Patrik Laine - Top-tier legend in the making?

[Ducks76]

We had the same discussion in the early season 17/18. I think Laine is a late bloomer during a season. He achieved his high stage as from December till may.

 

[alko]

But unfortunately, he doesn't have any individual trophy in NHL yet. Not even Team trophy. Comparing to Ovie he has a lot work in front of him.

 

[kelsier]

Boy is he overrated. He’s too damn slow. I mean, ok player, but without his shot, does he play in the NHL?

At his 18 year old season 36 goals and at the age 19 the kid pots 44 goals in the best league in the world. All in all in the teenage era adjusted goals Laine lands #1 in the history by a landslide. Yeah, definitely "overrated". This must be the #1 joke of a post I've read this month... no wait, this year? Thanks for the laughs pal.

 

[MarVell]

At his 18 year old season 36 goals and at the age 19 the kid pots 44 goals in the best league in the world. All in all in the teenage era adjusted goals Laine lands #1 in the history by a landslide. Yeah, definitely "overrated". This must be the #1 joke of a post I've read this month... no wait, this year? Thanks for the laughs pal.

You’re very welcome.

 

[EhlersChin]

Boy is he overrated. He’s too damn slow. I mean, ok player, but without his shot, does he play in the NHL?

Hes exactly where he was when he was drafted and where he was in the Calder voting. Second to AM34. Mathhews having the ability to drive a line and not heavily depend on others for personal success is really starting to show his class, thus widening the distance between the two. I wouldn't say hes overrated

 

[sr edler]

At his 18 year old season 36 goals and at the age 19 the kid pots 44 goals in the best league in the world.

It could also be he’s got the (physical) preconditions to do this specific thing at this specific age, so you probably shouldn’t be too over-confident in your guy, looking forward. Players can stagnate. Other players can grow. Game can change. Surroundings can change. A player with a relatively narrow tool-box can get lost.

There could still be room for a strong niche player though.

What I’ve seen from Laine in last years playoffs and now is too much standing still. He needs to find another clip so he can throw in a combo once in a while.

 

[kelsier]

It could also be he’s got the (physical) preconditions to do this specific thing at this specific age, so you probably shouldn’t be too over-confident in your guy, looking forward. Players can stagnate. Other players can grow. Game can change. Surroundings can change. A player with a relatively narrow tool-box can get lost.

There could still be room for a strong niche player though.

What I’ve seen from Laine in last years playoffs and now is too much standing still. He needs to find another clip so he can throw in a combo once in a while.

I'm used to having this discussion pretty much every season and watch people take cheap shots at him just to go mute later on when Laine gets his game together. The man always gets around his dry spells one way or another and silences the 'not so friendly' audience.

As far as him having physical preconditions go, he certainly has never been a freak of nature despite of being taller than most of his peers. Physique definitely wasn't his strong suit going back to 16-17 or 17-18 and if you're suggesting that Laine was able to have the early success because of his build then you're off the trails pretty bad here. He didn't score 36 goals in the rookie year because he had a great shot. He scored those goals because he had the hockey IQ to overcome all the obstacles that where in the way of enabling the trigger. As far as stagnation go, well there where people saying he didn't only stagnate but took steps back in the development around the same time last year. Look how that turned out again.

His tendencies of having a slow or sluggish start is a trademark and usually by the midway of the season we're looking at a whole another player. My confidence in Laine hasn't shaken along the way and it certainly isn't shaking now, no matter the non-sparkling performance so far. It's only matter of time once he finds his game and confidence. With that said, looking long-term there'll be less roller coasting in terms of consistency and he's going to be more than just fine.

 

[sr edler]

I'm used to having this discussion pretty much every season and watch people take cheap shots at him just to go mute later on when Laine gets his game together. The man always gets around his dry spells one way or another and silences the 'not so friendly' audience.

As far as him having physical preconditions go, he certainly has never been a freak of nature despite of being taller than most of his peers. Physique definitely wasn't his strong suit going back to 16-17 or 17-18 and if you're suggesting that Laine was able to have the early success because of his build then you're off the trails pretty bad here. He didn't score 36 goals in the rookie year because he had a great shot. He scored those goals because he had the hockey IQ to overcome all the obstacles that where in the way of enabling the trigger. As far as stagnation go, well there where people saying he didn't only stagnate but took steps back in the development around the same time last year. Look how that turned out again.

