Laine's and Connor's contracts

[Jets 31]

Just a thought , if Laine is a superstar player right now wouldn't he still produce big time even playing with Little? Little is still a damn good hockey player , having said that i would like him and Wheeler switched because i think it gives us 2 good lines instead of 1 .

 

[Howard Chuck]

Wow.....I’m not sure if I have the energy or time to explain it all........but real talk tell me are you Finnish or Finnish heritage? That’s a start, at least tells me from what POV you’re starting from.

Nope, Winnipeg, Irish

What else do we know for sure outside of the bad second half of last season?

 

[Hunter368]

Nope, Winnipeg, Irish

What else do we know for sure outside of the bad second half of last season?

List is long:

- Pre draft interview in bed. Disrespectful & cocky

- Complaining about ice time

- Complaining about line mates

- Complaining line mates aren’t good enough

- Claiming he has nothing left prove to deserve a long term big contract days after a brutally bad season. Nothing left to prove?Really, he has huge things to prove. Poor defensively, poor on the boards & corners, poor possession guy, poor at driving play, poor consistency, poor skating, etc. He literally does one thing well, he shoots.......but he’s heavily dependent on others to get him in a position to shoot......so while he holds value as a shooter claiming he has nothing to prove is comical.

- Claiming he should been 1st OA in draft. AM is much better player, if there was a redraft now, I’m not sure Laine would even be 2nd OA.

- His lack of effort on the ice, anyone watch him play can see that. Lack of defensive effort often, shows in his numbers.

- His complete lack of humility, IMO he might be the least likeable player in Jets 2.0 outside of Evander Kane.

- Lack of professionalism, poor diet (his own words) and questionable training shows in his lack of endurance and poor skating. Some will claim but he trains hard.......if he did it would show improvement after three full years. I’m waiting to see how Laine looks this year physically and skating......hopefully he has improved both areas this summer. Love to see him in Gary Roberts boot camp......watch Gary get this kid in shape.

- Love to hear what Laine contract demands are, we have our own slight insider here who says he’s hearing he wants the AM deal......which “if true” Laine is delusional. Laine without doubt has value, but he’s far from AM value.

- Also is annoying is how Laine fans like to deflect all or much of the responsibility of his poor play on the team, line mates, coach, etc. Here’s a novel idea, how about what can Laine control to improve his game......talk about that instead always defecting to others. Reality is there are some factors outside Laine’s control affecting his results and many more factors within his control affecting his results. Feels like some fans want Laine to do better desperately, more so then wanting the team to do better. I focus always on what’s best for the team, this is the Jets forum not the Laine forum. I cheer for the Jets, not specifically any player.

Those are just off the top of my head in a few minutes.....no doubt there is more.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I would go with coelacanths. Thought to be long extinct but in fact, just living quietly below the surface where most will not see them. Fact is, there could be offer sheets being presented every year to RFA's. We will only ever hear about the ones that the player accepts. It's like the joke that mosquitos won't feed on you if they're buzzing. So, if you hear a mosquito, don't worry. It's when all is quiet...

Fun analogy. Its quiet out there, Tex. Too quiet. But I don't think it does the job. I don't care how many offer sheets are presented to players who don't sign them. I care somewhat when one is signed. But I won't really believe in them until a player actually changes teams with one.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I don't have an opinion about this since I haven't follow a lot the Ovi years.

Do you have an opinion how he was defensively? Of course it's relative since the game has changed. Scoring has gone up for a while (but nothing like the old days), but the goalies equipment are bigger and teams really defend more in a way (though thank go the trap is pretty much gone... that being said, I still laught at the clip when was it Tamba and Flyers playing many many years ago... first whistle was blown when Flyers defence just stood there, then they were said that the puch has to be moving... and this was a like a lockout in the match, none of the Bolts players moved from the trap position so Flyers just were waitining. ) But now that he's just a physical beat still "bit older than Laine". And Laine is just so damn young, I was just learning to breathe at his age. Ok, few years earlier.

Just to remind or someone to see first time, I think this was the case about the trap. Sorry for the times stamp, was my intention to begin it from the start...

He's been created as sniper and when his body really fills to his frame and the role fits him, he's not a baby anymore. Sure some make him to be one right now, but it's really easy to forget how young he is.

