Is there concerns that Wheeler is a locker room problem ?

[RorschachWJK]

Laine is a guy who is never going to win anything especially after he gets paid 9-10 million. Much better with Dubois

So he IS like Ovechkin, at least in this respect!

...oh wait

 

[Whileee]

Bryan Little is seen by almost every Jets player, coach, and fan as a pure class player and teammate. When Laine and the Finnish yellow journalist threw Little under the bus with Laine basically saying that Little wasn't good enough to play with him, I expect that lost Laine respect in the locker room, especially with vets that are close to Little. I realize that Laine is a bit of an eccentric guy, but that's a line that most players won't cross, for obvious reasons. Little was gracious about it when Laine apologized, but I think it might have frayed some relationships.

In the end, once the Jets had Scheifele, Ehlers and Connor signed long term to good contracts, they likely saw Laine as their best trade asset to acquire a foundation player at C or D. Chevy said as much. Naturally, Laine and his agents could see the writing on the wall, too.

I think it will work out well for all parties. Laine can be the face of the Jackets and the Jets get their big C to complement Scheifele.

I'll still root for Laine in Columbus. He's a great talent and an interesting personality. But I also think the Jets will be better in the long term with this move, and that will make Wheeler and Scheifele happy.

 

[BullLund]

We'll see if Torts demotes his captain from the 1st line...

Just saying, I don't think he'll be competing with Bjorkstrand. He might even play with Bjorkstrand.

Anyway, we will see what happens. Columbus doesn't seem to have as clear of a dynamic as Scheifele and Wheeler.

 

[Whileee]

sure hear lots about wheeler being a problem from many ex jets, there has to be something to it

Other than Laine and Kane (who most Jets seemed to dislike), who else had a problem with Wheeler?

 

[BullLund]

Bryan Little is seen by almost every Jets player, coach, and fan as a pure class player and teammate. When Laine and the Finnish yellow journalist threw Little under the bus with Laine basically saying that Little wasn't good enough to play with him, I expect that lost Laine respect in the locker room, especially with vets that are close to Little. I realize that Laine is a bit of an eccentric guy, but that's a line that most players won't cross, for obvious reasons. Little was gracious about it when Laine apologized, but I think it might have frayed some relationships.

In the end, once the Jets had Scheifele, Ehlers and Connor signed long term to good contracts, they likely saw Laine as their best trade asset to acquire a foundation player at C or D. Chevy said as much. Naturally, Laine and his agents could see the writing on the wall, too.

I think it will work out well for all parties. Laine can be the face of the Jackets and the Jets get their big C to complement Scheifele.

I'll still root for Laine in Columbus. He's a great talent and an interesting personality. But I also think the Jets will be better in the long term with this move, and that will make Wheeler and Scheifele happy.

He never specified Little though. He just said that in other teams he would be playing with the top guys, on the top line.

It was a blunt comment that can certainly be interpreted as arrogant and cocky, but it's not like he outright said "Little isn't good enough for me to play with" or anything. That would've been crossing a line.

Even if Laine was a bit of an eccentric, I would think that there has to be an even greater concern about Dubois being eccentric, considering the way it ended for him in Columbus. I'm not sure if the issues are going to be washed away with Laine going away. Who's to say, for example, that Dubois won't also demand to be the top center? He would have an even more difficult task of breaking in because that spot belongs solely to Scheifele, whereas with Wheeler you could atleast entertain the idea of him playing on the 2nd line.

 

[Whileee]

It's strange how Laine has become such a controversial figure even if he has kept his mouth shut for the most part.

He complained to a reporter about having to play with Bryan Little, one of the classiest players in the NHL, and Wheeler's long-time C and probably the most respected player on the team.

 

[Whileee]

He never specified Little though. He just said that in other teams he would be playing with the top guys, on the top line.

It was a blunt comment that can certainly be interpreted as arrogant and cocky, but it's not like he said "Little isn't good enough for me to play with" or anything. That would've been crossing a line.

Even if Laine was a bit of an eccentric, I would think that there has to be an even greater concern about Dubois being eccentric, considering the way it ended for him in Columbus. I'm not sure if the issues are going to be washed away with Laine going away. Who's to say, for example, that Dubois won't also demand to be the top center? He would have an even more difficult task of breaking in because that spot belongs solely to Scheifele, whereas with Wheeler you could atleast entertain the idea of him playing on the 2nd line.