His tendencies of having a slow or sluggish start is a trademark and usually by the midway of the season we're looking at a whole another player. My confidence in Laine hasn't shaken along the way and it certainly isn't shaking now, no matter the non-sparkling performance so far. It's only matter of time once he finds his game and confidence. With that said, looking long-term there'll be less roller coasting in terms of consistency and he's going to be more than just fine.

I'm not saying Laine can't be an effective player in his own right, I'm thinking more what kind of player is the final product. Is it a player driving the play, as the center of attention, or is it a complimentary piece potting shots here and there.

 

[kelsier]

I'm not saying Laine can't be an effective player in his own right, I'm thinking more what kind of player is the final product. Is it a player driving the play, as the center of attention, or is it a complimentary piece potting shots here and there.

He's not going to be in the passenger's seat from where I see it. Then again everyone has their own projections of him/other young guns which by all means is entirely fine. Bigger players tend to take longer to develop and Laine is no exception. All you have to do is use a bit of imagination and consider what a summer fully focusing on skating (and perhaps even taking figure skating lessons) can do for him. That's the one final obstacle that is holding him back at the moment. Once he gets some wind underneath, the rest will come naturally. Nonetheless, Laine has already proven to be an impact player and despite the career seasons being yet ahead, I'm certain he's in for another splash maybe sooner than some think.

 

[Ducks76]

He's not going to be in the passenger's seat from where I see it. Then again everyone has their own projections of him/other young guns which by all means is entirely fine. Bigger players tend to take longer to develop and Laine is no exception. All you have to do is use a bit of imagination and consider what a summer fully focusing on skating (and perhaps even taking figure skating lessons) can do for him. That's the one final obstacle that is holding him back at the moment. Once he gets some wind underneath, the rest will come naturally. Nonetheless, Laine has already proven to be an impact player and despite the career seasons being yet ahead, I'm certain he's in for another splash maybe sooner than some think.

But much people are comparing Laine with Ovechkin(Top-Tier Player/Legend). He(Ovi) don t need long time for developmend. He s strong from beginning till now. !

 

[kelsier]

But much people are comparing Laine with Ovechkin(Top-Tier Player/Legend). He(Ovi) don t need long time for developmend. He s strong from beginning till now. !

Ovy's a freak of nature and just like Lindros for instance, physically so gifted that he didn't have to face much if any growing pains nor developmental issues when entering the league. He didn't particularly care much about defending either in the early years, which of course then inflated his offensive numbers. Ovy used to be the first forward crossing the blue line, while Laine often the last. They have little in common and it's been said many times over. Goal scorers often get compared anyway, but at the end of the day it really has little relevance.

 

[elmaco]

Boy is he overrated. He’s too damn slow. I mean, ok player, but without his shot, does he play in the NHL?

Obvious jealousy, who cares when you score 80 goals as a teenager.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Laine The BPA is matching strides with the greatest fwd in the game.

 

[Keduzin]

Laine deserves so much more than the Jets coaching staff is providing him. The Jets can forget about signing him longterm regardless of the $ offered if he does not get the minutes he is worthy off. Keeping the present/future best scorer in the game playing those minutes compaired to his peers won’t be keeping him in Winnipeg for a long period of time, and without Laine the Jets are bombed pretty much back to stone age...
Patrik Laine is by far the most popular Jet player in the game, not maybe the best player on the team yet , but the centerpiece of their success.

Would be interesting to see how the Jets would do without having their #1 assett in the lineup. The powerplay would suffer the most but also the media coverage and the whole franchises credibility when people start questioning how the hell they managed to get rid of the most lethal goalscorer in the league.

I think the Jets (Maurice) have allready done massive damage to the chance of keeping Laine in the team for multiple years. He does not care if he makes 7 or 9 or 11 million, he wants to play for a team that has the chance to win the cup AND gives him the equal chance to achieve those personal achievements as his peers and breaking those records he is able to do , being that exceptional talent he is.

 

[JetsFan815]

Laine deserves so much more than the Jets coaching staff is providing him. The Jets can forget about signing him longterm regardless of the $ offered if he does not get the minutes he is worthy off. Keeping the present/future best scorer in the game playing those minutes compaired to his peers won’t be keeping him in Winnipeg for a long period of time, and without Laine the Jets are bombed pretty much back to stone age...
Patrik Laine is by far the most popular Jet player in the game, not maybe the best player on the team yet , but the centerpiece of their success.

Would be interesting to see how the Jets would do without having their #1 assett in the lineup. The powerplay would suffer the most but also the media coverage and the whole franchises credibility when people start questioning how the hell they managed to get rid of the most lethal goalscorer in the league.

