Player Discussion: Patrik Laine - MOD WARNING IN OP

[Ducky10]

I thought Laine played pretty well in the playoffs. It's clear he still lacks some strength to be more effective in certain area that will help his game and that playing this much hockey at such a high level took a toll on a just turned 20 year old. Still, he was doing a lot of good things and trying to be dynamic, I don't think it helped that Ehlers was suffering through such a crisis of confidence in the goal scoring dept, it made Laine much more of a focus, which he was already.

I think he's going to be outstanding next season, I expect much more 5v5 production out of him. Would also like to see him play with Scheifele sooner than later.

 

[RageQuit77]

65 is quite a bit. Ovechkin had as many even strength goals in his 65 goal season as Laine did in every situation this year. While I think it's possible he can hit 60 at least once. 65 will take a huge leap forward in his skating. Ovechkin was among the fastest players in the league when he entered it and was probably the fastest with the puck at 22 when he potted 65. Laine will need to work on his speed with the puck to get there.

Yep. I just spit that number for needs to mark some measurable upper limit of his maximum ceiling (that doesn't go to the ridiculum), nothing else.

Patrik will score a lot of goals. Take or leave 10 per season, that doesn't anyway change his nature, skill, and...

Uh... if something will be changed during his career, it's that he won't be alone with his shot, and goalies and defensive tactics will be adjusted against these "Laine-types".

 

[Daximus]

I thought Laine played pretty well in the playoffs. It's clear he still lacks some strength to be more effective in certain area that will help his game and that playing this much hockey at such a high level took a toll on a just turned 20 year old. Still, he was doing a lot of good things and trying to be dynamic, I don't think it helped that Ehlers was suffering through such a crisis of confidence in the goal scoring dept, it made Laine much more of a focus, which he was already.

I think he's going to be outstanding next season, I expect much more 5v5 production out of him. Would also like to see him play with Scheifele sooner than later.

I think with how good Connor has become away from the puck and how well he battles that switching them wouldn't be a bad move next year. A Laine- Scheif - Wheeler line would be great. Laine would really need to work on his cycle game with them though as they like to move the puck around the edges a lot.

 

[Critical Mass]

Anyone know why CapFriendly shows that Laine doesn't fall into a "waivers exempt" category this year?

Not that it would ever be an issue, I'm just wondering how this comes about for a player going into the 3rd year of his ELC. I thought terms of the ELC were quite prescriptive. Can a team enter into an ELC without a waivers exempt clause?

Winnipeg Jets - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

 

[Daximus]

Yep. I just spit that number for needs to mark some measurable upper limit of his maximum ceiling (that doesn't go to the ridiculum), nothing else.

Patrik will score a lot of goals. Take or leave 10 per season, that doesn't anyway change his nature, skill, and...

Uh... if something will be changed during his career, it's that he won't be alone with his shot, and goalies and defensive tactics will be adjusted against these "Laine-types".

There are a tonne of really good shooter coming into the league these days. Laine, Matthews, Pastrnak, Connor, Boeser, Svechnikov. Lots of kids that have potential to score a lot of goals. Laine's shot arsenal is the best of the bunch IMO but a lot of these kids have things that Laine likely will never have. Who scores the most will depend on the kind of support they get. Heck McDavids speed alone will likely net him a Rocket at some point.

I just want Laine to keep working on his footspeed and strength. He keeps on that and he will be a monster. he shows glimpses of it but he lacks the consistency in game to game. That may come as his stamina gets better.

 

[Ducky10]

I think with how good Connor has become away from the puck and how well he battles that switching them wouldn't be a bad move next year. A Laine- Scheif - Wheeler line would be great. Laine would really need to work on his cycle game with them though as they like to move the puck around the edges a lot.

I think that is where a lot of focus is going to be with him. It's clear he's not going to be a flat out, foot speed type player, it's going to be about him using his size, reach and ultimately strength to hold off opponents and create space. I think we'll see him scoring a lot more goals tighter to the net next season, playing off of Scheifele , as well as his assist rate go up as Scheifele likes that quick strike game as well.

 

[Daximus]

Anyone know why CapFriendly shows that Laine doesn't fall into a "waivers exempt" category this year?

