Patrik Laine is going to blow the roof off NWA & Hockey in Ohio

[Vapaatunnus]

I’m thinking they may put him on IR again. The injury clearly hasn’t healed. It looked like he couldn’t turn at all last game.

Yes and he also got puck to skate when blocking a shot so that might have caused issues rest of the game. I hurt myself by watching that block.

 

[Tommigun]

Yes and he also got puck to skate when blocking a shot so that might have caused issues rest of the game. I hurt myself by watching that block.

I thought he looked the same before and after the block.

 

[JetsFan815]

He needs playdrivers on his line at 5v5 to be successful in that situation. Looking at the Jackets roster... Foligno and Bjorkstrand are probably the best at the skill... he could benefit from playing with them. Playing him with Domi as his C is going to be an absolute shit show. Hopefully Torts doesn't stick with that line combo that he tried at the end of last game.

PP needs to be re-examined... he is only shooting ~6 shots/60 on the PP since being traded whereas on the Jets he was able to get ~17 shots/60 off. That is one situation where his impact is without caveats and something should be done to fix that.

 

[VT]

He needs playdrivers on his line at 5v5 to be successful in that situation. Looking at the Jackets roster... Foligno and Bjorkstrand are probably the best at the skill... he could benefit from playing with them. Playing him with Domi as his C is going to be an absolute shit show. Hopefully Torts doesn't stick with that line combo that he tried at the end of last game.

PP needs to be re-examined... he is only shooting ~6 shots/60 on the PP since being traded whereas on the Jets he was able to get ~17 shots/60 off. That is one situation where his impact is without caveats and something should be done to fix that.

Don't forget Domi and Atkinson doesn`t play good together. And they, with Patrik, played in this time.
I agree Foligno/Jenner would be better than Atkinson (the line Grigorenko-Stenlund-Bjorkstrand played very well so nobody won`t change it). But Torts will never bring Cam in the third line. Besides Cam hasn`t a good chemistry with Texier, so Torts would have to bring Roslovic too.

 

[majormajor]

He needs playdrivers on his line at 5v5 to be successful in that situation. Looking at the Jackets roster... Foligno and Bjorkstrand are probably the best at the skill... he could benefit from playing with them. Playing him with Domi as his C is going to be an absolute shit show. Hopefully Torts doesn't stick with that line combo that he tried at the end of last game.

PP needs to be re-examined... he is only shooting ~6 shots/60 on the PP since being traded whereas on the Jets he was able to get ~17 shots/60 off. That is one situation where his impact is without caveats and something should be done to fix that.

I think you're right regarding the 5v5 linemates. Bjorkstrand would be a big help there.

The PP has been scoring pretty readily once they get set up. That's been the bigger issue.

 

[Tommigun]

If he goes on IR again that would be very concerning. This is starting to look a lot like 2 years ago for Laine. He scored 18 goals in November including a 5 goal game and was playing the best hockey of his career. He then injured his back in early December which lingered all season long and he only scored 7 more goals from December to the end of the season. A lot of those games it looked like was having trouble turning his body and he couldn't really shoot the puck. I hope it isn't a recurring back issue.

That is my assessment as well. When Patty was put on IR at the beginning of season and he took some practices when trying to return, it was reported that he couldn't shoot the puck at all and had no power whatsoever. That combined with a seeming inability to turn properly makes me scared he may have re-aggravated the old injury. He's clearly trying to play through it but I wonder if it would be better to just shut him down and let him heal fully?

 

[NotCommitted]

That is my assessment as well. When Patty was put on IR at the beginning of season and he took some practices when trying to return, it was reported that he couldn't shoot the puck at all and had no power whatsoever. That combined with a seeming inability to turn properly makes me scared he may have re-aggravated the old injury. He's clearly trying to play through it but I wonder if it would be better to just shut him down and let him heal fully?

Dunno what exactly his most recent injury was and if it was related to the old back thing, but man if that's the case, it would suck on so many levels.

 

[JetsFan815]

He needs playdrivers on his line at 5v5 to be successful in that situation. Looking at the Jackets roster... Foligno and Bjorkstrand are probably the best at the skill... he could benefit from playing with them. Playing him with Domi as his C is going to be an absolute shit show. Hopefully Torts doesn't stick with that line combo that he tried at the end of last game.

PP needs to be re-examined... he is only shooting ~6 shots/60 on the PP since being traded whereas on the Jets he was able to get ~17 shots/60 off. That is one situation where his impact is without caveats and something should be done to fix that.

LOL Seems like Torts is reading my posts. Did exactly what I advised with Foligno and Bjorkstrand.