I think the Jets (Maurice) have allready done massive damage to the chance of keeping Laine in the team for multiple years. He does not care if he makes 7 or 9 or 11 million, he wants to play for a team that has the chance to win the cup AND gives him the equal chance to achieve those personal achievements as his peers and breaking those records he is able to do , being that exceptional talent he is.

It sucks for those who spent tons of time on these boards arguing how superior he was to Matthews, made 80 goals 120 points predictions and are now embarrassed when their ludicrous predictions turned out to be widely wrong who know feel the need to blame all of that on icetime, the coach or his C.

Also good to hear that you read Laine's mind. Weren't you the same poster who spent half the summer arguing on the Jets board that skating in the offseason was detrimental to a player's game and it was best Laine avoided that? And that Rautala had some kind of masterplan with his training program for Laine and all would be revealed once the season started? Looks like you were widely wrong again on that as Laine struggled to start the season again and took him more than 6 weeks into the season to start looking like the player he can be.

 

[Keduzin]

It sucks for those who spent tons of time on these boards arguing how superior he was to Matthews, made 80 goals 120 points predictions and are now embarrassed when their ludicrous predictions turned out to be widely wrong who know feel the need to blame all of that on icetime, the coach or his C.

Also good to hear that you read Laine's mind. Weren't you the same poster who spent half the summer arguing on the Jets board that skating in the offseason was detrimental to a player's game and it was best Laine avoided that? And that Rautala had some kind of masterplan with his training program for Laine and all would be revealed once the season started? Looks like you were widely wrong again on that as Laine struggled to start the season again and took him more than 6 weeks into the season to start looking like the player he can be.

LoL !

At no point have I claimed that Laine would be superior to Matthews or made predictions about 80 goals or so and at no point have I said that skating in the offseason was detrimental to his game.
Instead of just making things up from your own head tryfor once to understand that the only thing about Laine’s offseason training I have been claiming is that it is a multiyear plan that has been put up by Rautala and Laine. The only aim is to make him as good as possible when he hits his peak. All this has been done with the cost of not spending that much time skating or practising other areas of his game, Laine was far behind the other guys physically when he started the program. The draft year summer he went through a knee operation and the sumner after that the main focus was on building up his upperbody strength. All this done with the blessing of the Jets staff and they have praised the results.
This summer he focused on explosiveness and lower body strength and stam8na and that included also a bit of skating training. The next summer the focus will once again be on something else and most likely will allow even more skating practice.
The results have been great so far and we , the onces you call Laine fans, have been asking for patience while being confident that he is on the right track.

So no, I have definitely not been wrong at any point during these Laine discussions.

And you th8nking he should practice with Gary Roberts ???
Hahahaha ! That will never ever happen
1. Rautalas program has been great for the development of Laine and the others, say for exapmle Rantanen who is 1st in the league by both points and assists at the moment

2. Unless mr Roberts moves to Finland for the summer Laine won’t be doing any practice with him during the summer. You seem to forget about the fact that as soon as the season ends Laine will take the first available flight out of Winnipeg to return home, Tampere, Finland and catch up with friends and family. THAT is his home, not Winnipeg or any other NA city

Laine did not exactly choose to play in Winnipeg, that being said it does not meen he does not like the city, he seems to. But as years go by Laine starts to have more leverage and influence to choose where he wants to spend and play his peakseasons.
My wild guess is he will sign a shortterm deal with the Jets , win the cup , and after that sign a longterm deal with some other team

 

[Psych0dad]

A player with a relatively narrow tool-box can get lost.

Yeah but it doesn't belong in a discussion about Laine because he has a tool shed.

 

[Psych0dad]

The same Laine who was flattened in the Calder voting by one of the biggest landslides in recent memory? Yea hes just like Gretz bud lol. 99 first 3 seasons he never had less then 130pts, his 3rd season (same season 2nd place pate is in) 99 had over 200pts. Another great comparison from you, keep your tired online personality on the mains kid, it's not needed here.

Well neither is this salty and sour, short sighted commentary.

 

[Psych0dad]

That 19 g in 22 games is starting to look like what the thread title is asking for. What some of us have been predicting from the start.

It's amazing to watch how effortless scoring is for Laine when there's that one player in the line who can read him. As long as that continues he will score at an unreal pace. It will be fun to watch.

 

[kelsier]

The same Laine who was flattened in the Calder voting by one of the biggest landslides in recent memory? Yea hes just like Gretz bud lol. 99 first 3 seasons he never had less then 130pts, his 3rd season (same season 2nd place pate is in) 99 had over 200pts. Another great comparison from you, keep your tired online personality on the mains kid, it's not needed here.

