Player Discussion: Patrik Laine - Part 20'ish or so

[Halberdier]

In a Finnish interview Laine says he likes it in Winnipeg and says it's his home, and obviously he wants a contract with the Jets. He expects contract negotiations to be quite hard though.

I am hoping that the Jets gets rid of Maurice and that Laine's dream of playing long and succesful career with the Jets is fulfilled.

Looking the last two seasons it's clear that that kind of usage of Laine is detrimental to everybody but catastrophic for his develpment and career.

 

[ijuka]

Sitting around playing fortnite isn't great for one's back anyway, but this is especially the case if one is suffering from back issues, which he clearly was. It only makes it worse. Imagine if he spent some hours every day on yoga or light exercise instead, the back pain would likely be nonexistent. So frustrating reading about this stuff by him.

On the contract negotiations, the Finnish interview had Laine saying something along the lines of him not being entirely sure how long of a summer he'd have, which as I was reading it seemed to implicate that Laine might expect there to be a chance that he'll hold out into the fall. Sort of like Nylander, I imagine.

 

[Whileee]

I'm sure there is some meaning lost in translation, but I'm not enthusiastic about Laine's approach to the summer. He doesn't sound like a player fired up about working hard to improve and coming back ready to have a huge season.

 

[jetsforever]

On the contract negotiations, the Finnish interview had Laine saying something along the lines of him not being entirely sure how long of a summer he'd have, which as I was reading it seemed to implicate that Laine might expect there to be a chance that he'll hold out into the fall. Sort of like Nylander, I imagine.

I didn't see the interview, but maybe he meant his vacation time before starting conditioning again.

 

[NotCommitted]

I didn't see the interview, but maybe he meant his vacation time before starting conditioning again.

No, he implied there is a possibility he might not get the call to play right away - in other words a "contract situation". But it was nothing more than just that, acknowledging a possibilty.

This is not directed at you, but on a general note... FFS, for once there is a player who is outspoken and direct and doesn't spew out the same old tired mumbojumbo and machine like standard answers, and everyone is overanalyzing every bit he says and reading all sorts of "problems" into any bit of information he decides to share. Like he just got back to Finland, it's been less than 2 weeks since his last game and people question his motivation because he wants to just rest a bit and catch up with friends before he starts training? Come on.

Btw even this season, there was a total of 4 guys who scored 30+ goals with less icetime than Laine. And that's with increased scoring leaguewide. Really puts some perspective into the 44 goals he scored last season, in a league with less scoring, playing very similar icetime to this year. I guess those stats do flatter Laine a bit because he still sees a lot of PP time, probably more than most guys playing 17-18 minutes a night, but still, I really think the expectations and usage don't mix. The expectations placed on his goal scoring are completely nonsensical taking into account the way he is used, even with the PP time and all. I mean seeing 23rd most PP TOI/GP in the league (of all skaters) and 113th most total TOI/GP (out of all forwards), I guess being top-10 in PP goals and top-40 overall doesn't seem that catastrophic. I'm not saying he had a good season, especially by his standards, far from it, but sometimes I feel reading this board that a lot of fans see him as somekind of a tirefire of a player.

 

[Halberdier]

I'm sure there is some meaning lost in translation, but I'm not enthusiastic about Laine's approach to the summer. He doesn't sound like a player fired up about working hard to improve and coming back ready to have a huge season.

I got that his approach was to first have a bit of holiday, and then start working hard again.

The long summer talk is about contract negotiations. Not about having a long vacation doing nothing.

 

[Farmboy Patty]

He seems to bust all these models though. He was pretty bad this past year but I think he had a very strong GAR impact last year.

He is not your cookie cutter hockey player, that’s for sure.

 

[abax44]

They all generally take time off before getting back after it. Even if he takes all of May off it still leaves him what... 4 months to work out before camp. I think he'll be fine (if he so chooses).

 

[Howard Chuck]

I'd be surprised if the 2 sides are already talking -
What could be a concern is that Laine is "assuming" if might be a long summer before the talks have begun.
Maybe he thinks he's about to be low balled based on his so so year.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Jets Org will be careful with this one - they are not going to throw money at him.
And that's a good thing IMO.

He isn't assuming it will be long, just saying that it could be long if negotiations go long. I think that's a safe statement for anyone to make.

"The summer vacation can also be long, we'll see when the call to NHL finally comes."

I agree with you that the Jets/Laine's agent will hammer out the best deal for all involved.

 

[PhilJets]

Almost all players take 4 to 6 weeks off.


Laine will play fortnite.
Some will go to vegas and gamble away.
Some will go round the world.
Some will go to their cottage and drink away.
Some will spend time with their families.

 

[Howard Chuck]

I didn't see the interview, but maybe he meant his vacation time before starting conditioning again.

Pretty sure this is what he meant. He should just say all the cliche things that every other player says so that people don't have a chance to argue over every word or inflection.

 

[BB88]

Bridging Laine would be a bad idea. Sign him long term now.

The billion dollar question though is how do you sign him longterm? To a contract that isn't incredible risky and betting on major development.

 

[Whileee]

Almost all players take 4 to 6 weeks off.


Laine will play fortnite.
Some will go to vegas and gamble away.
Some will go round the world.
Some will go to their cottage and drink away.
Some will spend time with their families.