I never watched Ovi at all in his early years. I don't see a lot of him now. So I really don't have any idea how he was defensively.

I enjoyed that clip.
Good god! Imagine paying $150 to watch that!

 

[surixon]

List is long:

- Pre draft interview in bed. Disrespectful & cocky

- Complaining about ice time

- Complaining about line mates

- Complaining line mates aren’t good enough

- Claiming he has nothing left prove to deserve a long term big contract days after a brutally bad season. Nothing left to prove?Really, he has huge things to prove. Poor defensively, poor on the boards & corners, poor possession guy, poor at driving play, poor consistency, poor skating, etc. He literally does one thing well, he shoots.......but he’s heavily dependent on others to get him in a position to shoot......so while he holds value as a shooter claiming he has nothing to prove is comical.

- Claiming he should been 1st OA in draft. AM is much better player, if there was a redraft now, I’m not sure Laine would even be 2nd OA.

- His lack of effort on the ice, anyone watch him play can see that. Lack of defensive effort often, shows in his numbers.

- His complete lack of humility, IMO he might be the least likeable player in Jets 2.0 outside of Evander Kane.

- Lack of professionalism, poor diet (his own words) and questionable training shows in his lack of endurance and poor skating. Some will claim but he trains hard.......if he did it would show improvement after three full years. I’m waiting to see how Laine looks this year physically and skating......hopefully he has improved both areas this summer. Love to see him in Gary Roberts boot camp......watch Gary get this kid in shape.

- Love to hear what Laine contract demands are, we have our own slight insider here who says he’s hearing he wants the AM deal......which “if true” Laine is delusional. Laine without doubt has value, but he’s far from AM value.

- Also is annoying is how Laine fans like to deflect all or much of the responsibility of his poor play on the team, line mates, coach, etc. Here’s a novel idea, how about what can Laine control to improve his game......talk about that instead always defecting to others. Reality is there are some factors outside Laine’s control affecting his results and many more factors within his control affecting his results. Feels like some fans want Laine to do better desperately, more so then wanting the team to do better. I focus always on what’s best for the team, this is the Jets forum not the Laine forum. I cheer for the Jets, not specifically any player.

Those are just off the top of my head in a few minutes.....no doubt there is more.

Hunter most of this isn't all that fair and your bias against him clearly shows.

He said he wanted to go number 1 in his draft year, I mean come on go look at almost all second overall picks including players like Echiel (Can't hold a candle to McDavid) and they all said they believe they should go number 1. What a poor thing to nitpick the kid on especially as in his draft and rookie year the two were very close in performance. I want my players to believe in themselves. No one cares that Scheifele wants to be the best in the league even though he isn't close to the best.

You are free to your opinion on how he presents himself to the cameras but it goes both ways. People complain about players not being themselves and then complain when they are. His interviews don't bother me much but you are free to think that they are unprofessional.

I don't see much lack of effort in his d game. In fact he back checks harder then most forwards. Where he struggles is lack of strength on the boards as well as with his first step off the boards to create separation. He also rushes his decisions with the puck likely due to deficiencies in the other areas. No disagreement he vastly needs to improve there but I don't see it as an effort problem, I see it as a strength, speed and experience issue.

Sure second half of the year it looks like he got into a rut and stopped skating so I'll give you that. Prior to that though there hasn't been much issue over his first two years with regards to lazy play.

Gary Roberts is really starting to get overrated here. He runs a good program just like a significant amount of other trainers. In many cases he is also pushing questionable pseudo science on his clients like DNA based food diets. Laine has gone to an equiviliant trainer with just as strong a reputation as Roberts. I fail to see how he isn't going to a Roberts quality boot camp. They just have focused on different aspects then what you and many others here would like to see focused on.

 

[Hunter368]

Hunter most of this isn't all that fair and your bias against him clearly shows.

He said he wanted to go number 1 in his draft year, I mean come on go look at almost all second overall picks including players like Echiel (Can't hold a candle to McDavid) and they all said they believe they should go number 1. What a poor thing to nitpick the kid on especially as in his draft and rookie year the two were very close in performance. I want my players to believe in themselves. No one cares that Scheifele wants to be the best in the league even though he isn't close to the best.

You are free to your opinion on how he presents himself to the cameras but it goes both ways. People complain about players not being themselves and then complain when they are. His interviews don't bother me much but you are free to think that they are unprofessional.

