That's nothing but your opinion and it's really hard to back up with stats (either way really at this point). Connor is not a good possession player at least as far as Corsi etc. go. But neither is Laine, the difference is Laine's shooting ability (and the way opposing teams cover for that) tends to make up for that in terms of GF/GA, at least with other centers than Little. But these are young players and there's not much to go for looking at numbers of Laine w/ Scheifele... yeah, they were excellent in 2016/2017, but it was a long time ago and the Jets were a different team back then. I mean the roster is mostly the same, but 2016-2017 they didn't make the playoffs and last season they were in the conference finals after a convincing regular season.
The truth is Scheifele & Connor in the same line this and last season, are about %50 corsi and < %50 GF. They have scored 55 goals together 5v5, in > 1100min TOI together. That's under 3 GF/60. That first line has not been good with Connor on it.
With Laine there's no sample size this and last season and I'm ruling 2016-2017 outdated - and doing that is in Connor's favor, taking into account how good the numbers were. This far this season numbers with Laine are really similar to numbers with Connor, but it's a really small sample size and as such I think it's useless. My prediction would be if that line is kept together, there will be separation in their favor.
Ehlers has played more with Scheif this and last season, and the first line's possession numbers and actual results take a huge leap as opposed to Connor - he's by far the best corsi player of the 3 and gets very good actual results as well (higher GF/60 than with Connor and much lower GA/60).
My point here is to not put Connor down, but give a perspective on why he might not be all that much better than Laine (or Ehlers), but just has benefited from playing with Scheifele and Wheeler, being in a way more favorable situation. Looking at this season only, I understand how someone could hold the opinion Connor is the overall better hockey player, but last season it was not even close (IMO) and I still think Laine is trending way higher despite having a very difficult and weird (inconsistent) season. Connor might be busier looking than the other 2, and is probably better in-tight and on the boards, but he is no-where near as effective and I think it becomes really evident when he is replaced on the 1st line - both Ehlers and Laine open up the play a lot more, Ehlers through his speed and Laine with his shooting threat, the end result is offensively the line becomes way more effective. Ehlers also makes them defensively better.
I think Connor might be more versatile in that he is probably better suited to playing any role in team and doing OK with it, which I'm sure coaches will like. Laine has his shot, Ehlers has his speed. I hope Connor's ability in tight can become similar elite skill for him, the point in his sharp offensive ability.
I'm waiting for Scheifele to wake up though. He's put up good points as usual, but I think a lot of that is just playing so much. Apart from some great games earlier in the season, I have not really seen quite the elite offensive ability I expect from him and his defensive side has been just poor. This is another reason why comparing this season's number to 2016-2017 doesn't make sense. I think 2016-2017 Scheifele was playing better hockey. I think part of it is Maurice simply ran both Scheifele and Wheeler to ground, I hope they pick it up now that they might see more sensible TOI. I think Wheeler is already looking like he lost 5 years.