Everybody knew who Laine was talking about, and Laine knew they knew. That's why he reached out to apologize to Little when the story came out. It was perhaps just an immature mistake, but I think it's natural for teammates to lose respect for a player that has that attitude and shares it with a reporter. The fact that it was Little was significant, because he is easily the most respected player the Jets have had. Other teammates would defend him pretty vigorously.

 

[Hasa92]

There were times during Laine's first two seasons in Winnipeg where it seemed like some players were purposedly not passing to Laine when that would have been the most obvious and best choice for a goal, this happened most often during the powerplays.

Despite that Laine still got 30+ & 40+ goals.

Wheeler was on of these players.

But knowing Laine's history, there probably has to be some blame on him as well. He is known to be, well, let's just say a strong personality.

That still doesn't change the fact that guys like Wheeler, the Coach, GM and all the other veteran players on the team have the responsibility to make sure the young players behave and produce but also that they get the proper support and guidance. When you get a player like Laine, you make it work, unless he really is an absolute monster of a human being which I don't believe, if that is the case however then it should be made public.

The way I see it this is 100% on the leadership of the team.

 

[BullLund]

Everybody knew who Laine was talking about, and Laine knew they knew. That's why he reached out to apologize to Little when the story came out. It was perhaps just an immature mistake, but I think it's natural for teammates to lose respect for a player that has that attitude and shares it with a reporter. The fact that it was Little was significant, because he is easily the most respected player the Jets have had. Other teammates would defend him pretty vigorously.

Well, you can interpret it as an insult, or you can interpret it as the talk of a guy who desires to be a top guy in NHL.

Laine made sure that Little wouldn't take those comments as an insult. And apparently he didn't. Of course, we don't know what goes on in the locker-room. But atleast Little seemed like a guy who doesn't hold a grudge over something like that. In fact they seemed to be playing better than ever until his unfortunate injury.

It would be another thing if he went and threw Little under the bus by name, saying that he didn't want to play with him. But a statement like "I'm a top player and want to play in the top line" is pretty much to be expected of a guy like Patrik Laine. Anybody who drafted him knew that this was the kind of guy he was, he was a guy who made a lot of boasts and then made them come true. That's why he has the fanbase that he has had.

 

[PhilJets]

He complained to a reporter about having to play with Bryan Little, one of the classiest players in the NHL, and Wheeler's long-time C and probably the most respected player on the team.

If we believe that tabloid then we should believe what they wrote down about Wheeler yesterday?

MODS took it down as it was not credible.

 

[Hasa92]

He is probably a strong leader/voice in the dressing room and alot of kids nowadays cant handle that.

He seems like he is exactly what a captain should be, but things are different nowadays and people expect to be treated differently.

Laine played with Tappara and trust me that is an organization with harsh leadership.

They know how to deal with Laine, showed him his place, Laine had to work for it, earned his spot in the top lines and the team won a Championship with him, first one for the team in years.

If a Finnish Liiga team was able to properly manage a superstar player (Who already easily was the best player in that league btw) with a strong personality and cocky additute an NHL team should have no excuse for not being able to handle his personality.

He already has shown that he can swallow his pride, work for his playing minutes and take orders from other players, even from those who are well below his skill level.

 

[Peggy]

What makes you think Laine is going to be the jackets number 1 winger, seems you're clueless about that team if you think Laine is coming in and get spoonfed minutes under Torts right away.

Wheeler's role would've been available in a couple years, so that's not the case. Obviously stemming from deeper issues.

You think Laine will outproduce Wheeler this year? Maybe when he's 35 or 36 or 37.

Wheeler had 2 more points than Laine last season...
Why are you in this thread? Just to argue and down talk Laine?

 

[Whileee]

If we believe that tabloid then we should believe what they wrote down about Wheeler yesterday?

MODS took it down as it was not credible.

It was widely reported that Laine apologized to Little for those comments, and Little graciously accepted his apology.