I don't see much lack of effort in his d game. In fact he back checks harder then most forwards. Where he struggles is lack of strength on the boards as well as with his first step off the boards to create separation. He also rushes his decisions with the puck likely due to deficiencies in the other areas. No disagreement he vastly needs to improve there but I don't see it as an effort problem, I see it as a strength, speed and experience issue.

Sure second half of the year it looks like he got into a rut and stopped skating so I'll give you that. Prior to that though there hasn't been much issue over his first two years with regards to lazy play.

Gary Roberts is really starting to get overrated here. He runs a good program just like a significant amount of other trainers. In many cases he is also pushing questionable pseudo science on his clients like DNA based food diets. Laine has gone to an equiviliant trainer with just as strong a reputation as Roberts. I fail to see how he isn't going to a Roberts quality boot camp. They just have focused on different aspects then what you and many others here would like to see focused on.

I think my personal opinion is very clear on Laine.......never hid that. I think I was pretty clear on that when I said imo he’s one of the least likeable players in 2.0 history. Show me where I made a factual mistake or unfair and I’ll take that one comment back.

Laine wanted to be 1 and said he thought he should of been 1.......very different things. One I can accept as confidence and one is being delusional. Mark said he wanted to the best player in the world and has said multi times he has a long ways to go.......that’s being humble & motivated.

Roberts camp? I never said it was the only camp, I just said I would love to see him go to it. I couldn’t careless where he trains......it’s all in the results. Three years I’m still waiting to see improvements that translate to on the ice. Skating & conditioning still aren’t good......let’s see this TC.

I would love to see him become an elite two way winger, but that’s likely not in his DNA. I would settle for an elite shooter who helps drive play and is ok defensively......he has a lot of work to do to get to that point.

 

[buggs]

Does the CBA mandate when teams can and cannot play together during off season?
I think the NFL does...

Truthfully I don't know if they mandate it. I suspect there may be limitations in that you really can't have the whole team together prior to the start of training camp.

Unlike the poster I quoted I take Laine being on the ice (at home with another team) to be a positive sign that Laine is working hard to prepare for the season coming up. That he's at home, where's he's been all summer, is to me indicative of exactly nothing. If I found out Connor is skating somewhere in the U.S. should I be panicking that he won't sign a deal? Nope, I'll be happy he's preparing for the season, even if he is skating somewhere near his hometown.

Rantanen skating with team in Norway as he waits for Avalanche contract

I wonder if the Avs fans have as much angst about Rantanen. No contract. At home. Skating with a team he may play for given he has no contract as yet.

edit: poked around their board and yes, the angst has begun but nowhere near the degree expressed here in Jetsland.

 

[surixon]

I think my personal opinion is very clear on Laine.......never hid that. I think I was pretty clear on that when I said imo he’s one of the least likeable players in 2.0 history. Show me where I made a factual mistake or unfair and I’ll take that one comment back.

Laine wanted to be 1 and said he thought he should of been 1.......very different things. One I can accept as confidence and one is being delusional. Mark said he wanted to the best player in the world and has said multi times he has a long ways to go.......that’s being humble & motivated.

Roberts camp? I never said it was the only camp, I just said I would love to see him go to it. I couldn’t careless where he trains......it’s all in the results. Three years I’m still waiting to see improvements that translate to on the ice. Skating & conditioning still aren’t good......let’s see this TC.

I would love to see him become an elite two way winger, but that’s likely not in his DNA. I would settle for an elite shooter who helps drive play and is ok defensively......he has a lot of work to do to get to that point.

Methinks you are understating his performance his first two years while overstating Mathews. There was nothing delusional about his comment when he made it.

I will post the numbers later but he was neck in neck with Mathews his rookie season and performed better then Marner their first two years in the league.

 

[jepjepjoo]

We'll have to agree to disagree here. Laine is very good on the PP but I think your fandom of him is inflating your view of how he compares to Ovechkin. I'm sure if you polled NHL players about who is the most dangerous PP player in the league, Ovechkin would win.