Not that it would ever be an issue, I'm just wondering how this comes about for a player going into the 3rd year of his ELC. I thought terms of the ELC were quite prescriptive. Can a team enter into an ELC without a waivers exempt clause?

Winnipeg Jets - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

He is waiver exempt. Not sure why they don't have it on there.

 

[BB88]

Hope he primarily works on skating in this offseason...

Yep, now entering his 3rd NHL season I really want to see an improvement in his skating, the focus on last offseason was on groundwork and I hope/dream/pray they will make him faster this summer.

Next year is time for him to start dominating games, taking over games, shift after shift and it starts from improved skating. He needs to be able to win puck races& be able to create more space for himself.

Another thing with experience is the amount of times the play dies on his stick.

Ehlers- Roslociv- Laine is next years goal, over Little at C. Roslovic was the biggest positive of the end of season in the last couple of games.

I am fine with him getting 8 million. It is the 10 million number that some here were speculating that concerns me.

That needs a massive favour by Laine, the Eichel/Drai contracts really raised the bar for the high end kids.
Laine's 1st 2 seasons after draft absolutely destroys theirs.

 

[DashingDane]

All I want for Laine next season is higher TOI.

 

[StatisticsAddict99]

On a comedic side note Laine was totally about to say pubes... Good save though...



“I got the women who cuts my hair, she’s gonna cut my puuuub(very silent b, but it’s there),, beard on Friday at two back home”

 

[LowLefty]

I think with how good Connor has become away from the puck and how well he battles that switching them wouldn't be a bad move next year. A Laine- Scheif - Wheeler line would be great. Laine would really need to work on his cycle game with them though as they like to move the puck around the edges a lot.

They don't need Laine on the 1st line -
I think the 1st, as is, will score a ton of goals next season without Laine.
Besides that, he's not quick enough to play with Wheels and Scheif and doesn't support type of game they play.

Unless this is simply an exercise to find a place to slot Laine where he can excel.
If he's as good as his paycheck will likely dictate, he should be able to make it work without playing with numbers 1 and 2.

I'd work on building a second line that supports Laine and his game rather than messing with the line that is already ripping it up and will likely be even more productive next season.

 

[Ippenator]

Yep, now entering his 3rd NHL season I really want to see an improvement in his skating, the focus on last offseason was on groundwork and I hope/dream/pray they will make him faster this summer.

Next year is time for him to start dominating games, taking over games, shift after shift and it starts from improved skating. He needs to be able to win puck races& be able to create more space for himself.

Another thing with experience is the amount of times the play dies on his stick.

Ehlers- Roslociv- Laine is next years goal, over Little at C. Roslovic was the biggest positive of the end of season in the last couple of games.



That needs a massive favour by Laine, the Eichel/Drai contracts really raised the bar for the high end kids.
Laine's 1st 2 seasons after draft absolutely destroys theirs.

Sorry, but you are in for a serious disappointment, if you believe that he will be considerably better with his skating already next season. It just doesnt work like that - especially with bigger guys like Laine, whom never were naturally quick with their feet before. He will gradually become better with his skating, but not a very quick and agile skater ever. It’s completely unrealistic to expect him to be already a clearly better skater next season. Some improvement will most probably happen, but I think it’s wise to seriously not expect it to be very different from this season. Unless you want to be disappointed.

But even with the slight improvement with his skating next season, I’m quite optimistic that he will be a better player than this season. I want to see even more him improving his stamina, although I’m not expecting much bigger improvement with that either already next season.

Anyway, if he will get more ice-time than this season, have at least by some margin better first steps and stamina, and most importantly, will not have to play in an abomination of a line like ELL, he will already be a clearly better player with his goal and point production and also a better player in general.

 

[Ippenator]

They don't need Laine on the 1st line -
I think the 1st, as is, will score a ton of goals next season without Laine.
Besides that, he's not quick enough to play with Wheels and Scheif and doesn't support type of game they play.

Unless this is simply an exercise to find a place to slot Laine where he can excel.
If he's as good as his paycheck will likely dictate, he should be able to make it work without playing with numbers 1 and 2.

I'd work on building a second line that supports Laine and his game rather than messing with the line that is already ripping it up and will likely be even more productive next season.

