Player Discussion: Patrik Laine

[19GoalsInPlayoffs]

I also dislike how Maurice told Laine to prepare for more minutes and never owned up to it.

Still, Laine can't expect to get more minutes before he shows he deserves them. So far he hasn't.

This bolded is something I don’t understand in these discussions. Did you watch the first game of this season? Did you watch the last season?

In the first game of this season there was playing a young player coming from a 44 goal season, second in the league, putting up one goal and an assist. Looking faster and even better than last year. And he was getting low TOI in the 2nd line (or in 3rd by minutes?). Well, you might say it was just the first game after all... So what were the consequences? Get him even lower TOI.

I am not saying that he is at the moment playing so great that you should ”promote” him. And I am not saying he is perfect. I am saying he never should have been in a situation after the first two seasons still needing to deserve the ”promotion”.

I am really wondering what would you say he should have done to ”deserve” the 1st line minutes. Score 50 goals last year? 60? 77? Pass Gretzkys record? As he is first and foremost a goal scorer. Not a f***ing Toews. You should measure his effort by his scoring numbers. And there are teams dreaming of having that kind of talent in their rosters.

Or are you saying the first two almost record breaking teenage seasons were not enough to ”deserve” anything, and he should have proven himself in the first game by what? Hatrick with 15 minutes of TOI? Five goals? Look like McDavid? What?

 

[MrBoJangelz71]

First of all, Laine had one game where he was "Mr stick wave guy", and he corrected that for the next game. He's had more good games than bad. It's just the new meta here to invent these attitude problems because of some sentence in a newspaper. Pretty much BS this whole thing. The fact that he looks frustrated out there is because of the situation I described. You can pretend not to understand that, but I couldn't care less.

The lies I'm referring to is to tell him to expect more ice time.

Yeah, our bottom six is playing well, every player is different in what they can bring to the table. Laine could bring a lot to the table but we just don't give a ****. We put him into a stupid line and then wonder like idiots where the problem is.

I could understand better if CSW was some kind of good line, but they are not. The situation is beyond stupid.

Not sure who is wondering here?

Most understand that when Laine plays better, his line does better, when Laine does not play better, his line does not do better.

Your narrative seems exclusive towards exonerating Laine from any responsibility, which weakens it to meaningless.

Laine is the talent that when playing to its full potential makes everyone around him better, not the talent that requires others to make him better.

And fyi, Laine’s frustration is completely towards his own play. If you fashion the kid to be a finger pointing baby, you have zero understanding of what type of character he is.

 

[Plural]

This bolded is something I don’t understand in these discussions. Did you watch the first game of this season? Did you watch the last season?

In the first game of this season there was playing a young player coming from a 44 goal season, second in the league, putting up one goal and an assist. Looking faster and even better than last year. And he was getting low TOI in the 2nd line (or in 3rd by minutes?). Well, you might say it was just the first game after all... So what were the consequences? Get him even lower TOI.

I am not saying that he is at the moment playing so great that you should ”promote” him. And I am not saying he is perfect. I am saying he never should have been in a situation after the first two seasons still needing to deserve the ”promotion”.

I am really wondering what would you say he should have done to ”deserve” the 1st line minutes. Score 50 goals last year? 60? 77? Pass Gretzkys record? As he is first and foremost a goal scorer. Not a f***ing Toews. You should measure his effort by his scoring numbers. And there are teams dreaming of having that kind of talent in their rosters.

Or are you saying the first two almost record breaking teenage seasons were not enough to ”deserve” anything, and he should have proven himself in the first game by what? Hatrick with 15 minutes of TOI? Five goals? Look like McDavid? What?

I was talking exclusively this season. His first game was good. But he's also been disinterested and ineffective in other games. But I take a bit back from my statement. I think Laine has deserved some benefit of a doubt and I think he should be given at least half a dozen of consecutive games with 18+ minutes. If he keeps floating outside the game and has consistency issues then maybe his TOI needs to be taken down a bit. But I think he deserves a good chance for scoring 80 goals in his first two seasons.

 

[grieves]

Laine wouldn't be hitting 50 on that lineup anytime soon.

It would be constant crying about the linemates he has to play with and how the blueline has no one who could make a pass to him.



You realize that he should be playing for a garbage team but Jets got lucky and Laine got into a contender?