I'm not sure if you missed my reply the first time, but here's an objective look at their PP production(instead of asking players for their subjective opinion):

Ovechkin age 31-33
52 goals (#1 in the league)
1007:33 (#1 in the league)
G/60 3.09 (#5 in the league)

Laine age 18-20
44 goals (#2 in the league)
733:27 (#36 in the league)
G/60 3.61 (#1 in the league)

Laine has been the more efficient player on PP while Ovechkin has been more productive. If you gave Laine 274 minutes more PP ice time, he would only have to score at 1.75/60 rate to match Ovechkin numbers. If he would continue to score at his 3.61/60 rate his total would be 61 goals.

 

[Halberdier]

List is long:

- Pre draft interview in bed. Disrespectful & cocky

- Complaining about ice time

- Complaining about line mates

- Complaining line mates aren’t good enough

Actually Laine never complained about his linemates during his 3 first seasons. Not even once. His manager stated the obvious, and all hockey followers who had at least 1 working eye, but not him. He was always just blaming himself. This summer he did state during an interview that he doesn't play with the best (which is true and obvious), and that one day he might (which should be obvious as well). I don't think that's too much complaining about his line mates.

He very rarely complained about his ridiculous TOI. Everyone who had following the Jets and had brains did that, but not him. I remember that once he told that he was promised to get more TOI (after 16-17), but as we know, he didn't get that.

Do you have some other sources we, who can read all Laine interviews regardless the language, are not aware of, or have you just fabricated everything?

PS That interview was like 2 AM Finnish time, btw. Was laying on bed during the interview weird? Yeah. Cocky? Nah.

 

[Hunter368]

Methinks you are understating his performance his first two years while overstating Mathews. There was nothing delusional about his comment when he made it.

I will post the numbers later but he was neck in neck with Mathews his rookie season and performed better then Marner their first two years in the league.

He performed neck to neck scoring yes first two years......but in every other way which I’ve stressed multi times he is and was worse.

Marner? Why are you bringing up Marner, he hasn’t been part of this debate.

 

[Rheged]

Per Lebrun:

Both Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and Laine’s agent Liut declined to comment but it appears talks picked up last week. Which doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

 

[Hunter368]

Actually Laine never complained about his linemates during his 3 first seasons. Not even once. His manager stated the obvious, and all hockey followers who had at least 1 working eye, but not him. He was always just blaming himself. This summer he did state during an interview that he doesn't play with the best (which is true and obvious), and that one day he might (which should be obvious as well). I don't think that's too much complaining about his line mates.

He very rarely complained about his ridiculous TOI. Everyone who had following the Jets and had brains did that, but not him. I remember that once he told that he was promised to get more TOI (after 16-17), but as we know, he didn't get that.

Do you have some other sources we, who can read all Laine interviews regardless the language, are not aware of, or have you just fabricated everything?

PS That interview was like 2 AM Finnish time, btw. Was laying on bed during the interview weird? Yeah. Cocky? Nah.

If I worked with you at work......then I said to a three party I don’t get to work with the smartest guy in the office I’m forced to work with Hal.......what do you think he’s saying. Come on now

Bed interview was weird and disrespectful......2am or not who cares. Get out of bed, dress appropriately and act like your about to be drafted in the top 1-3 spots in the NHL.

You want more ice time, earn it (though your all around play). Force to coach to play you through you good play instead of just expecting it to be gifted to you. Don’t be passive about, blow the doors off your results forcing the coach to play you more.

 

[MrBoJangelz71]

I think my personal opinion is very clear on Laine.......never hid that. I think I was pretty clear on that when I said imo he’s one of the least likeable players in 2.0 history. Show me where I made a factual mistake or unfair and I’ll take that one comment back.

Laine wanted to be 1 and said he thought he should of been 1.......very different things. One I can accept as confidence and one is being delusional. Mark said he wanted to the best player in the world and has said multi times he has a long ways to go.......that’s being humble & motivated.

Roberts camp? I never said it was the only camp, I just said I would love to see him go to it. I couldn’t careless where he trains......it’s all in the results. Three years I’m still waiting to see improvements that translate to on the ice. Skating & conditioning still aren’t good......let’s see this TC.

I would love to see him become an elite two way winger, but that’s likely not in his DNA. I would settle for an elite shooter who helps drive play and is ok defensively......he has a lot of work to do to get to that point.

Least likable is purely subjective and opinionated. I would harbor a guess that his likability correlates heavily with his production, with many loving him in November last season, and hating on him in January on.