But if the first line is not scoring clearly a lot more goals than they are letting the opponents score, I can’t say that the first line is a very good or optimal line. That is what a great team’s first line should be like, and unfortunately that is not what CSW was very well after all. Until that kind of a first line combination is found, I would still keep experimenting with other combinations too.

Also it is really strange thinking to forcefully play two clear line drivers together, when they are not able together to form exactly the kind of first line that would score much more goals than let in. This is very bad usage of talent, and I definitely blame Maurice for this. That way your are kind of wasting the line driving ability that you could have in two lines instead of just one, that isn’t even that efficient in scoring clearly more goals than the opponents against them.

 

[Adam da bomb]

How many wingers are in the 10 mil range? People throw Eichel and Drai out there but they are centers and centers as the Jets have proven are much more rare than wingers are. Centers have to have a 200ft game while there is less pressure defensively on wingers.
Has the game changed so that players need to be even faster? Will that make Laine less valuable and improve players like Ehlers value?

 

[Ippenator]

How many wingers are in the 10 mil range? People throw Eichel and Drai out there but they are centers and centers as the Jets have proven are much more rare than wingers are. Centers have to have a 200ft game while there is less pressure defensively on wingers.
Has the game changed so that players need to be even faster? Will that make Laine less valuable and improve players like Ehlers value?

Not really. Goalscorers are always very valuable. Especially a player whom has scored already close to 50 with relatively small ice time as an only 19 year old physically raw kid. Those players that you pointed out have being a center a bit on their side, but what Laine brings with him is still much more rare than finding a center of Eichel’s or Draisaitl’s caliber. And Ehlers is already two years older than Laine and just scored 15 goals less in the regular season and zero goals in the playoffs, so no to that too.

Still, I’m not claiming that Laine will get 10 millions per season yet, and I never claimed that. But I do think that he should easily get 8 millions or even more, if he really wants to go for it. What I know about him so far though is that he is not a greedy person, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him settle for 8, even if he could maybe get more, if he pushed for it.

 

[JetsUK]

And something like 8x8 leaves room for a hefty farewell contract on the team of his choosing, especially if he reaches his potential, plus a gazillion lucrative endorsement contract across at least two continents. As many have noted, he seems like a guy looking for fit as much as ducats.

 

[LowLefty]

But if the first line is not scoring clearly a lot more goals than they are letting the opponents score, I can’t say that the first line is a very good or optimal line. That is what a great team’s first line should be like, and unfortunately that is not what CSW was very well after all. Until that kind of a first line combination is found, I would still keep experimenting with other combinations too.

Also it is really strange thinking to forcefully play two clear line drivers together, when they are not able together to form exactly the kind of first line that would score much more goals than let in. This is very bad usage of talent, and I definitely blame Maurice for this. That way your are kind of wasting the line driving ability that you could have in two lines instead of just one, that isn’t even that efficient in scoring clearly more goals than the opponents against them.

He's too slow for the 1st line and how they play - I don't think Wheels or Scheif want to spend their ice time digging out pucks for Laine while he stands as the top of the circle. In fact, that may be why he didn't spend much time on the top line this year.
I'm hoping the kid works hard in an effort to better round out his game - become a more complete player. When that happens, it shouldn't be so hard to fit him into a line. As it stands, he expects his line mates to do a lot of the work for him - good luck talking your top line players into that.

And don't blame Maurice for the make up of the first line - I think the C and the A are a major contributor in calling the shots on who fills the open wing.

Hopefully Laine continues to put serious effort into the rest of his game.

 

[Flair Hay]

I thought Laine played pretty well in the playoffs. It's clear he still lacks some strength to be more effective in certain area that will help his game and that playing this much hockey at such a high level took a toll on a just turned 20 year old. Still, he was doing a lot of good things and trying to be dynamic, I don't think it helped that Ehlers was suffering through such a crisis of confidence in the goal scoring dept, it made Laine much more of a focus, which he was already.

I think he's going to be outstanding next season, I expect much more 5v5 production out of him. Would also like to see him play with Scheifele sooner than later.

Look at the difference a few years has made in how strong Trouba and Scheifele are now vs when they were rookies. Once Laine is strong enough to shield the puck with his body from most defenders, life is going to be a lot easier for him at both ends of the ice.

