LW Patrik Laine - Tappara, Liiga (2016 Draft) VI

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Buff is a beauty.

He's a dirty player.

 

[CashMash]

Low quality video warning.

I believe these are all Laine Highlights vs Canada:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBOOiCZRXZc

Impressive stickwork.

 

[BB88]

Yet people are convinced there's some Canadian/TDN bias against him..

Rays's scouting report on him was brutal earlier, felt like he was talking of a different player.
So that's been my issue with them.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Well he definitely didn't play against Canada's elite and many of Canada's superstars have to prove themselves yet, but he did play a great game against them.

What exactly are McDavid and Perry? They are not Canadian superstars? Who is then?

He played against a roster full of NHL players and was the best player on the ice. I never said he played against the best possible lineup of Canada. He just outplayed McDavid, O'Reilly, Duchesne, Perry, Hall etc. It wasn't the best team finland either of course.

Give credit where credit is due.

 

[Henkka]

So far at tournament against same opposite teams:

Laine 5.49 points/60
McDavid 3.54 points/60
Matthews 2.92 points/60

Almost double scoring pace as 7 month younger player (vs. Matthews).

I think Matthews should be compared to Aho, smaller age difference and same styled guys.

 

[Hokinaittii]

What heck was that neutral zone skate move at 0:32... just amazing.

That was a sick move, didn't even realize it when watching first time. It's refreshing to see such a big guy being able to pull stuff like that and leave people in amazement.

Anyone remember this move at 1:30? I remember replaying that move like 10 times in a row when it happened (I still do ).

 

[Bruce Granville]

I hope Babcock doesn't pick him. He sounded sneaky in his interview.
There might a Lidström or Datsyuk hiding in some later rounds, so that he prefers to have the best winger.
He obviously is in love with Laine.

 

[nikyc]

What exactly are McDavid and Perry? They are not Canadian superstars? Who is then?

He played against a roster full of NHL players and was the best player on the ice. I never said he played against the best possible lineup of Canada. He just outplayed McDavid, O'Reilly, Duchesne, Perry, Hall etc. It wasn't the best team finland either of course.

Give credit where credit is due.

If you note my post, I did give him credit and you are wrong if you believe those are the best Canadain players. They are very good players but not Canada's best as usual because they are still in the playoffs like they are usually when this tourney is on. Enough said though as you think you have found the next finish savior, good for you. I hope he is great.

 

[ijuka]

If you note my post, I did give him credit and you are wrong if you believe those are the best Canadain players. They are very good players but not Canada's best as usual because they are still in the playoffs like they are usually when this tourney is on. Enough said though as you think you have found the next finish savior, good for you. I hope he is great.

Sidney Crosby isn't the only super star on NHL... Most teams, even the absolute top teams, only have 3-4 "super star" players, there's just not enough cap space to have more. There are 34 teams, only 4 are in playoffs at this point. I honestly don't even get your point. They are good, top line NHL super stars that he had a good game vs, in fact being the best player on ice(Some chances in my low Q vid)

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Rays's scouting report on him was brutal earlier, felt like he was talking of a different player.
So that's been my issue with them.

I feel like he's been on the mark so far. Gotta' be one of the best analysts in hockey now

 

[Bruce Granville]

Sidney Crosby isn't the only super star on NHL... Most teams, even the absolute top teams, only have 3-4 "super star" players, there's just not enough cap space to have more. There are 34 teams, only 4 are in playoffs at this point. I honestly don't even get your point. They are good, top line NHL super stars that he had a good game vs, in fact being the best player on ice(Some chances in my low Q vid)

Actually there are only 30 teams, but your point is valid.
Winners find a way, losers find an excuse...

 

[psycho_dad*]

If you note my post, I did give him credit and you are wrong if you believe those are the best Canadain players. They are very good players but not Canada's best as usual because they are still in the playoffs like they are usually when this tourney is on. Enough said though as you think you have found the next finish savior, good for you. I hope he is great.

Never said or suggested they are the best Canadian players. I said Canadian superstars. Try to deny that.

I don't think in terms of saviors or whatever. I just recognize great players. Laine quite clearly is one.

 

[ijuka]

Actually there are only 30 teams, but your point is valid.
Winners find a way, losers find an excuse...

Yes, my bad -.- I even knew that, 4am... Maybe it's time to sleep.

Kind of excited about the combine.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

This guy is on another level. If Leafs do end up passing on him, Jets fans will be having a HUGE party. Wow

IMO Jets won this lottery... Leafs have to take Matthews and that means Laine will fall right into their laps

 

[The Winter Soldier]

There is a specialness to Laine. He seems to be able to elevate his play when the situation arises. What also impressed me is how he shrugged off the attention of Team Canada players, and this seemed to only inspire him to play better. Takes a very mature person to do this, one that belies a 18 year old. Another thing that is a factor that is harder to measure, he has the Scott Neidermayer effect. Winning follows him around. The obvious skills are easy to spot, but it is the other things that really impresses me. So impressive I am makinga point of watch the replay of this game on TSN again. The kid is just fun to watch.

 

[Incognito]

I'm having trouble gauging how effective this tournament is for measuring a player's ability. Laine is no doubt having an excellent tournament, and the gap between him and Matthews is definitely narrowing, if not disappearing. However, Laine is also having a much better tournament than McDavid. Nobody in their right mind would argue that Laine is close to being on McDavid's level though. It's hard to discern just how much stock to put into these results.