To challenge us to factually refute your feeling and opinion he is the least likable is silly because its impossible to do. But stop trying to make it seem that your opinion is a consensus with most fans, as it is not. I have many friends and family that are huge Jets fans, and to this day I have never ever heard a single person state Laine is unlikable.

You also bring up some other weird examples as to why he is so unlikable. The pre draft interview from his bed? Really? Wow, if that taints you on him than he was doomed from the beginning with you. That interview was as harmless and charming as you could expect from a 17 year old.

Complained about line mates? This is new to me, what did he say exactly?

Blamed line mates and coaches for his poor play? Was I asleep last season? What did he say exactly, again?

Delusional to think he could have gone number 1 at that time? His resume for that entire year, prior to his draft, dictated he could challenge AM for the first pick overall. He dominated at almost every level, and played against men, so not sure why you are offended by his belief he could be the overall number one pick.

I agree with his offseason training being less than productive, and his effort along the boards and corners is putrid. But that hardly makes Laine a bad kid, or unlikable.

 

[Eyeseeing]

List is long:

- Pre draft interview in bed. Disrespectful & cocky

- Complaining about ice time

- Complaining about line mates

- Complaining line mates aren’t good enough

- Claiming he has nothing left prove to deserve a long term big contract days after a brutally bad season. Nothing left to prove?Really, he has huge things to prove. Poor defensively, poor on the boards & corners, poor possession guy, poor at driving play, poor consistency, poor skating, etc. He literally does one thing well, he shoots.......but he’s heavily dependent on others to get him in a position to shoot......so while he holds value as a shooter claiming he has nothing to prove is comical.

- Claiming he should been 1st OA in draft. AM is much better player, if there was a redraft now, I’m not sure Laine would even be 2nd OA.

- His lack of effort on the ice, anyone watch him play can see that. Lack of defensive effort often, shows in his numbers.

- His complete lack of humility, IMO he might be the least likeable player in Jets 2.0 outside of Evander Kane.

- Lack of professionalism, poor diet (his own words) and questionable training shows in his lack of endurance and poor skating. Some will claim but he trains hard.......if he did it would show improvement after three full years. I’m waiting to see how Laine looks this year physically and skating......hopefully he has improved both areas this summer. Love to see him in Gary Roberts boot camp......watch Gary get this kid in shape.

- Love to hear what Laine contract demands are, we have our own slight insider here who says he’s hearing he wants the AM deal......which “if true” Laine is delusional. Laine without doubt has value, but he’s far from AM value.

- Also is annoying is how Laine fans like to deflect all or much of the responsibility of his poor play on the team, line mates, coach, etc. Here’s a novel idea, how about what can Laine control to improve his game......talk about that instead always defecting to others. Reality is there are some factors outside Laine’s control affecting his results and many more factors within his control affecting his results. Feels like some fans want Laine to do better desperately, more so then wanting the team to do better. I focus always on what’s best for the team, this is the Jets forum not the Laine forum. I cheer for the Jets, not specifically any player.

Those are just off the top of my head in a few minutes.....no doubt there is more.

It’s unfortunate
You have put a lot of time into this.
Laine is 21, light years better than most at that age.
I hope he can change your mind.

 

[surixon]

He performed neck to neck scoring yes first two years......but in every other way which I’ve stressed multi times he is and was worse.

Marner? Why are you bringing up Marner, he hasn’t been part of this debate.

He was not. His GAR was even with Mathews. While a different player his contributions to winning was the same. Too much style over substance going on here.

I brought up Marner because he also allegedly wants Mathews money after only performing at an all world level after being placed next to a top 5 C in the league.

Be honest if you were representing Laine would you be letting his down year influence your negotiating position on a long term deal or would you be focussing on his first two years where he performed at an elite level?

I know that if I were his agent im only accepting a long term deal if he compensates my client for what we believe is and will be (An elite winger in the league) if the org doesn't want to take that chance then I will advise my client to sign a 1 or 2 year deal with some assurances that if he earns it he will get the opportubity to play with Scheifele.

His position isn't that ridiculous if you believe what we saw the first two years is indicative of what we will see going forward.

 

[kelsier]

Here's a fact. Laine has the 4th highest TOI on the team amongst forwards last season at 17:15. That's not doghouse minutes unless you believe he should be the highest on the team, which it's apparent that you do.

