I'm not saying he has been a force all season, but the goal-scoring ability has been there. He was just used in a shut-down role for some reason.

70 seems ridiculous (and may well be), but he has already basically cracked 50, in a sense, as a teen. Ovi was nowhere near where Laine is at his age, and comparing players at the same stage in development is absolutely crucial.

Laine is going to be better than Ovi IMO, and at this point he is miles ahead. And I'm not saying this to disrespect Ovi because he is absolutely one of the best players, but Laine is going to be THE best (or at least battling for that status hard).

 

[bathdog]

Yeah, this is a good point that gets overlooked a lot. People just look at the raw total number of goals scored while ignoring the fact that if you consider ice-time, Laine as a 19yo is already the best in the league in terms of goal-scoring efficiency.

And really if you had followed his season closely, you could see that he could have done so much better even during this season with a little different deployment. This was nowhere near what you can get out of Laine even now. I'm not saying he has been a force all season, but the goal-scoring ability has been there. He was just used in a shut-down role for some reason.

70 seems ridiculous (and may well be), but he has already basically cracked 50, in a sense, as a teen. Ovi was nowhere near where Laine is at his age, and comparing players at the same stage in development is absolutely crucial.

Laine is going to be better than Ovi IMO, and at this point he is miles ahead. And I'm not saying this to disrespect Ovi because he is absolutely one of the best players, but Laine is going to be THE best (or at least battling for that status hard).

Well, that's a whole lot of bananas.

 

[grieves]

Well, that's a whole lot of bananas.

Bananas are the bomb and so is my post.

Alternatively, we can also go into specifics if you prefer.

 

[bathdog]

Bananas are the bomb and so is my post.

Alternatively, we can also go into specifics if you prefer.

Specifics are dull.

 

[North Cole]

Yeah, this is a good point that gets overlooked a lot. People just look at the raw total number of goals scored while ignoring the fact that if you consider ice-time, Laine as a 19yo is already the best in the league in terms of goal-scoring efficiency.

And really if you had followed his season closely, you could see that he could have done so much better even during this season with a little different deployment. This was nowhere near what you can get out of Laine even now. I'm not saying he has been a force all season, but the goal-scoring ability has been there. He was just used in a shut-down role for some reason.

70 seems ridiculous (and may well be), but he has already basically cracked 50, in a sense, as a teen. Ovi was nowhere near where Laine is at his age, and comparing players at the same stage in development is absolutely crucial.

Laine is going to be better than Ovi IMO, and at this point he is miles ahead. And I'm not saying this to disrespect Ovi because he is absolutely one of the best players, but Laine is going to be THE best (or at least battling for that status hard).

Well OV had a lockout his first year, so its not really his fault that he couldn't play in the league as a 19yo.

I can't see Laine hitting 70 goals, deployment is one thing, but ovechkin was goal scoring in ways people have never really seen. Laine has a better release and is probably more accurate, but I don't think it's fair to say at this point he will better and is miles ahead. Ovechkin could do it all, from anywhere, and didn't have 25+ shooting % over some of his streaks.

Laine will have difficulty replicating OVs 2008 season, let alone his peak.

 

[Hagged]

I think these two seasons will be considered Laine's peak as a goal scorer. Now hear me out before jumping into conclusions:

Laine has SO far relied heavily on his shot mainly because he hasn't had a goal scoring line mate and played in the bottom 6. Once he gets time with Scheifele, or another good goal scorer, his goals-points ratio will go down drastically.

He has 80goals 134points so far in his career for ratio of 0.597

Take another good goal scorer Selanne as an example and point of reference:

684goals 1457points, ratio 0.469.

Now assuming Laine's point production stays on a similar level, he becomes

33g+37a=70pts type of player, not that far from these two seasons, but still the 36 and 44 goal seasons would be remembered as his peak if this scenario plays out perfectly and there's no variation in production between seasons.

 

[boredmale]

Zero chance

Not sure I would say 0 chance, but only way I see him getting more then 65(even 60) would be if the top scorer in the league gets 120 points ad we have a bunch(like 5-10) of 100 point players

 

[ijuka]

Reminder that in every NHL game of his career up to this point, Laine's been younger than Alex Ovechkin in his first NHL game.

 

[NewtJorden]

He could, but not in today NHL.

 

[ijuka]

I think these two seasons will be considered Laine's peak as a goal scorer. Now hear me out before jumping into conclusions:

Laine has SO far relied heavily on his shot mainly because he hasn't had a goal scoring line mate and played in the bottom 6. Once he gets time with Scheifele, or another good goal scorer, his goals-points ratio will go down drastically.