As I said, that was yellow journalism, and Laine should have avoided commenting, especially since that reporter had a vendetta vs. Little. If anything, Laine should have defended Little in that circumstance.

 

[BullLund]

There were times during Laine's first two seasons in Winnipeg where it seemed like some players were purposedly not passing to Laine when that would have been the most obvious and best choice for a goal, this happened most often during the powerplays.

Despite that Laine still got 30+ & 40+ goals.

Wheeler was on of these players.

But knowing Laine's history, there probably has to be some blame on him as well. He is known to be, well, let's just say a strong personality.

That still doesn't change the fact that guys like Wheeler, the Coach, GM and all the other veteran players on the team have the responsibility to make sure the young players behave and produce but also that they get the proper support and guidance. When you get a player like Laine, you make it work, unless he really is an absolute monster of a human being which I don't believe, if that is the case however then it should be made public.

The way I see it this is 100% on the leadership of the team.

I think the issues with the powerplay were more strategic than anything. It was just stiff, rigid, and the only route to a Laine one-timer, was basically a magical saucer serve from Wheeler, past 2-3 defenders.

I never really noticed an unwillingness from Wheeler to pass to Laine, sometimes he was just unable to, because the PP strategy that they had going, wasn't too good. It was pretty easy for the penalty killers to basically shut down every lane to Laine with minimal efforts. And they rarely swapped positions to open up lanes.

Honestly, I think the last game Laine played should have shut down the talks that he had some kind of an open conflict with the other players. He was very motivated to play and even fought when Connor got hit. Clearly he had a lot of love for the team, and the players, but there were also frustrations and short-comings.

If anything, I think Dubois should have more of these questions being asked about him, because of how he left Columbus. That whole deal just seems like a complete mystery to me.

 

[Whileee]

Well, you can interpret it as an insult, or you can interpret it as the talk of a guy who desires to be a top guy in NHL.

Laine made sure that Little wouldn't take those comments as an insult. And apparently he didn't. Of course, we don't know what goes on in the locker-room. But atleast Little seemed like a guy who doesn't hold a grudge over something like that. In fact they seemed to be playing better than ever until his unfortunate injury.

It would be another thing if he went and threw Little under the bus by name, saying that he didn't want to play with him. But a statement like "I'm a top player and want to play in the top line" is pretty much to be expected of a guy like Patrik Laine. Anybody who drafted him knew that this was the kind of guy he was, he was a guy who made a lot of boasts and then made them come true. That's why he has the fanbase that he has had.

My opinion is that it was an unwise thing for Laine to do, because it's expected that you always respect your teammates publicly. He knew what he was conveying. Maybe he was frustrated, and that's why Little graciously cut him slack. But there aren't many NHL players that would appreciate a teammate complaining about who they were playing with, especially if it's a highly respected player like Little.

 

[Hasa92]

My opinion is that it was an unwise thing for Laine to do, because it's expected that you always respect your teammates publicly. He knew what he was conveying. Maybe he was frustrated, and that's why Little graciously cut him slack. But there aren't many NHL players that would appreciate a teammate complaining about who they were playing with, especially if it's a highly respected player like Little.

That is true and that totally is on Laine but in my opinion saying publicly thing like that shouldn't lead to anything like this. Besides it seemed like there was some friction way before that. I don't think that Laine really had any beef with Little, but I can understand why some people and teammates dislike him for judging Little's play.

 

[BullLund]

It was widely reported that Laine apologized to Little for those comments, and Little graciously accepted his apology.

As I said, that was yellow journalism, and Laine should have avoided commenting, especially since that reporter had a vendetta vs. Little. If anything, Laine should have defended Little in that circumstance.

My opinion is that it was an unwise thing for Laine to do, because it's expected that you always respect your teammates publicly. He knew what he was conveying. Maybe he was frustrated, and that's why Little graciously cut him slack. But there aren't many NHL players that would appreciate a teammate complaining about who they were playing with, especially if it's a highly respected player like Little.

The thing is, when you're going to ask Laine a question like "how do you think you should be used?", he's always going to say that he should be playing top minutes with the best players in the world. That's just how he is. Even if he has not scored one point in 10 games, he would still think that he should be playing with the best.

