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.