Laine goal-drought watch: 15 games (ends 02/22)

[Royal Thunder]

And this hot take is from watching how many Jets games in the past 3 seasons?

Probably 60+, plus every playoff game last year.

Which part of my post are you disputing? Laine isn't a great skater, he isn't a particularly gifted playmaker, he's never been a physical beast along the walls who creates space for himself that way. I think he's a one trick pony who has been figured out and he's fighting through it, trying to find more ways to be impactful if he's not scoring. He has to find ways to create time and space for himself, and with his size if he played more tenaciously I think he could be a beast. I'm certainly not writing him off, just calling it as I see it.

 

[S E P H]

Don't worry Jets fans, his slump will be over by tomorrow. Just put him on the PP at Ovechkin's slot and Avs PK will leave him right open.

 

[Leafslet]

remember when people thought laine was a better player than matthews.

 

[GoJetsGo55]

Probably 60+, plus every playoff game last year.

Which part of my post are you disputing? Laine isn't a great skater, he isn't a particularly gifted playmaker, he's never been a physical beast along the walls who creates space for himself that way. I think he's a one trick pony who has been figured out and he's fighting through it, trying to find more ways to be impactful if he's not scoring. He has to find ways to create time and space for himself, and with his size if he played more tenaciously I think he could be a beast. I'm certainly not writing him off, just calling it as I see it.

Alright fair enough. Most times I ask that question and people say "It doesn't matter that I don't watch him play."

I say all the following based on his previous play and not his current:

His skating has been more than fine in the past. He's not blowing past guys but it certainly doesn't hinder him in any way.
His play making abilities are underrated around here. When he's on his game, he's a damn fine passer. Is he elite? No. But he's got skills when it comes to passing.
Physically, yeah he's never consistently played a rough game. He's thrown some nice hits in the past but they are few and far between. I will say his board play is sub par but he's has been able to give himself space and time with his stickhandling.

I don't think he's necessarily been "figured out". It doesn't take a hockey genius to see that he's the trigger man. I think his scoring woes are just a part of his slump. I don't think he's being played against any different.

I fully agree on the tenacity and that's one of my biggest gripes with his current slump. He couldn't even spell tenacity if he tried.

 

[GoJetsGo55]

remember when people thought laine was a better player than matthews.

It's only 5 more years before Leaf fans agree with us.

 

[GoJetsGo55]

Don't worry Jets fans, his slump will be over by tomorrow. Just put him on the PP at Ovechkin's slot and Avs PK will leave him right open.

That's what the Rangers fans said and we are still left hollow.

 

[S E P H]

That's what the Rangers fans said and we are still left hollow.

I can't guarantee he will hit the net, all I can guarantee is that we will be giving him chances.

 

[Super Hans]

For Laine to really work he needs to have 4 hard working linemates that can move the puck quickly, deliver hits and create space for Laine. Laine's job is to shoot and float around inbetwen looking for that sweet spot to shoot from. You shouldn't have Laine getting into board battles. He needs to put on another 20 lbs of muscles before he can win those...

We live in a society.

 

[GoJetsGo55]

We live in a society.

 

[Mulletman]

Then we are literally grooming him into being a one trick pony. That's....that's just pure insanity.

"For Laine to really work he needs to have 4 hard working linemates that can move the puck quickly, deliver hits and create space for Laine."

That's an alright system but it's also a HUGE problem. If we are going to pay him 10+ mil a year, he better damn well have more than one tool in the toolbox. You don't pay that much money to have someone just stand there and swing. If he wanted to do that, he should have picked up golf.

You guys have been trying to force Laine to become a 200 foot player for almost 3 seasons now and it's not working. In fact it looks more like you've ruined what he was actually good at in the process. Better to have a really good one trick pony, that does his trick better than anyone, than to have a guy that will struggle to hit 40 Points in a full season.

Laine is a special talent and he needs to be handled like one. Let Laine focus at what he's good at and forget trying to teach him new tricks. Look at it this way. It's like if the Jets was Guns and Roses then Laine would be Slash. Would you force Slash to be both the lead singer and have him play the drums? No, of course not!

 

[GoJetsGo55]

You guys have been trying to force Laine to become a 200 foot player for almost 3 seasons now and it's not working. In fact it looks more like you've ruined what he was actually good at in the process. Better to have a really good one trick pony, that does his trick better than anyone, than to have a guy that will struggle to hit 40 Points in a full season.

Laine is a special talent and he needs to be handled like one. Let Laine focus at what he's good at and forget trying to teach him new tricks. Look at it this way. It's like if the Jets was Guns and Roses then Laine would be Slash. Would you force Slash to be both the lead singer and have him play the drums? No, of course not!

Name me one superstar in the league who is this much of a one trick pony?

To be honest, I don't even care about his play in our own zone as much as I care about him losing every single puck battle against the board for the last few weeks. The lazy turnovers kill me more than anything.

I have seen him kill off entire PP's with his turnovers and now it's apparently Maruice's fault that he suffers some consequences?

 

[Lahey]

It's only 5 more years before Leaf fans agree with us.