Even when he's not playing great, he's an all world distraction the other team needs to pay special attention to.

Looking forward to a lot of years of him leading us in goals

 

[NotCommitted]

I don't know, personally I'm pretty tired of the constant talk about what kind of player Laine will/might become when in fact he's already a pretty damn good hockey player. 44 goals FFS, 2nd in the league, both this season and this & last season combined, best 5v5 goal differential in the team and the "one-stat-to-rule-them-all" attempts seem to really love him.

My prediction is even in his prime there'll be plenty of people who think he sucks and is one dimensional and blah blah simply because the way he plays the game doesn't please their eye, no matter what the actual results are.

And no, I'm not saying that he's a perfect hockey player or that he can't/shouldn't/doesn't need to improve a lot about his game, but as it is he's a pretty damn fine NHLer already.

 

[Ippenator]

He's too slow for the 1st line and how they play - I don't think Wheels or Scheif want to spend their ice time digging out pucks for Laine while he stands as the top of the circle. In fact, that may be why he didn't spend much time on the top line this year.
I'm hoping the kid works hard in an effort to better round out his game - become a more complete player. When that happens, it shouldn't be so hard to fit him into a line. As it stands, he expects his line mates to do a lot of the work for him - good luck talking your top line players into that.

And don't blame Maurice for the make up of the first line - I think the C and the A are a major contributor in calling the shots on who fills the open wing.

Hopefully Laine continues to put serious effort into the rest of his game.

I’m sorry but on the basis of what is Laine really too slow to play with Scheifele and Wheeler? On the basis of your eye maybe? In his first season Laine played a lot with Scheifele and Ehlers and they did very well especially in scoring clearly more goals than letting the opponents score against them. Scheifele and Ehlers are definitely as fast linemates as Scheifele and Wheeler, so there is not really evidence in what you are claiming. And in fact Laine scored most of his 5 on 5 goals with them on the rush, so he was definitely not waiting and just standing (which he is in fact never doing really, as he constantly moves around even on the power play) around. ESL’s 5 on 5 goal difference was in fact very good despite Laine and Ehlers having problems on the boards and making quick breakouts from their own end. There was for sure still some problems in these areas even during this season, but they did at least get already better with them.

And yet despite some of these not so eye pleasing issues, ESL managed to be a better 5 on 5 line than CSW this season, and that happened when Laine and Ehlers were physically weaker and less experienced.

It’s lame in my opinion to assume things and set them in stone without even bothering to try anything else. That is what Maurice has been doing with CSW. Sure they have scored quite well, but the opponents have scored also against them way too often to call CSW a very good and optimal 1st line. If you don’t even bother to experiment several games with Laine and Scheifele, and preferably Perreault or Connor in the same line, then you will for sure not get any results with that combination, and you can then hide behind the fact that CSW has scored pretty well, even though they haven’t been that good at scoring clearly more goals than they get scored against.

I don’t see Wheeler and Laine as a too good fit in 5 on 5 hockey, so that would also encourage to keep Wheeler being a line driver in an other line than where Scheifele plays in. And if you seriously think that Scheifele and Wheeler are behind the decision of them playing constantly together even though not being a real 5 on 5 goal difference force together, then I will blame Maurice even more for it. It’s the coaches job to make decisions that are making the team as good and as efficient as possible, not to make the biggest star players happy with letting them play exactly how they want to play, or to please the eyes of anyone of us instead of getting the maximum efficiency out from the team. By sticking to the same things, that obviously don’t work optimally (but more like relatively well or just ok), Maurice is definitely not doing what is best for the team. He is too rigid and stubborn as a coach to do that, and yet at the same time he is keen on trusting and pleasing his vets over what could be still best for the team, without even bothering to try it.

 

[Festinator]

I’m sorry but on the basis of what is Laine really too slow to play with Scheifele and Wheeler? On the basis of your eye maybe? In his first season Laine played a lot with Scheifele and Ehlers and they did very well especially in scoring clearly more goals than letting the opponents score against them. Scheifele and Ehlers are definitely as fast linemates as Scheifele and Wheeler, so there is not really evidence in what you are claiming. And in fact Laine scored most of his 5 on 5 goals with them on the rush, so he was definitely not waiting and just standing (which he is in fact never doing really, as he constantly moves around even on the power play) around. ESL’s 5 on 5 goal was in fact very good in fact despite Laine and Ehlers having problems on the boards and making quick breakouts from their own end. There was for sure still some problems in these areas even during this season, but they did at least get already better with them.