If you're using opinions of some other Jets fans as proof, you aren't using anything concrete. I could point to other Jets fans as proof of my POV as well, wouldn't make it any more right or wrong than you.

Here's another fact. Laine played 17:55 minutes per game in his rookie season. That's over half a minute more than in his third NHL season. Now how the heck does that even begin to make sense? I'll tell you how, cause the prime minutes are reserved for the 1st line forwards while the scraps are divided between the rest . Which means if you want to get the prime points and show up in the www.nhl.com player page you have to be in that top 3 in a team run by a coach like Maurice who doesn't know how to take advantage over depth nor run multiple scoring lines. Also in what world is it even possible that a third year player plays less minutes than in his 18 year old rookie season? That's just absurd. Let alone when dealing with a talent like Laine.

We'll have to agree to disagree here. Laine is very good on the PP but I think your fandom of him is inflating your view of how he compares to Ovechkin. I'm sure if you polled NHL players about who is the most dangerous PP player in the league, Ovechkin would win.

Well this isn't a poll now is it. It's no accident he lead the league in PP goals in 17-18. He obviously didn't do as well the next time around, but he sure didn't play in both units either (which is probably how many if not most other teams had used him).

I'd say that if I went into work thinking I deserved and earned more, and didn't get it, I wouldn't put in a half-assed effort because I didn't get what I wanted and then decide to sit out the next year of work unless I never had to work with my work partner again and my boss was fired. I'd be rightly painted as immature. Thankfully, there is nothing but some cryptic interview quotes and your insistence in knowing exactly how he feels to go on to believe that to be true. I don't believe it.

That's right you wouldn't, because you would take up the offer and smile while you were doing it. Save the trouble of having to explain how you're unlike the 99,99% of the other people. And no, your ex-colleagues, friends and whoever would not call you prima donna when you did it, had you earned it.

We agree on Little not being a long term solution at 2C. The trouble becomes where to find another centre who is capable at that role. Stastny was a great fit but a bit too expensive in the end. Laine did produce 18 goals in November with Little as his centre. It's not impossible for Laine to work with that.

We know enough that Connor wasn't producing well elsewhere in the lineup. Anyway, my point was that being put on the 2nd line to start the year was not, to me, a demotion or a sign of lack of faith but an attempt to get Little and Ehlers going. He was supposed to be the spark there, I think.

The 18 goal streak had literally little to do with Little. It was his chemistry with Connor that made it happen. Connor isn't even an elite winger just yet, but at least for once he got to play with someone who had offensive talent and vision, even for just a short time span. Another avenue left thoroughly unexplored by Maurice who jumped the first possible chance to fix his precious first line problems leaving Laine again alone with Little and well Ehlers, who's not really a great fit in the line either. You managed to find one short stint of the two actually producing in their two season long period of engagement, nice.

Good grief, the ELL has never worked, ever. That is absolutely the last line they should have even considered to assemble. But not only did they manage to do exactly that, this magnificent coach of ours actually uses the same inefficient line in the frigging playoffs despite having nothing but data of one failure to another. I could barely believe my own eyes when I saw them together in the first playoff game last year. Stupidity at it's finest and purest form.

I don't think it's too late. I'd agree that a long term deal is not likely but I think we doffer on why: you think Laine is sulking and wants out, and I think that Laine wants to prove he's better than last year and make more long term by betting on himself, and the Jets want to avoid overpaying a player who struggled to end the season last year (playoffs notwithstanding as he was the best Jet in the playoffs).

The reasons why he struggled where largely mental ones, disinterested, lost confidence, lost consistency, the whole nine yards that pools down from 2-3 year misutilization. Of course he had the back issues on top of everything which didn't help.

Well I suppose good for you having hopes up, and I do agree on him wanting to have a good year, but whether it happens here or somewhere else is the question. Which is probably means he's looking in for a one year deal if there's no external offer sheet, so he can regain his value and have more options next year the same time. This is one possible scenario. Should be interesting to see what happens.