 

[behemolari]

There is a specialness to Laine. He seems to be able to elevate his play when the situation arises. What also impressed me is how he shrugged off the attention of Team Canada players, and this seemed to only inspire him to play better. Takes a very mature person to do this, one that belies a 18 year old. Another thing that is a factor that is harder to measure, he has the Scott Neidermayer effect. Winning follows him around. The obvious skills are easy to spot, but it is the other things that really impresses me. So impressive I am makinga point of watch the replay of this game on TSN again. The kid is just fun to watch.

glad you noticed this, yes he is very special. there is a reason he has already won two golds this season

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Keep in mind too for how impressive he is this tourney and how he's the talk of the tourney, he has already played 97 games this season... quarterfinals, semi's and finals/bronze medal game will take him to 100 games..... he is putting on this impressive show while playing this amount of games

Auston Matthews has only played 60

 

[The Thin White Duke]

I'm having trouble gauging how effective this tournament is for measuring a player's ability. Laine is no doubt having an excellent tournament, and the gap between him and Matthews is definitely narrowing, if not disappearing. However, Laine is also having a much better tournament than McDavid. Nobody in their right mind would argue that Laine is close to being on McDavid's level though. It's hard to discern just how much stock to put into these results.

Really we're just waiting for Laine to show signs of his rapid development stagnating and this tournament was an opportunity to see that happen. It hasn't so far. Curious to see where he ends up levelling off.

 

[4thline]

I'm having trouble gauging how effective this tournament is for measuring a player's ability. Laine is no doubt having an excellent tournament, and the gap between him and Matthews is definitely narrowing, if not disappearing. However, Laine is also having a much better tournament than McDavid. Nobody in their right mind would argue that Laine is close to being on McDavid's level though. It's hard to discern just how much stock to put into these results.

Some but not a whole lot. So far between them they've played 4 games that brought new information, with 4 good performances, some interesting observations, and 1 assist between them. The rest were just more of the same, 5 games against European club calibre opponents.

 

[KGL]

I'm having trouble gauging how effective this tournament is for measuring a player's ability. Laine is no doubt having an excellent tournament, and the gap between him and Matthews is definitely narrowing, if not disappearing. However, Laine is also having a much better tournament than McDavid. Nobody in their right mind would argue that Laine is close to being on McDavid's level though. It's hard to discern just how much stock to put into these results.

Honestly, looking at past scoring leaders and guys who have finished in the top 10 and it's a bunch of nobodies in many instances. Not to say that Laine is a nobody of course, and not to say his scoring isn't impressive, but it's also not as though the top scorers are always elite NHL talents or anything like that, a lot of the time they're guys who have had little to no success in the NHL.

In other words, some stock, but not a whole lot.

 

[Gsus]

I'm having trouble gauging how effective this tournament is for measuring a player's ability. Laine is no doubt having an excellent tournament, and the gap between him and Matthews is definitely narrowing, if not disappearing. However, Laine is also having a much better tournament than McDavid. Nobody in their right mind would argue that Laine is close to being on McDavid's level though. It's hard to discern just how much stock to put into these results.

Well lets not just look at the points then. I think Laine played probably his best game today with just 3 SOG and no points. He really did show that he can play against big NHL guys. He didn't look awkward or scared out there, littlebit more lucky and he would a goal on top of it. I'm almost having a thought of laughing at this moment when someone questions the tournament after all the other things. Eye-test tells me that Laine can keep up with NHL guys and almost looked like one himself. That's all that matters, the points don't hurt him either.

 

[Gsus]

Honestly, looking at past scoring leaders and guys who have finished in the top 10 and it's a bunch of nobodies in many instances. Not to say that Laine is a nobody of course, and not to say his scoring isn't impressive, but it's also not as though the top scorers are always elite NHL talents or anything like that, a lot of the time they're guys who have had little to no success in the NHL.

In other words, some stock, but not a whole lot.

I had to watch who those bunch of nobodies were. And this is the result of the TOP 5 (Where Laine is sitting) since 2010:

14-15
TOP5:
Spezza, Eberle, Hall, Mozyakin, Duchene

13-14
Tikhonov, Plotnikov, Zaripov, Lehterä, Roussel

12-13
Kontiola, Stastny, Smith, Kovalchuk, Stamkos

11-12
Malkin, Thoresen, Zetterberg, Eriksson, Skroder

10-11
Immonen, Berglund, Plekanec, Cervenka, Tavares

09-10
Kovalchuk, Dubinsky, Pääjärvi, Whitney, Tavares

These bunch of "nobodies" involve players with Stanley Cups, a KHL scoring leader for many years, a NHL Maurice Rocket Richard winner. Some of the guys have put a PPG at KHL and that's pretty good too.

 

[BB88]

I feel like he's been on the mark so far. Gotta' be one of the best analysts in hockey now

I like listening to the games he does, but his Laine comment earlier was honestly driving me crazy and thought that guy missed all of his playoff games.

 

[KGL]

I had to watch who those bunch of nobodies were. And this is the result of the TOP 5 (Where Laine is sitting) since 2010:

14-15
TOP5:
Spezza, Eberle, Hall, Mozyakin, Duchene

13-14
Tikhonov, Plotnikov, Zaripov, Lehterä, Roussel

12-13
Kontiola, Stastny, Smith, Kovalchuk, Stamkos

11-12
Malkin, Thoresen, Zetterberg, Eriksson, Skroder

10-11
Immonen, Berglund, Plekanec, Cervenka, Tavares

09-10
Kovalchuk, Dubinsky, Pääjärvi, Whitney, Tavares

Thanks for the list. Shows that there it at least one guy every year who has had little to no success in the NHL. Thanks for proving my point.