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

[VT]

I think I saw Torts say in an interview that he just let's Panarin do his thing since it was working, so I doubt there was much coaching there. St Louis and Vinny though, I agree. But that was a long time ago.

A long time or not but it was.

Every player is different. It would be quite strange to make a power forward from Panarin whose strong point is creativity. On the contrary, Laine is a big player who does not use his skills, which Torts is trying to change. Including the defense that Panarin had to know.

 

[VT]

This is the first time they've tried having a bottom-six center play center with Laine. And in that game and a half Laine has looked fine. He had like 10 shot attempts last game.

Prior to that they were playing middle six wingers in that spot.

Make the center from Laine.

 

[mattihp]

A long time or not but it was.

Every player is different. It would be quite strange to make a power forward from Panarin whose strong point is creativity. On the contrary, Laine is a big player who does not use his skills, which Torts is trying to change. Including the defense that Panarin had to know.

So true. So much with Patrik isn't working. Going the power route makes so much more sense than the two-way thing Maurice tried.

 

[VT]

So true. So much with Patrik isn't working. Going the power route makes so much more sense than the two-way thing Maurice tried.

Not quite. Torts does not want to do from Patrick the grinder, but to make more use of his body, at the board, carry the puck, forchecking .... He also wants him to move his legs more, he doesn't brake unnecessarily. And of course, he can defend. Of course, no one expects him to defend like Boone Jenner. But that doesn't mean he'll suppress his attack skill, on the contrary. This is what will help him create a chances not only for himself, but also for his partners.

 

[Forepar]

Also, if Laine is the “icing” and we don’t have the cake. Then what was PLD?

He certainly wasn’t the cake. Although he was a play driver I don’t necessarily thing he was elite at it. He’s better than Laine at that. But Laine is better at everything else offensively. Defensively dubois is better but I wouldn’t say it’s by large margins. So they’re both the icing? If that’s the case then we didn’t lose anything, we just have the same problem of having no cake.

People are writing off Laine too early and making career/earnings projections based off of that. Maybe too much was expected of him due to the Finnish Fanhood he brought, but I think he’s a damn good player and mighty fine “icing”. Someone we need to keep around

A. PLD was different player for CBJ. I think he was more cake than icing. And he was projecting to even better until he decided to demand out of Columbus.
B. For me, not writing off Laine. But we do need to find at least 2 legitimate NHL centers to improve the team and improve Laine's contribution to the team.
C. Unfortunately, the need for two C's requires either a complete re-build (i.e. tank, which is not in my vocabulary) or exchanging assets for C's. We don't have much in draft choice assets to offer, so its the old addage "gotta give to get." Do we give Z, Jones, Laine, one of the G's, to get one of the C's? Or do we wait for ??? what??? Barkov as a FA next year? etc... I am not proposing that we trade Laine - if we get some strength at C, we still need a Laine to bury the puck. But it may be that Laine is the ticket to the C that replaces PLD - which is what the team overall needs more than Laine. If we can get it with one of the stud D and you'd rather go that direction, I understand. Personally I'd trade Laine before Jones or Z, but not because of any negative thoughts toward Laine, just that I personally prefer to build from the net, the D and then the C. If JK can find a way to keep all of the above and find two C's, I'm all for keeping Laine and paying for his goal production. But the current roster, imo, does not have the C's necessary to win in the NHL.

 

[stonec]

So true. So much with Patrik isn't working. Going the power route makes so much more sense than the two-way thing Maurice tried.

First of all Maurice wanted to make Laine a power forward, it was discussed a lot both in 2018 and 2019, read more e.g. here. This has already been tried for two years. The difference is, in Winnipeg he at least had some centers to rely on. Now it seems Torts wants Laine to do literally everything by himself. If that's the target, some part of his game will unavoidably take a hit and now it looks like goal scoring is going down.

I can't remember Ovechkin, Selänne or other goal scorers suddenly getting the message from their coach to change their entire game. The NHL is full of power forwards, it's not something you pay 7 million for a player to do.

 

[Forepar]

Faceoffs are overrated, fwiw.

Generally, agree with your comment. Difference between weak 45% and standard 50% given the sample size for Roslovic would be 9 possessions.

But disagree with your comment as to Roslovic; 57-130 on the dot is atrociously bad. Barely 30%. Difference between Roslovic and 50% standard is roughly -36 possessions. That's the equivalent of 36 turnovers in my mind (albeit not a turnover at the blueline). A little off the mark is ok. 30% is "JUST A BIT OUTSIDE!"

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

So Laine is now centered by a guy who has scored 0.18 points per game over the last three seasons. Laine was complaining about his centers in Winnipeg, all which are scoring multiple times higher than Nash. Somehow I cannot predict a very bright future for that line. I get that they are short on centers, but having third or fourth line players centering the first two lines, I find it no wonder they can't score. Anyway, can always bet on Torts losing his patience within a few games and coming up with new lines again.

If Laine is really good then Nash’s PPG will go up thanks to Patrik.

 

[Mogo]

Did he seriously get benched after the 4-3 goal? Panthers tv guy said he didnt get any ice time since but was on the bench or injured?

 

[6zag]

Did he seriously get benched after the 4-3 goal? Panthers tv guy said he didnt get any ice time since but was on the bench or injured?

He did. He played 2 minutes in 3rd.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[BullLund]

I think the roof just fell on top of Laine.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I have a feeling this thread is going to go over the threshold tonight.

Find Laine thread part 2 here.