 

[Halberdier]

That is my assessment as well. When Patty was put on IR at the beginning of season and he took some practices when trying to return, it was reported that he couldn't shoot the puck at all and had no power whatsoever. That combined with a seeming inability to turn properly makes me scared he may have re-aggravated the old injury. He's clearly trying to play through it but I wonder if it would be better to just shut him down and let him heal fully?

He has some nagging injury, I am afraid, but it's not like in 18-19, as he can still shoot the puck pretty nicely. Probably a problem in his lower back, but less severe than in 18-19.

 

[VT]

LOL Seems like Torts is reading my posts. Did exactly what I advised with Foligno and Bjorkstrand.

I was not expecting that he will be transferred from Roslovic and Atkinson to Bjorkstrand. Although I preferred Domi as a center, but Nick was pleasantly surprised, I didn't expect that he would play so well with them. I hope they will continue. By the way, correct me if I'm wrong, but did not Laine improve his backchecking and forchecking? The stream wasn't very good and I could confuse players.

 

[Ippenator]

LOL Seems like Torts is reading my posts. Did exactly what I advised with Foligno and Bjorkstrand.

Well that is really a no brainer that Laine should play with them. Atkinson and Roslo aren’t ideal linemates for the kind of player Laine is. He needs to play with players that are preferably good puck retrievers, but even more they need to have some skills with passing the puck at full speed and being able to make quick and accurate passes.

Laine’s weakness is still his skating acceleration, which means that he needs to get the puck to his full speed (which is in fact pretty darn good, although he doesn’t get there very quickly) when playing 5 on 5 hockey. Atkinson and Roslo aren’t very good at distributing him the puck quickly and accurately in those situations. And anyway Atkinson is pretty much a shoot first type of player and Roslo more a dangler than a passer.

Björkstrand seems like pretty much the ideal linemate for Laine as he can play both, as a shooter and as a playmaker when it’s needed. He is also good at puck retrieving. Foligno also seems like a good fit with Laine, as Foligno is also a good puck retriever and good at battling in the corners and also causing havoc in front of the goal. He is also a bit underrated as a passer, and he can also in my opinion be able to do some nice setup plays for both Laine and Björkstrand. Doesn’t also hurt that he is a lot better at face-offs than Roslovic, but who wouldn’t be?

 

[Vapaatunnus]

Well that is really a no brainer that Laine should play with them. Atkinson and Roslo aren’t ideal linemates for the kind of player Laine is. He needs to play with players that are preferably good puck retrievers, but even more they need to have some skills with playing the puck at full speed and being able to make quick and accurate passes.

Laine’s weakness is still his skating acceleration, which means that he needs to get the puck to his full speed (which is in fact pretty darn good, although he doesn’t get there very quickly) when playing 5 on 5 hockey. Atkinson

That is a reason why he usually goes behind own goal so he has some time to speed up. He is definetely not a Selänne type accelerator.

 

[MoeTheHobo]

I like his answer regarding his passing abilities. "Yeah, im good at it, and i did a great pass"

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[Toe Pick]

Two things I'd like to see with Laine:

1. Keep him out there for the ENTIRE powerplay (i.e. both units!) similar to how the Caps deploy Ovechkin. When you have a lethal (I'm too old for this shit!) weapon like this you don't fire it 50% of the time.

2. I know we have to run with what we have at the moment but my god do we need someone who can win an offensive zone faceoff. On the rare occasion we have been able to win a draw to Jones who then finds Laine for the one-timer it's been hockey utopia! This has to be a top priority this offseason.

EDIT: As soon as I was done typing this I headed to NHL.com to see who the best faceoff players are with 15+ games and sure enough our own Boone Jenner checks in at a respectable 27th overall in the league at 55.8% -- tells me this is the guy we need to be starting PP and OT with. Next closest is Domi at 50.4%.

 

[Forepar]

LOL Seems like Torts is reading my posts. Did exactly what I advised with Foligno and Bjorkstrand.

It's your burner account. Or is it Torts' burner account?

 

[MoeBartoli]

Well that is really a no brainer that Laine should play with them. Atkinson and Roslo aren’t ideal linemates for the kind of player Laine is. He needs to play with players that are preferably good puck retrievers, but even more they need to have some skills with passing the puck at full speed and being able to make quick and accurate passes.

Laine’s weakness is still his skating acceleration, which means that he needs to get the puck to his full speed (which is in fact pretty darn good, although he doesn’t get there very quickly) when playing 5 on 5 hockey. Atkinson and Roslo aren’t very good at distributing him the puck quickly and accurately in those situations. And anyway Atkinson is pretty much a shoot first type of player and Roslo more a dangler than a passer.