He is playing for a top contender !!!!!!

He's playing with top6 linemates all the time, with Scheifele/Wheeler on pp1.

....ng stop this crying.
You earn your icetime, 1st line plays too much but then again the 3rd line is better at their job than the 2nd line is at theirs.

Go look at the .... Barkov has had to play as a #1C in Florida at times, the garbage Bergeron has had on his Rw at times, the garbage Edmonton has to offer for Drai on the 2nd line.
Look at the .... he'd have to play with in Montreal, Detroit.

What does playing in a contender has anything to do with what I said? Your position is again so lazy, and it would take a lot to unpack. Just think about the situation for yourself and don't resort to these "simple truths" that have nothing to do with anything.

 

[Farmboy Patty]

Laine wouldn't be hitting 50 on that lineup anytime soon.

It would be constant crying about the linemates he has to play with and how the blueline has no one who could make a pass to him.



You realize that he should be playing for a garbage team but Jets got lucky and Laine got into a contender?



He is playing for a top contender !!!!!!

He's playing with top6 linemates all the time, with Scheifele/Wheeler on pp1.

....ng stop this crying.
You earn your icetime, 1st line plays too much but then again the 3rd line is better at their job than the 2nd line is at theirs.

Go look at the .... Barkov has had to play as a #1C in Florida at times, the garbage Bergeron has had on his Rw at times, the garbage Edmonton has to offer for Drai on the 2nd line.
Look at the .... he'd have to play with in Montreal, Detroit.

Top contender, flop contender...Nobody here is crying, except maybe you seem to get emotional on this topic.

Laine should be playing on the first line, it's as simple as that. He is no worse defensively than any other player on the 1st line, and would score like crazy with the increased TOI.

The Jets top two lines are pretty bad on ES. I bet that switching Laine with either Connor or Wheeler and distributing the ES TOI more evenly between the top 2 lines would instantly yield better results.

 

[grieves]

Not sure who is wondering here?

Most understand that when Laine plays better, his line does better, when Laine does not play better, his line does not do better.

Your narrative seems exclusive towards exonerating Laine from any responsibility, which weakens it to meaningless.

Laine is the talent that when playing to its full potential makes everyone around him better, not the talent that requires others to make him better.

And fyi, Laine’s frustration is completely towards his own play. If you fashion the kid to be a finger pointing baby, you have zero understanding of what type of character he is.

How am I excusing Laine? I always call him out when he is playing poorly. But if 1,6 seasons of ELL doesn't open your eyes, me explaining the situation to you is not going to help you see it any better. It's pretty obvious to most posters by now, if you look at how the conversation has shifted.

This is the typical straw-man that Laine needs to single-handedly make his line work. That's just not how hockey works. And if we don't realize that by now, then seriously...

 

[Duke749]

Wheeler could play center with Ehlers and Laine or right wing for Little and Ehlers. I’d just like to see the coach trying anything when the team isn’t playing well.

Wheeler is already not playing defense in the wing and cheating for offense. What the hell makes you think he’d be a good center between Ehlers and Laine. That would be a disaster. Swapping him and Laine I think would be the option that makes the most sense. There’s some risk but I think we gotta get Scheif and Wheels apart.

 

[Romang67]

Closed for the time being. Afaik, thread is still on HFJets.

 

[Romang67]

Opening it up again against my better judgment.

I have next to zero time to moderate this thread, so if it goes the way I expect, I'll just lock it again for the time being.

 

[Duke749]

Opening it up again against my better judgment.

I have next to zero time to moderate this thread, so if it goes the way I expect, I'll just lock it again for the time being.

I need a dislike button. Some Mods just wanna see the boards burn. Dam Thrashers fans.

 

[SLAYER]

Laine in a bit of a slump, he'll snap out.

It's not the coach's fault. It's not Bryan Little's fault. Laine needs to step up, and I fully expect that he will.

 

[Duke749]

Laine in a bit of a slump, he'll snap out.

It's not the coach's fault. It's not Bryan Little's fault. Laine needs to step up, and I fully expect that he will.

Puck just isn’t going in either. Could have a few more goals but his scoring is in a slump too.

 

[Ducky10]

Puck just isn’t going in either. Could have a few more goals but his scoring is in a slump too.