Ehlers said he'll take a couple of weeks off and then get busy with his off-season training to come back stronger and better.

Rantanen has said that he usually only takes 2-3 weeks off before starting his off-season training.

I'm okay with Laine taking a few weeks off, but he certainly is sounding a bit lackadaisical about this off-season. I would be more optimistic if he sounded fired up to really push his training and conditioning to a higher level.

As I posted elsewhere, the Jets really can't afford to have a Nylander or Trouba situation in terms of a long hold-out because it plays havoc with this season's cap. As an example, Nylander's cap hit in year one was over $10M, because of his late signing. If Laine signs a big long-term deal after a hold out until late November, it could push the cap hit for next year into the $12 million or more, which would be very difficult for the Jets to manage next season. That's a good incentive for the Jets to get him signed before a substantial hold-out.

 

[Howard Chuck]

Almost all players take 4 to 6 weeks off.


Laine will play fortnite.
Some will go to vegas and gamble away.
Some will go round the world.
Some will go to their cottage and drink away.
Some will spend time with their families.

Strangely, not a single Jet is posting anything on social media about how their offseason training is going so far?

But it's probably just Patrik that should be living at the gym already.

 

[PhilJets]

Ehlers said he'll take a couple of weeks off and then get busy with his off-season training to come back stronger and better.

Rantanen has said that he usually only takes 2-3 weeks off before starting his off-season training.

I'm okay with Laine taking a few weeks off, but he certainly is sounding a bit lackadaisical about this off-season. I would be more optimistic if he sounded fired up to really push his training and conditioning to a higher level.

As I posted elsewhere, the Jets really can't afford to have a Nylander or Trouba situation in terms of a long hold-out because it plays havoc with this season's cap. As an example, Nylander's cap hit in year one was over $10M, because of his late signing. If Laine signs a big long-term deal after a hold out until late November, it could push the cap hit for next year into the $12 million or more, which would be very difficult for the Jets to manage next season. That's a good incentive for the Jets to get him signed before a substantial hold-out.

I dont think Ehlers should be training with the injury that he suffered.

He should be resting .

Doesnt help getting better getting 2 extr 2 weeks training with 1st game 4 montha away


He needs to heal.

 

[MardyBum]

Almost all players take 4 to 6 weeks off.


Laine will play fortnite.
Some will go to vegas and gamble away.
Some will go round the world.
Some will go to their cottage and drink away.
Some will spend time with their families.

The guy plays video games. Oh the humanity.

He should start drinking and gambling like good ol hockey boys.

 

[Howard Chuck]

The guy plays video games. Oh the humanity.

He should start drinking and gambling like good ol hockey boys.

... and I hope no Jets are watching movies or reading books!

 

[Pongs21]

No concerns about his statements and more relived about him stating he wants to remain in WPG and that he likes it there.

 

[Deedog99]

He isn't assuming it will be long, just saying that it could be long if negotiations go long. I think that's a safe statement for anyone to make.

"The summer vacation can also be long, we'll see when the call to NHL finally comes."

I agree with you that the Jets/Laine's agent will hammer out the best deal for all involved.

I read it that he's not gonna start training until he has a contract signed.

 

[Howard Chuck]

I read it that he's not gonna start training until he has a contract signed.

I think you missed an emoji.

 

[scelaton]

The billion dollar question though is how do you sign him longterm? To a contract that isn't incredible risky and betting on major development.

I agree, and your number may be off not much more than one decimal point from what his agent is asking.
No one can predict his future but I see more red flags than I did a year ago. So, as I have said before:
1)If he is willing to sign for 8x8.5 sign him ASAP--probability of that is low
2)If you can't get a reasonable LT deal, bridge him
3)If there are GMs around the league who are certain he is a superstar in the making and are willing to give a commensurate return in trade, go for it.

 

[TheGovernment]

You guys are worse than a bunch of old ladys gossiping at the local coffee shop. My god.

 

[BB88]

I agree, and your number may be off not much more than one decimal point from what his agent is asking.
No one can predict his future but I see more red flags than I did a year ago. So, as I have said before:
1)If he is willing to sign for 8x8.5 sign him ASAP--probability of that is low
2)If you can't get a reasonable LT deal, bridge him
3)If there are GMs around the league who are certain he is a superstar in the making and are willing to give a commensurate return in trade, go for it.

& the problem is that he wasn't even a 8.5M player last year, not close.
So even get to that number he needs to develop but if possible you should sign him.

So if he demands something like 10M how on earth do you give it to him?

 

[Howard Chuck]

I remember when we were so happy to get Laine. Then blown away by his first and second seasons as an 18 and 19 year old.

Now he's just a 20 (21 now) year old has been. Probably will never amount to much. Doesn't train, doesn't care about playing, lazy, game playing waste of cap space.

of course.

 

[DRW204]

I remember when we were so happy to get Laine. Then blown away by his first and second seasons as an 18 and 19 year old.

Now he's just a 20 (21 now) year old has been. Probably will never amount to much. Doesn't train, doesn't care about playing, lazy, game playing waste of cap space.

of course.

what net improvements has he shown since then? abysmal at 5v5, overall production is down, i'll concede physicality but what else? i don't think he's a better stick handler or passer and he looked faster in previous years too. He had more shots, shot attempts and higher Ozone starts this season than his previous 3, was in the top 6/pp1 so it's not like his usage drastically changed.