Björkstrand seems like pretty much the ideal linemate for Laine as he can play both, as a shooter and as a playmaker when it’s needed. He is also good at puck retrieving. Foligno also seems like a good fit with Laine, as Foligno is also a good puck retriever and good at battling in the corners and also causing havoc in front of the goal. He is also a bit underrated as a passer, and he can also in my opinion be able to do some nice setup plays for both Laine and Björkstrand. Doesn’t also hurt that he is a lot better at face-offs than Roslovic, but who wouldn’t be?

While I gave you a “like”, I wanted to specially say “excellent post”.

 

[karhukissa]

Laine's shooting % is 38 this season (highest in the league) while his xG is one of the lowest in the team. He came as advertised, he can just score goals out of nowhere.

If he could combine that all around game he played last season to this scoring efficiency, we're talking Ovechkin tier. But these are just what ifs, he is pretty much impossible player to predict.

 

[Bruce Granville]

Laine's shooting % is 38 this season (highest in the league) while his xG is one of the lowest in the team. He came as advertised, he can just score goals out of nowhere.

If he could combine that all around game he played last season to this scoring efficiency, we're talking Ovechkin tier. But these are just what ifs, he is pretty much impossible player to predict.

Anderson-Dolan, Kiviranta, Zuccarello, Rask and Beaudin have a higher shooting % (multiple goals).
Somehow I think that Ovi had better C although he scored goals on his own, too.

 

[karhukissa]

Anderson-Dolan, Kiviranta, Zuccarello, Rask and Beaudin have a higher shooting % (multiple goals).
Somehow I think that Ovi had better C although he scored goals on his own, too.

Yes i forgot to add that best % out of all players with 20 or more shots.

Yes there's a slight difference between Bäckström and current CBJ centers.

 

[QnebO]

He needs playdrivers on his line at 5v5 to be successful in that situation. Looking at the Jackets roster... Foligno and Bjorkstrand are probably the best at the skill... he could benefit from playing with them. Playing him with Domi as his C is going to be an absolute shit show. Hopefully Torts doesn't stick with that line combo that he tried at the end of last game.

PP needs to be re-examined... he is only shooting ~6 shots/60 on the PP since being traded whereas on the Jets he was able to get ~17 shots/60 off. That is one situation where his impact is without caveats and something should be done to fix that.

The problem is its harder to get the play set in Columbus. Many times whole minutes goes to waste. When they get it settled its good. Seth jones is better passer than any D in the Jets was. Its so many times right in the wheelhouse. Right. In. The. Wheelhouse. Buff and others always gave pass, but almost never on the sweet spot basically. Usually on the back skate. Hes 1timers have been all those AAA shots, thanks to seth jones.

Edit: So jones gives great quality passes from the D spot, but I gotta honorable mention Blake Wheeler on the other half wall, I dont think cam atkinson / domi / tex are quite as good threading the needle as Blake. Blake had alot of wheelhouse passes for Laine, trough the box.

 

[majormajor]

Two things I'd like to see with Laine:

1. Keep him out there for the ENTIRE powerplay (i.e. both units!) similar to how the Caps deploy Ovechkin. When you have a lethal (I'm too old for this shit!) weapon like this you don't fire it 50% of the time.

2. I know we have to run with what we have at the moment but my god do we need someone who can win an offensive zone faceoff. On the rare occasion we have been able to win a draw to Jones who then finds Laine for the one-timer it's been hockey utopia! This has to be a top priority this offseason.

Agreed, I'm not really seeing the reason for not playing Laine the full two minutes on the PP.

I don't think he'd be too tired to play those two minutes. He might have to miss a 5v5 shift but with Laine that's a fine tradeoff.

The problem is its harder to get the play set in Columbus. Many times whole minutes goes to waste. When they get it settled its good. Seth jones is better passer than any D in the Jets was. Its so many times right in the wheelhouse. Right. In. The. Wheelhouse. Buff and others always gave pass, but almost never on the sweet spot basically. Usually on the back skate. Hes 1timers have been all those AAA shots, thanks to seth jones.

Edit: So jones gives great quality passes from the D spot, but I gotta honorable mention Blake Wheeler on the other half wall, I dont think cam atkinson / domi / tex are quite as good threading the needle as Blake. Blake had alot of wheelhouse passes for Laine, trough the box.

So far the PP has been amazingly efficient once they get set up.

The entries are beyond terrible right now, but that should regress upward. The CBJ PP has been terrible for four years but the problem wasn't usually the entries. Last year they had better entries and just failed to properly move the puck once they got set up.

I agree that Blake Wheeler is a pretty special passer. I don't think anyone can do what he does in Columbus but I expect some of these guys to be good enough. Laine can do a lot with an average pass.