Beautiful shot to hit the crossbar last night, whatcha gonna do? Game of inches, that goes in it might have turned differently.

 

[Romang67]

Not super concerned. If he doesn't produce this season, it saves us money in the short term, and likely changes his off-season next season. If he starts producing, great. Likely still worth considering changing what he does in the off-season to have a faster start to the season.

 

[cbcwpg]

Counting the posts until "someone" starts talking about "summer training".

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

Counting the posts until "someone" starts talking about "summer training".

You just talked about summer training.

 

[Gotaf7]

The league has figured him out, take away his time and space to neutralize him, he plays the game in slow motion.

 

[cbcwpg]

Not super concerned. If he doesn't produce this season, it saves us money in the short term, and likely changes his off-season next season. If he starts producing, great. Likely still worth considering changing what he does in the off-season to have a faster start to the season.

It might save us money in the short term, but IMO regardless of how the rest of this season goes, Laine's agent is going to ask for the moon. And if Laine does finish with a very poor year, his agent will just say it's a one-off and he will be back to his old self, after getting 10 million.

If Laine was to finish this season with another 40+ goals, I would have said the Jets were going to try their best to sign him for 8 years and big money, whatever the big money ended up being.

But, If Laine finishes the season with 20 goals say, I now see the deal between the Jets and Laine being a two year "bridge" deal for less money to see how it goes, then do the big contract if Laine gets back to what we have seen in the past.

The thing with goal scores or any somewhat one dimensional player is that the rest of the league is going to find a way to shut you down. It's the real superstar players who figure this out and find other ways to still produce. Those are the guys worth 10 million.

 

[McDLT]

Has Laine had his periodic "I've lost confidence" interview with the media this go-around? He needs to do that so that he can go on a tear again.

 

[Cellee]

Puck just isn’t going in either. Could have a few more goals but his scoring is in a slump too.

He has always scored goals.

Has he improved in any area of his game in 2+ years?

 

[Winnipeg Jets]

He looks genuinely bad in almost every aspect of the game, minus that beast of a shot. It is worth mentioning that he's still so young, we all see the potential there and want him to reach it but there will be ups and downs along the way. His play at the moment is very frustrating but it's all part of the development process.

 

[Lowered Expectations]

Bah. Another slow start, remember 4 goals in October has been his max. Our guys are hot in different times, that is part of the depth. Remember His crazy streak last march? I think it was Scheif who said that ”it is great that Patrik scores and keep winning games for us but sooner or later others must start scoring”. His time will come, but right now his game is agonizing to watch.

 

[Trinity]

The league has figured him out, take away his time and space to neutralize him, he plays the game in slow motion.

Interesting theory...

 

[Analyst365]

This bolded is something I don’t understand in these discussions. Did you watch the first game of this season? Did you watch the last season?

In the first game of this season there was playing a young player coming from a 44 goal season, second in the league, putting up one goal and an assist. Looking faster and even better than last year. And he was getting low TOI in the 2nd line (or in 3rd by minutes?). Well, you might say it was just the first game after all... So what were the consequences? Get him even lower TOI.

I am not saying that he is at the moment playing so great that you should ”promote” him. And I am not saying he is perfect. I am saying he never should have been in a situation after the first two seasons still needing to deserve the ”promotion”.

I am really wondering what would you say he should have done to ”deserve” the 1st line minutes. Score 50 goals last year? 60? 77? Pass Gretzkys record? As he is first and foremost a goal scorer. Not a f***ing Toews. You should measure his effort by his scoring numbers. And there are teams dreaming of having that kind of talent in their rosters.

Or are you saying the first two almost record breaking teenage seasons were not enough to ”deserve” anything, and he should have proven himself in the first game by what? Hatrick with 15 minutes of TOI? Five goals? Look like McDavid? What?

That is all ancient history in the world of coaching. He needs to put in a few good shifts now to get any promotion. Ehlers did it yesterday.

 

[Board Bard]

I think Laine's default mode is laziness. Maybe he doesn't call it that. Maybe he calls it conservation mode, or wariness, or sly-like-a-fox-ness. Whatever, he's fooling himself if he thinks his default mode is going to bring him a long, successful career in the NHL. He'd better do a mental hack -- fast -- and find something else.