And yet despite some of these not so eye pleasing issues, ESL managed to be a better 5 on 5 line than CSW this season, and that happened when Laine and Ehlers were physically weaker and less experienced.

It’s lame in my opinion to assume things and set them in stone without even bothering to try anything else. That is what Maurice has been doing with CSW. Sure they have scored quite well, but the opponents have scored also against them way too often to call CSW a very good and optimal 1st line. If you don’t even bother to experiment several games with Laine and Scheifele, and preferably Perreault or Connor in the same line, then you will for sure not get any results with that combination, and you can then hide behind the fact that CSW has scored pretty well, even though they haven’t been that good at scoring clearly more goals than they get scored against.

I don’t see Wheeler and Laine as a too good fit in 5 on 5 hockey, so that would also encourage to keep Wheeler being a line driver in an other line than where Scheifele plays in. And if you seriously think that Scheifele and Wheeler are behind the decision of them playing constantly together even though not being a real 5 on 5 goal difference force together, the. I will blame Maurice even more for it. It’s the coaches job to make decisions that are making the team as good and as efficient as possible, not to make the biggest star players happy with letting them play exactly how they want to play, or to please the eyes of anyone of us instead of getting the maximum efficiency out from the team. By sticking to the same things, that obviously don’t work optimally (but more like relatively well or just ok), Maurice is definitely not doing what is best for the team. He is too rigid and stubborn as a coach to do that, and yet at the same time he is keen on trusting and pleasing his vets over what could be still best for the team, without even bothering to try it.

Did CSW not work well 5 on 5 in the playoffs or what? They've always outscored their opposition, but they're not as good defensively as some like to think, I'll admit that.

 

[Ippenator]

Did CSW not work well 5 on 5 in the playoffs or what? They've always outscored their opposition, but they're not as good defensively as some like to think, I'll admit that.

Sure CSW was better with their 5 on 5 play in the playoffs, but part of it came still also from playing loads of minutes and then eventually they got obviously gassed against Vegas. But I think that spreading the line driving wealth and the minutes more even in the regular season would have also helped the Jets not get so gassed against the speedskating grinders that Vegas is.

 

[FinProspects]

Kane got 7x7, which is insanity. But could have an effect to Laine's contract perhaps?

 

[QuietContrarian]

Never saw this before.

Laine is wearing Uggs

NO f***S GIVEN

 

[kelsier]

I think with how good Connor has become away from the puck and how well he battles that switching them wouldn't be a bad move next year. A Laine- Scheif - Wheeler line would be great. Laine would really need to work on his cycle game with them though as they like to move the puck around the edges a lot.

I would love to see this too. Although I'm not sure how good it would be from team's perspective to have all three best forwards in one line. Especially with two of them already being legitimate line drivers (impossible to tell exactly how much better Laine looks next year). The Jets are a deep team however, so they would still be winning more games than losing them. Even if they don't stack all three in one line - as I said before - I do hope they would cycle ALL forwards with no exceptions in the top aka Scheifele & Wheeler, just to see which combinations actually harvest the best results. If/when Stastny falls out of the picture, it's going to create a big vacuum in the second line however as there is no legit playmaker there (unless of course Roslovic turns out ready). Laine can distribute the puck, but his best asset is shooting/scoring goals and you cannot do both at once. Ehlers is a shoot-first type of a forward so they're not exactly an ideal match as we saw in the playoffs. We'll see what happens I guess.

Sure CSW was better with their 5 on 5 play in the playoffs, but part of it came still also from playing loads of minutes and then eventually they got obviously gassed against Vegas. But I think that spreading the line driving wealth and the minutes more even in the regular season would have also helped the Jets not get so gassed against the speedskating grinders that Vegas is.

Yeah CSW got burned down pretty good there, playing far too much far too early going into games. They were being iced so heavily from the first period that it must have been extremely taxing/heavy going into the last twenty minutes.