 

[VT]

I keep thinking that if Torts could put so much emphasis on Laine with Roslovic and Atkinson, why not try Patrick with Domi at least once or twice. Of course, not with Atkinson on the Wing who has no chemistry with Domi, or Texier, who, although he's fast and technical, still needs more time to be 100% the center. On the wing, maybe he should try Jenner, Boone is not a classic grinder, he has a good hockey IQ. Moreover, in case of problems, he can also play on the center/face-offs.

Also I don't understand why in the first PP from 5 players there are 4 with the right shot, with the left only Foligno who plays in front of the goal. Cam also lacks the skill of passing and two right-handed shooters... . On the contrary, in the second PP only Bjorkstrand has right shot.

 

[majormajor]

I keep thinking that if Torts could put so much emphasis on Laine with Roslovic and Atkinson, why not try Patrick with Domi at least once or twice. Of course, not with Atkinson on the Wing who has no chemistry with Domi, or Texier, who, although he's fast and technical, still needs more time to be 100% the center. On the wing, maybe he should try Jenner, Boone is not a classic grinder, he has a good hockey IQ. Moreover, in case of problems, he can also play on the center/face-offs.

Also I don't understand why in the first PP from 5 players there are 4 with the right shot, with the left only Foligno who plays in front of the goal. Cam also lacks the skill of passing and two right-handed shooters... . On the contrary, in the second PP only Bjorkstrand has right shot.

I think you are overemphasizing matters of chemistry. When someone has struggled to the degree Domi has, it isn't a linemate issue. Besides, he has spent most of the recent weeks playing with Bjorkstrand, and that line more often scored without Domi than with him. Domi might have played his best game last game, if he is going to be ready to center the top unit then he'll show us by continuing to play better. There is no need to juggle the lines until he fits.


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PP units having alot of guys with the same handedness is actually a big plus. If you have an elite shooter on the halfwall (think Ovechkin, Laine, McDavid, Draisaitl) then it helps to have guys in the bumper who can also threaten one-timers with the same handedness, and you want the pointman to be the same handedness too so they can tee him up quicker.

We're currently

-------L
R-----R -----R
-------R

That's the exact same as the old Jets PP with Buff, Wheeler, Scheif, Laine, and Connor, Connor being the netfront guy and the only left-shot. The right halfwall could be any handedness really as long as they can pass and shoot from that spot. So far Cam has done well in that job.

The Caps have Carlson as QB and Oshie as the bumper shooter, all the same handedness as Ovi.

The Oilers have actually found that left-shot Nurse, even though he isn't as skilled a point-man as Barrie, has done a better job at teeing up McDavid and Draisaitl. It's just quicker because he's a left-shot like they are.

 

[VT]

I think you are overemphasizing matters of chemistry. When someone has struggled to the degree Domi has, it isn't a linemate issue. Besides, he has spent most of the recent weeks playing with Bjorkstrand, and that line more often scored without Domi than with him. Domi might have played his best game last game, if he is going to be ready to center the top unit then he'll show us by continuing to play better. There is no need to juggle the lines until he fits.

All the players in the link are important. A clear example of the link Texier with Domi and Bemstrom on the wings in the last match. They played great. But with Laine instead of Bemstrom Tex played bad. As for Bjorkstrand himself, if you mean the Domi - Stenlund - Bjorkstrand line, then a player like Domi is not very close to Stenlund in the center, but rather Grigorenko.

PP units having alot of guys with the same handedness is actually a big plus. If you have an elite shooter on the halfwall (think Ovechkin, Laine, McDavid, Draisaitl) then it helps to have guys in the bumper who can also threaten one-timers with the same handedness, and you want the pointman to be the same handedness too so they can tee him up quicker.

We're currently

-------L
R-----R -----R
-------R

That's the exact same as the old Jets PP with Buff, Wheeler, Scheif, Laine, and Connor, Connor being the netfront guy and the only left-shot. The right halfwall could be any handedness really as long as they can pass and shoot from that spot. So far Cam has done well in that job.

The Caps have Carlson as QB and Oshie as the bumper shooter, all the same handedness as Ovi.

The Oilers have actually found that left-shot Nurse, even though he isn't as skilled a point-man as Barrie, has done a better job at teeing up McDavid and Draisaitl. It's just quicker because he's a left-shot like they are.

There are a few nuances here, the first one is that we are talking about Columbus. The second, Atkinson who played with Laine, hasn`t an ideal one-timer. It`s a pity Domi seems to have lost confidence or whatever, he would have been perfect. Of course nothing against Jones and Roslovic. Especially the first is ideal for Patrik thanks to his right shot too.