Halberdier
Registered User
- May 14, 2016
- 4,467
- 4,980
Laine needs more speed other than that yes, put Buffs and Laine to defend and Scheifele/Wheeler/Ehlers attack, let everyone roam
Apart from ultra fast duo Ehlers and Connor, I fail to see many other Jets that are faster than Laine on open ice, which is the case with 3-on-3 and substantially different than with 5-on-5.
Laine has a very deceptive stride which is kind of antithesis of that of Wheeler or Ehlers. That's why Laine can look slow even when he did beat MacKinnon's time on skills competition and didn't lose a lot for Puljujärvi. MacKinnon & Poolparty are seriously fast skaters.
Laine needs a lot more explosiveness for his first steps, but on open ice in typical 3-on-3 situations he is faster than average Jet, and Jets are pretty fast on average.