He has 80goals 134points so far in his career for ratio of 0.597

Take another good goal scorer Selanne as an example and point of reference:

684goals 1457points, ratio 0.469.

Now assuming Laine's point production stays on a similar level, he becomes

33g+37a=70pts type of player, not that far from these two seasons, but still the 36 and 44 goal seasons would be remembered as his peak if this scenario plays out perfectly and there's no variation in production between seasons.

Comparing Laine to Selänne is dumb because they're nothing alike as players. Selänne shot from up close, and his shot was a muffin.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Yeah, this is a good point that gets overlooked a lot. People just look at the raw total number of goals scored while ignoring the fact that if you consider ice-time, Laine as a 19yo is already the best in the league in terms of goal-scoring efficiency.

And really if you had followed his season closely, you could see that he could have done so much better even during this season with a little different deployment. This was nowhere near what you can get out of Laine even now. I'm not saying he has been a force all season, but the goal-scoring ability has been there. He was just used in a shut-down role for some reason.

70 seems ridiculous (and may well be), but he has already basically cracked 50, in a sense, as a teen. Ovi was nowhere near where Laine is at his age, and comparing players at the same stage in development is absolutely crucial.

Laine is going to be better than Ovi IMO, and at this point he is miles ahead. And I'm not saying this to disrespect Ovi because he is absolutely one of the best players, but Laine is going to be THE best (or at least battling for that status hard).

He's the 19th most efficient goal scorer at even strength and #1 on the PP. His even strength minutes are low (only 13 per game or so) while his PP minutes are fairly high (3+ mins per game), of course his all-situations goals per 60 are going to look high. The rest of the goalscorers on that list play more even strength time and some of them PK, why should they be punished for playing a smaller proportion of PP to EV/PK ice time?

 

[ProstheticConscience]

I could see it.

 

[grieves]

Well OV had a lockout his first year, so its not really his fault that he couldn't play in the league as a 19yo.

I can't see Laine hitting 70 goals, deployment is one thing, but ovechkin was goal scoring in ways people have never really seen. Laine has a better release and is probably more accurate, but I don't think it's fair to say at this point he will better and is miles ahead. Ovechkin could do it all, from anywhere, and didn't have 25+ shooting % over some of his streaks.

Laine will have difficulty replicating OVs 2008 season, let alone his peak.

Even if Ovi could not join the NHL, that does not mean he did not play hockey. He had 13 goals, 10 assists in 53 games in the Russian league. Laine is clearly better at this point in development. That may not stay this way, but it is a safer bet than not in my opinion. Of course you also have to adjust for era (although the scoring is up this season).

How much Laine's shooting accuracy was over a small set of games is irrelevant since we have two season's worth of data now.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

No that's to much, 50 yes, 65-70? that's ridiculous

 

[grieves]

He's the 19th most efficient goal scorer at even strength and #1 on the PP. His even strength minutes are low (only 13 per game or so) while his PP minutes are fairly high (3+ mins per game), of course his all-situations goals per 60 are going to look high. The rest of the goalscorers on that list play more even strength time and some of them PK, why should they be punished for playing a smaller proportion of PP to EV/PK ice time?

Well Laine being #1 in PP production should also not be held against him. A PP goal = ES goal in value. Although I do think that you make a fair point about penalty killing. But still, a 19yo having the best GF/60 in the whole damn league is pretty impressive. I doubt Ovi PK's?

Also, Laine played in a completely dysfunctional line this season. With Scheifele already last season they were rocking 3,5 P/60 and were talked about being the best duo in the NHL (on even strenght of course). Now he was playing in a offensively ineffective line for most of the season.

When the line composition changed, so did Laine's production (this was highlighted even further at around the same time when Stastny came in, as Laine was really improving as a player as well.) The creativity took a massive leap forward in that line.

 

[StatisticsAddict99]

People are disputing this as if they’ve believe he will. Heck I’m doubtful he will get 55+ in his career but he has the potential to score 65(pretty much everything would have to be perfect though).

If Laine can work majorly on his skating in the Offseason, get top line 5v5 minutes beside Connor and Scheifele and get Ovi like PowerPlay minutes(pretty much out there for the whole power play) I think he will catch 50 and 90pts though. It’s very possible but it lays within allot of factors that would need to be made. But all that being said Laine only just turned 20 years old(and has time to develop), he will eventually play beside a Top 10 League wide Center(Scheifele) with the likes of Connor/ Ehlers being on the opposing side, I mean those guys(Connor and Ehlers) are still very much in development and putting up big time numbers, just wait until these guys get it all together(Goals and Points will be flying all over the damn place).