Well well, that's one salty chin.

Must have been a painful morning waking up and browsing to www.nhl.com? It might not be best self-preservation keeping a tab on him, cause there might be more to follow.

And going back to Calder results after two years? Seriously? Haha! The laughs for the day. Oh and for the record even I had not voted for Laine cause players who get injured and miss games, and thus do not end up first in the goal scoring or in the total points for rookies should not be declared as Calder winners. Injuries happen and sometimes at the time you least want'em to. Anyway good luck with the "cause" or should I say crusade.

 

[kelsier]

Laine did not exactly choose to play in Winnipeg, that being said it does not meen he does not like the city, he seems to. But as years go by Laine starts to have more leverage and influence to choose where he wants to spend and play his peakseasons.
My wild guess is he will sign a shortterm deal with the Jets , win the cup , and after that sign a longterm deal with some other team

I don't think he wants to settle for secondary roles, which has been what he's been given so far. Then there are the people from the inner circle that want him elsewhere. Got to hand it to him though, keeping calm and straight face with no public breakouts throughout the up and downs (unlike some certain other young talents elsewhere), despite of not being used to his fullest ability. That takes a lot of character.

I don't think he's going to sign a bridge deal, cause that could be a huge risk moving forward. Imagine if he had lets say 2-3 concussions in the next 2 years. That could threaten his entire career and lower his worth, you just never know what tomorrow brings. For someone who's not yet made even a fraction of his future earnings, that would be a huge risk. I don't think NHLPA will look kindly either if he takes a discount and sets an example. Laine is going to get paid no matter by who and the deal will most likely have 8 figures.

Anyway the way I see it, this is the year the Jets will start playing him like the superstar that he is or they keep up with the rather transparent secondary usage in order to keep his next contract bearable and risk alienating him altogether. He played it smart by not signing too early and I'm so glad he trusted himself enough not to jump at the first offer and keep the options open. Aside from that, there's no doubt in my mind he wants some personal hardware along with the team success. One doesn't exclude the other.

 

[torniojaws]

He had a hat-trick of hat-tricks as a hat-trick

3+ goals in 3 games in the same month, in 3 different countries. And of course, against 3 different teams. I wonder if he used 3 different sticks?

 

[kelsier]

Damn refreshing seeing him finally get out of that black hole vacuum of Little. He's been scoring ever since and actually looked like the good old Laine. Still strange how they first tried to get his value down for a cheap signing and now all of the sudden let him play with his strengths do what his good at. I guess the purpose could be one of the two: i) trying to make him feel comfortable to sign the next contract ii) trade him for king's ransom (there's some speculation and that tweet from Brian Lawton). Interesting times.

*Didn't even realize the trade deadline had passed so maybe there was nothing to it. It's better that Laine gets to play the playoffs before anything happens anyway.*

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Damn refreshing seeing him finally get out of that black hole vacuum of Little. He's been scoring ever since and actually looked like the good old Laine. Still strange how they first tried to get his value down for a cheap signing and now all of the sudden let him play with his strengths do what his good at. I guess the purpose could be one of the two: i) trying to make him feel comfortable to sign the next contract ii) trade him for king's ransom (there's some speculation and that tweet from Brian Lawton). Interesting times.

*Didn't even realize the trade deadline had passed so maybe there was nothing to it. It's better that Laine gets to play the playoffs before anything happens anyway.*

Liked the Laine pass here, pretty unselfish to get Wheeler the hattrick.

 

[kelsier]

Liked the Laine pass here, pretty unselfish to get Wheeler the hattrick.

Yeah he had another one of those passes in the first minute of the game, sending Scheifele on partial breakaway but he tossed it. His passing skills are so underrated, but at the same time so transparent when you spend even a few minutes watching him on the powerplay. Laine can just beam the puck to Wheeler through all the sticks and traffic with almost laser sharp accuracy (sometimes even while using the back-hand).

By the way they are still containing him despite of finally giving him minutes. He was replaced by Copp (I think) immediately after that goal cause CBJ pulled the goalie. The game before that they pulled him out too similarly against the Preds (and replaced him with Hayes). Each scored goal could potentially add some extra $ on the next contract. Meanwhile when Connor was still in the first line, he played there until the very end, despite of not being exact prototype of a two-way player and the Jets having far more capable defensive end players in the lineup.

Anyway as long as he's not playing with you know who and getting some quality minutes, things are looking good and naturally the results will follow. Feels almost strange seeing him on the ice this much (18+ min/game), almost like watching another team entirely.