Laine relegated to the 4th line

Lunatik

Normal is an illusion.
Oct 12, 2012
56,182
8,337
Padded Room
Tortorella is too much of a dinosaur.

You put Laine on the powerplay as much as possible, keep him away from strong defensive forwards, and load up a second line with him on it that you can take advantage of a weaker forward group. Tell him to play to his strength, shoot the puck as much as possible if open, and don't rely on your speed, back checking or passing because they aren't your best strengths. Obviously you don't want him to be completely lazy and be a turn over machine. But if you can turn him into a consistent 40 goal scorer then the weaknesses in his game won't be as difficult to deal with.

Torts thinks you can turn a scorer into a Selke candidate. Torts is not Bowman and Laine is not Yzerman, its not going to work. Just score goals.
The thing is, that's what the Jets did with Laine and Laine cried and asked for a trade because his ego tells him he needs to be #1 in TOI
 
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GreatSaveEssensa

The Dark Side Of The Goon
Feb 16, 2016
3,593
5,676
Manitoba
The guy seems to lack maturity..............does he really want it? This is what he has to decide. The guys should score 30-40 goals every year. People just can't blame Torts/Maurice can they?
He was scoring 30/40 under Maurice so not so sure what he has to do in this.
 

Kranix

Deranged Homer
Jun 27, 2012
18,122
16,154
Cam Atkinson scored 40 goals two years ago.

Anderson and Bjorkstrand all have multiple 20 goal seasons and near 30 goal seasons with the team

Ryan Johansen scored 30 and 27 here

Werenski led defenseman in goals last year and is near the top since he’s been in the league

Etc

but yeah, you’re right
Shut it with that sarcasm. I'll give you Atkinson, but he's pretty streaky. And what's the etc?
I said "that worked out for them." Are you talking about Josh Anderson? When did he have multiple 20 goal seasons?
Give me a break man.
 

Negan4Coach

Fantastic and Stochastic
Aug 31, 2017
5,784
14,670
Raleigh, NC
You don't understand the coaches obsession with trying to make his player play a complete game with consistent effort on both ends of the ice ? I don't understand how some people defend lazy players with no work ethic, pro athletes who whine and complain when their vets tell them to work out and get better. So much talent with absolutely no work ethic. He can still become a good maybe even great player, but this isn't on Torts, it's on Laine. Drop the shitty attitude, stop being so entitled and put in some real effort.

I keep hoping to hear that Torts ties him to a tractor tire during practice and makes him drag it around the ice
 
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CBJWerenski8

Formerly CBJWennberg10 (RIP Kivi)
Jun 13, 2009
42,085
24,009
Shut it with that sarcasm. I'll give you Atkinson, but he's pretty streaky. And what's the etc?
I said "that worked out for them." Are you talking about Josh Anderson? When did he have multiple 20 goal seasons?
Give me a break man.

I would but you said “no scorers drafted since Rick Nash” so it’s kinda hard to give you a break when that’s just so wrong.

Josh Anderson had a 17 and 27 goal season in two of his three seasons up here IIRC. I’ll go ahead and use round numbers and say that’s two 20 goal seasons.

Etc means there’s more, I just didnt/don’t have time to type them all right now as I’m at work. But I would be glad to later if you want.
 

flying v 604

Registered User
Sep 4, 2014
2,043
1,261
With the way he's been playing, he probably is not getting that qualifying offer. Small part of me is thinking it's his plan. But with the effort he's shown this season, he's worth no more than 1.5-2 million for one year deal.
I don't see a scenario where he isn't qualified, the optics around it are just to bad.
Worst case scenario is just qualify him and trade him with salary retention.
 
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Dr Quincy

Registered User
Jun 19, 2005
28,684
10,517
Cam Atkinson scored 40 goals two years ago.

Anderson and Bjorkstrand all have multiple 20 goal seasons and near 30 goal seasons with the team

Ryan Johansen scored 30 and 27 here

Werenski led defenseman in goals last year and is near the top since he’s been in the league

Etc

but yeah, you’re right
Anderson has 1 20 goals season.
Bjorkstrand has 2 w/ a career high of 40 pts.

I mean, I'm not disagreeing with your general point, but there is some specific puffery going on here. CBJ fans themselves bemoan the lack of top line scorers.
 

jcs0218

Registered User
Apr 20, 2018
7,905
9,725
Less Ovechkin/Mario, more Heatley/Yakupov. Disappointing. He has a special shot. But man he's a difficult guy to play with. I don't know why he's been on this downward trajectory for the last few years. In 2017/2018 you watched him with suspense because he could score from anywhere. Then he just stopped getting chances. Weird.

Apologies for comparing Heatley to Yakupov lol. He just reminds me of a failed star player while I forget he actually had a pretty good career all things considered.