If he started thinking different, then he wouldn't be Patrik Laine.

I have no doubt in my mind that he's going to offend people again and again, because of hockey culture, and be forced to explain his intentions. He's the hockey version of Kimi Räikkönen in many ways, to anybody who has watched F1. Actually a lot less blunt or morose, but in hockey, where nobody is expected to open up, he comes off like that.

Atleast in Columbus he won't have to worry about it as much, because the coach himself is as outspoken and eccentric as anybody in the league. Tortorella will always dominate the headlines over anybody, including Laine.

 

[Hasa92]

I think the issues with the powerplay were more strategic than anything. It was just stiff, rigid, and the only route to a Laine one-timer, was basically a magical saucer serve from Wheeler, past 2-3 defenders.

I never really noticed an unwillingness from Wheeler to pass to Laine, sometimes he was just unable to, because the PP strategy that they had going, wasn't too good. It was pretty easy for the penalty killers to basically shut down every lane to Laine with minimal efforts. And they rarely swapped positions to open up lanes.

Honestly, I think the last game Laine played should have shut down the talks that he had some kind of an open conflict with the other players. He was very motivated to play and even fought when Connor got hit. Clearly he had a lot of love for the team, and the players, but there were also frustrations and short-comings.

If anything, I think Dubois should have more of these questions being asked about him, because of how he left Columbus. That whole deal just seems like a complete mystery to me.

Maybe my memory is wrong or my inner Laine fan blinds me but I do remember often wondering why they didn't pass to Laine when it seemed like an open and easy pass.

 

[BullLund]

Maybe my memory is wrong or my inner Laine fan blinds me but I do remember often wondering why they didn't pass to Laine when it seemed like an open and easy pass.

It happened on PP, in my opinion, because their approach was to basically have the defender pass to Wheeler, who would then pass to Laine, Connor or Scheifele, usually through atleast 1 or 2 penalty killers. You rarely ever saw the defender give a pass to Laine, even if he was wide open and ready for a one-timer. I think that was just how the system worked.

They ran everything through Wheeler which made it pretty easy for the opposite team to shut Laine down, unless Wheeler came up with a legendary pass.

The PP was still dangerous because of the sheer talent on ice but the system itself, to me was pretty rigid and limited.

 

[PhilJets]

It was widely reported that Laine apologized to Little for those comments, and Little graciously accepted his apology.

As I said, that was yellow journalism, and Laine should have avoided commenting, especially since that reporter had a vendetta vs. Little. If anything, Laine should have defended Little in that circumstance.

So there is some credibility or truth there right?

As Laine apologized to Little before.
And Wheeler made that comment after the Laine trade.

 

[Necrobutcher]

It happened on PP, in my opinion, because their approach was to basically have the defender pass to Wheeler, who would then pass to Laine, Connor or Scheifele, usually through atleast 1 or 2 penalty killers. You rarely ever saw the defender give a pass to Laine, even if he was wide open and ready for a one-timer. I think that was just how the system worked.

They ran everything through Wheeler which made it pretty easy for the opposite team to shut Laine down, unless Wheeler came up with a legendary pass.

The PP was still dangerous because of the sheer talent on ice but the system itself, to me was pretty rigid and limited.

It wasn't the system. It was the fact that Buff was playing the blue line and despite being a fantastic player he wasn't able to make the one touch passes.

 

[Sky04]

Wheeler had 2 more points than Laine last season...
Why are you in this thread? Just to argue and down talk Laine?

Why are you in this thread? To argue and talk down Wheeler?

 

[Jumptheshark]

When you start defending your position point by using Kane as the first example? You lose me.

 

[BullLund]

It wasn't the system. It was the fact that Buff was playing the blue line and despite being a fantastic player he wasn't able to make the one touch passes.

It happened with the others after Buff, too, though. The puck was rarely, if ever, going to Laine's side from the defender.

 

[Check]

I'm not going to act like I was a Jets fan, but it seems silly that they had a pretty solid roster and one of the more electrifying scoring talent in recent years, but yet ran everything to the ground? I can't forget the Hockey News cover story about the next SC champions...

PLD is a great addition, but Jets are still coached by the most losing coach in the history of the league and same management that let this train wreck happen.