 

[Duke749]

Per Lebrun:

What a stupid statement

 

[tbcwpg]

Here's another fact. Laine played 17:55 minutes per game in his rookie season. That's over half a minute more than in his third NHL season. Now how the heck does that even begin to make sense? I'll tell you how, cause the prime minutes are reserved for the 1st line forwards while the scraps are divided between the rest . Which means if you want to get the prime points and show up in the www.nhl.com player page you have to be in that top 3 in a team run by a coach like Maurice who doesn't know how to take advantage over depth nor run multiple scoring lines. Also in what world is it even possible that a third year player plays less minutes than in his 18 year old rookie season? That's just absurd. Let alone when dealing with a talent like Laine.



Well this isn't a poll now is it. It's no accident he lead the league in PP goals in 17-18. He obviously didn't do as well the next time around, but he sure didn't play in both units either (which is probably how many if not most other teams had used him).



That's right you wouldn't, because you would take up the offer and smile while you were doing it. Save the trouble of having to explain how you're unlike the 99,99% of the other people. And no, your ex-colleagues, friends and whoever would not call you prima donna when you did it, had you earned it.



The 18 goal streak had literally little to do with Little. It was his chemistry with Connor that made it happen. Connor isn't even an elite winger just yet, but at least for once he got to play with someone who had offensive talent and vision, even for just a short time span. Another avenue left thoroughly unexplored by Maurice who jumped the first possible chance to fix his precious first line problems leaving Laine again alone with Little and well Ehlers, who's not really a great fit in the line either. You managed to find one short stint of the two actually producing in their two season long period of engagement, nice.

Good grief, the ELL has never worked, ever. That is absolutely the last line they should have even considered to assemble. But not only did they manage to do exactly that, this magnificent coach of ours actually uses the same inefficient line in the frigging playoffs despite having nothing but data of one failure to another. I could barely believe my own eyes when I saw them together in the first playoff game last year. Stupidity at it's finest and purest form.



The reasons why he struggled where largely mental ones, disinterested, lost confidence, lost consistency, the whole nine yards that pools down from 2-3 year misutilization. Of course he had the back issues on top of everything which didn't help.

Well I suppose good for you having hopes up, and I do agree on him wanting to have a good year, but whether it happens here or somewhere else is the question. Which is probably means he's looking in for a one year deal if there's no external offer sheet, so he can regain his value and have more options next year the same time. This is one possible scenario. Should be interesting to see what happens.

I don't think we'll see eye to eye on this issue so no use debating it further. I think we both hope he will be here long term, at least I do. And for the record, I don't think he's a big sulk, I just objected to your portraying him as such (whether you intended to or not).

I will say, though, that based on the culture of the NHL, if Laine truly did say he's not playing if he has to play with Little again, he would be viewed as a giant pain in the ass in an NHL locker room. That culture might be different in other industries, but he would definitely be looked at that way in the NHL.

 

[Psych0dad]

List is long:

- Pre draft interview in bed. Disrespectful & cocky

- Complaining about ice time

- Complaining about line mates

- Complaining line mates aren’t good enough

- Claiming he has nothing left prove to deserve a long term big contract days after a brutally bad season. Nothing left to prove?Really, he has huge things to prove. Poor defensively, poor on the boards & corners, poor possession guy, poor at driving play, poor consistency, poor skating, etc. He literally does one thing well, he shoots.......but he’s heavily dependent on others to get him in a position to shoot......so while he holds value as a shooter claiming he has nothing to prove is comical.

- Claiming he should been 1st OA in draft. AM is much better player, if there was a redraft now, I’m not sure Laine would even be 2nd OA.

- His lack of effort on the ice, anyone watch him play can see that. Lack of defensive effort often, shows in his numbers.

- His complete lack of humility, IMO he might be the least likeable player in Jets 2.0 outside of Evander Kane.

- Lack of professionalism, poor diet (his own words) and questionable training shows in his lack of endurance and poor skating. Some will claim but he trains hard.......if he did it would show improvement after three full years. I’m waiting to see how Laine looks this year physically and skating......hopefully he has improved both areas this summer. Love to see him in Gary Roberts boot camp......watch Gary get this kid in shape.

- Love to hear what Laine contract demands are, we have our own slight insider here who says he’s hearing he wants the AM deal......which “if true” Laine is delusional. Laine without doubt has value, but he’s far from AM value.