We’ll see if Laine is even in the league by then LOL

 

[GoJetsGo55]

We’ll see if Laine is even in the league by then LOL

LOL dis guy funny

 

[Mulletman]

Name me one superstar in the league who is this much of a one trick pony?

To be honest, I don't even care about his play in our own zone as much as I care about him losing every single puck battle against the board for the last few weeks. The lazy turnovers kill me more than anything.

I have seen him kill off entire PP's with his turnovers and now it's apparently Maruice's fault that he suffers some consequences?

That's just it Laine is so unique that there's really no one to compare to. His shot was so good that it helped him become the 4th youngest player to hit 100 career goals, despite mostly floating and being a defensive liability. Laine would be more like Puljujarvi is right now without his shot. And if you guys don't get rid of Maurice or trade Laine, Laine might not be in the League for much longer...

 

[jepjepjoo]

Name me one superstar in the league who is this much of a one trick pony?

To be honest, I don't even care about his play in our own zone as much as I care about him losing every single puck battle against the board for the last few weeks. The lazy turnovers kill me more than anything.

I have seen him kill off entire PP's with his turnovers and now it's apparently Maruice's fault that he suffers some consequences?

I'd say Wheeler has alot more stupid giveaways on the PP than Laine... While the giveaway stat isn't perfect, you'd think it would show if Laine was giving the puck away constantly.

PP giveaways this season:
Wheeler 6
Connor 6
Laine 4
Scheifele 3

 

[GoJetsGo55]

That's just it Laine is so unique that there's really no one to compare to. His shot was so good that it helped him become the 4th youngest player to hit 100 career goals, despite mostly floating and being a defensive liability. Laine would be more like Puljujarvi is right now without his shot. And if you guys don't get rid of Maurice or trade Laine, Laine might not be in the League for much longer...

Forgive me if I don't buy into the "This guy sucks at 95% of the game but the 5% he's good at is worth over 10% of your cap space" argument.

Thing is, we are still winning during Laine's slump.

I love the kid and wish him nothing but the best but this slump is on him and him alone.

 

[TommyKillian]

I'd say Wheeler has alot more stupid giveaways on the PP than Laine... While the giveaway stat isn't perfect, you'd think it would show if Laine was giving the puck away constantly.

PP giveaways this season:
Wheeler 6
Connor 6
Laine 4
Scheifele 3

Wheeler has the puck on his stick constantly and makes way more passes on the PP than Laine. The fact their turnovers are even close, given the limited amount Laine touches the puck, is telling.

 

[GoJetsGo55]

I'd say Wheeler has alot more stupid giveaways on the PP than Laine... While the giveaway stat isn't perfect, you'd think it would show if Laine was giving the puck away constantly.

PP giveaways this season:
Wheeler 6
Connor 6
Laine 4
Scheifele 3

There is no way that stat is accurate. I've seen him turn the puck over 4 times on one powerplay. Wheeler would also have more turnovers because he's the catalyst of our powerplay. It ALWAYS runs through him. It's not even the fact that the turnovers happen. It's how they happen. It's always one on one with a defender on him and it's going the other way. Sure, stand there and be the trigger man but if it gets to you and you don't have a shot, don't turn the damn thing over time and time again.

 

[The Tank]

Do you guys think Matthews puts in more training and practice time than Laine?

At ice hockey absolutely. At Fortnite not so much...

 

[Joe Hallenback]

Laine will score when the Leafs win a cup which is to say never again

 

[hockeeyyy]

I find it weird that @GoJetsGo55 is the most balanced debater in this thread lol

Where's psycho_dad to defend Laine's virginal virtues?

 

[GoJetsGo55]

I find it weird that @GoJetsGo55 is the most balanced debater in this thread lol

Where's psycho_dad to defend Laine's virginal virtues?

I am not immune to my own bias. I've pumped up Laine when he's on his game because he's VERY good when he's on his game. Heck, I've even used some of the same points that are being used in this thread before.

-I don't think Laine and Little make good partners on a line
-I don't think Laine is a one trick pony
-I do think he's capable of 50 to 60 goals

All of that is mute right now because he's playing like absolute garbage.

-It's not Little's fault that Laine is floating
-It's not Maurice's fault that Laine can't win a puck battle
-It's not the teams fault that he can't beat a single defender on the rush

It's all on Laine and it's because his confidence is gone. When he has his confidence, he's an animal out there......when it's gone, so is he.

If any fault lies with anyone else it would be with the team not continually trying to get his confidence up but there's a certain point where you have to more a guy down a line and let him sort things out.

 

[Riseonfire]

Really disappointed in everyone here.

I tried to go to DidLaineScore.com and it didn't work. WTF guys.

 

[golgoXIII]

Name me one superstar in the league who is this much of a one trick pony?

To be honest, I don't even care about his play in our own zone as much as I care about him losing every single puck battle against the board for the last few weeks. The lazy turnovers kill me more than anything.

I have seen him kill off entire PP's with his turnovers and now it's apparently Maruice's fault that he suffers some consequences?

Vladimir Tarasenko but nobody talk about how bad he is

 

[GoJetsGo55]

Vladimir Tarasenko but nobody talk about how bad he is

Is he really that similar? I know he had a super brutal start to the season but 43 points in 54 games isn't too hard to swallow.