Best 6 seasons:

Heatley = 50, 50, 41, 41, 39, 39
Iginla = 52, 50, 43, 41, 39, 35
Kovaclhuk = 52, 52, 43, 42, 41, 38

Heatley fell off a cliff around the time he turned 31 years old. And he also had the car crash that ruined his 23 year old season.

But his prime and peak was very good. He was legitimately one of the best wingers in the NHL from 2003 to 2011.
 

Chimpradamus

Registered User
Feb 16, 2006
16,634
5,249
Northern Sweden
Can't see him playing in the NHL after this season, at least for a year to two. Who's gonna qualify this guy at $7.5 mil to underperform and cause drama wherever he goes?
That's a very good question. I mean, some strong teams could very well like to have him on a team as a complementary piece. But a $7.5m piece? None. Not a chance. His upcoming contract is a killer.

No team can bring on Laine in his current wreck state and think it's a good idea to sign him to that contract. It's an insane gamble.
 

majormajor

Registered User
Jun 23, 2018
24,196
28,666
That's a very good question. I mean, some strong teams could very well like to have him on a team as a complementary piece. But a $7.5m piece? None. Not a chance. His upcoming contract is a killer.

No team can bring on Laine in his current wreck state and think it's a good idea to sign him to that contract. It's an insane gamble.

It's a 1 year $7.5m qualifying offer from the CBJ, which they'll undoubtedly give him and hope he bounces back.

If a team doesn't offer a qualifying offer then the player becomes a UFA, no one has to pay him $7.5m except for CBJ next year.

The chance of Laine being out of the league in the next few years is slim to none. Half the league will give him a chance, everyone wants to strike gold with him.
 
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Jugitsu

Registered User
Dec 24, 2016
2,230
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Finland
Laine is not worth 7.5m.

No, not even close. But they are handcuffed to him nevertheless. You just don't trade your 1C for a player and let that player walk for free, that doesn't happen. What will happen is Columbus will offer the QO and Laine will sign it. Why? Because that's the smartest thing to do. Jarmo and Columbus can only hope that Laine bounces back in some way. If he doesn't, they'll try to trade him and retain some of his salary while doing so. Heck they might trade him even if he starts to light the lamp again.

Why do folks living in Finland blame the coaches for Laine's failures? As far as I know, the players themselves are overwhelmingly responsible for the quality of their play.

I'm fairly confident that folks in Finland aren't the only ones that resort to blaming other people than the player in question. Finns are just easier to single out. But trust me, these fanboys get no love from your average NHL following Finn like myself. Laine is a polarizing player and he has drawn a hefty following - rightly so. But the problem is most of his most vocal followers have very little understanding of NHL or perhaps hockey in general and very little care for other than their favorite player. And for some reason they aren't afraid to voice their opinion, no matter how f***ing stupid their opinions are. All it takes is a handful of vocal fanboys writing stupid shit in a weird way to catch your attention so that it's easy to jump into the conclusion that all their countrymen are probably the same. Which isn't the case obviously.
 

Chimpradamus

Registered User
Feb 16, 2006
16,634
5,249
Northern Sweden
It's a 1 year $7.5m qualifying offer from the CBJ, which they'll undoubtedly give him and hope he bounces back.

If a team doesn't offer a qualifying offer then the player becomes a UFA, no one has to pay him $7.5m except for CBJ next year.

The chance of Laine being out of the league in the next few years is slim to none. Half the league will give him a chance, everyone wants to strike gold with him.
Sure. When you can sign him for the more reasonable $3.5-4m price tag or so, teams will take a chance on him. At worst, hide him away on some line and bring him into the PP. But if he doesn't change his attitude and commitment to playing hockey, he will be done for anyway. Just like Semin. Or maybe he was just too flawed as a player from the start.
 
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JPeeper

Hail Satan!
Jan 4, 2015
11,531
8,635
Guy plays for one of the dumbest coaches in the NHL, you have a guy with arguably the best shot in the league, if you can't find a way to use him and resort to burying him on the 4th line you're an idiot.
 

belair

Jay Woodcroft Unemployment Stance
Apr 9, 2010
38,541
21,721
Canada
Those lines give me heartburn. A perfect example of a coach thinking he's the smartest guy in the room. Why put Laine and Atkinson in the bottom six on different lines?
 

majormajor

Registered User
Jun 23, 2018
24,196
28,666
Those lines give me heartburn. A perfect example of a coach thinking he's the smartest guy in the room. Why put Laine and Atkinson in the bottom six on different lines?

Why not?

Laine has been the worst 5v5 player on the team for two months now, and the top three lines all were creating a lot of chances last game when he was out. Nothing lost here.
 
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