- Also is annoying is how Laine fans like to deflect all or much of the responsibility of his poor play on the team, line mates, coach, etc. Here’s a novel idea, how about what can Laine control to improve his game......talk about that instead always defecting to others. Reality is there are some factors outside Laine’s control affecting his results and many more factors within his control affecting his results. Feels like some fans want Laine to do better desperately, more so then wanting the team to do better. I focus always on what’s best for the team, this is the Jets forum not the Laine forum. I cheer for the Jets, not specifically any player.

Those are just off the top of my head in a few minutes.....no doubt there is more.

Those gosh darn uppity kids ruining my lawn! Is what I read from that.

As someone said, style over substance, big time. Totally subjective, arguments from feelings. And the request earlier for some poster to explain if they were of finnish heritage, what was that about? Are Finns now somehow the only ones incapable of excluding bias from their views? Everyone can see the misuse, it's agreed on by many Finns and Canadians alike.

As most of this has already been corrected with stats and what not, I won't get into that.

 

[rkp]

people are forgetting that the drop off in his play during the season probably was due to the back injury/issues he had accrued, most likely after the month of november

 

[kelsier]

I don't think we'll see eye to eye on this issue so no use debating it further. I think we both hope he will be here long term, at least I do. And for the record, I don't think he's a big sulk, I just objected to your portraying him as such (whether you intended to or not).

I will say, though, that based on the culture of the NHL, if Laine truly did say he's not playing if he has to play with Little again, he would be viewed as a giant pain in the ass in an NHL locker room. That culture might be different in other industries, but he would definitely be looked at that way in the NHL.

Agreed, we're not going to see eye to eye about this.

Well quite frankly, as pissed as I've been seeing them throwing him onto the wolves I guess the only thing I want is to Laine have a real chance to show what he can do in the best possible environment for him. Whether that is here or elsewhere is up for the debate.

He did say that by the way, well between the lines of course (literally said he hasn't been given the chance to play with the best). No one would be stupid enough to go on a record for not wanting to play with his team mate in public though, especially to NA'n press. With that said it really even doesn't what you do or say in regards to getting to play in the NHL. Just look at E. Kane for instance. He's not exactly a fan favourite but makes up a huge chunk of $ anyway.

Nothing to do with Laine though, just an interesting to think about how character starts to diminish as a factor when compared to prospects for instance where everything's under microscope.

 

[Hunter368]

Least likable is purely subjective and opinionated. I would harbor a guess that his likability correlates heavily with his production, with many loving him in November last season, and hating on him in January on.

To challenge us to factually refute your feeling and opinion he is the least likable is silly because its impossible to do. But stop trying to make it seem that your opinion is a consensus with most fans, as it is not. I have many friends and family that are huge Jets fans, and to this day I have never ever heard a single person state Laine is unlikable.

You also bring up some other weird examples as to why he is so unlikable. The pre draft interview from his bed? Really? Wow, if that taints you on him than he was doomed from the beginning with you. That interview was as harmless and charming as you could expect from a 17 year old.

Complained about line mates? This is new to me, what did he say exactly?

Blamed line mates and coaches for his poor play? Was I asleep last season? What did he say exactly, again?

Delusional to think he could have gone number 1 at that time? His resume for that entire year, prior to his draft, dictated he could challenge AM for the first pick overall. He dominated at almost every level, and played against men, so not sure why you are offended by his belief he could be the overall number one pick.

I agree with his offseason training being less than productive, and his effort along the boards and corners is putrid. But that hardly makes Laine a bad kid, or unlikable.

Likeable or not is subjective......that’s why I clearly said IMO with it. Never said anything otherwise.

Show me once where I said I spoke for everyone........just once show me. I responded to a poster who said he didn’t understand why some many posters have negative feelings towards Laine.......I gave him some examples.......not once did I say I spoke for everyone.

Bed interview was unprofessional......but it is subjective and glad you like it.

Complaining about line mates go read his interview.

Complaining about coaching is what I said fans did, your mixing comments up.

Board/corner work makes him less effective agreed, saying he has nothing to prove (Laine direct comment) is comical and if rumours are right and he wants the AM deal he is delusional.

 

[Hunter368]

It’s unfortunate
You have put a lot of time into this.
Laine is 21, light years better than most at that age.
I hope he can change your mind.

Like I said that was off the top of my head in about 3-4 mins.......you want to see more post the question on the main boards. I don’t care about Laine the person, I care what he adds to the team. Like I said trade or sign him I don’t care........just don’t overpay him long term deal.