What kind of a season do you predict for Laine?

[Daximus]

I think he sniffs 50 goals but doesn't quite hit the 82 in 82 mark, provided he plays all 82.

Probably something like 48-30-78.

 

[LowLefty]

More goals, perhaps, but points I don’t see how that is even possible. And even so, in my humble opinion, I think his ES game takes a big leap this year leaving any chance of that happening behind.

I should have said goals - that was what I had in mind - sorry for the confusion on my part.
Last year he scored 20 of his 44 goals on the PP (45%) - I'm thinking this year, that percentage will climb above 50.
As for ES, who knows - depends on who he is playing with and if he see's much time on the top line - I'm in the camp that thinks this year, he will not see full time minutes up there - but it's all to be determined.

 

[PhilJets]

16-18mins a game

70 to 80 points
45 to 50 goals

18-20mins a game

80 to 90 points
50 to 55 goals

Little ( he is good, he'll bounce back) don't jive with Laine.
Laine needs an attacking center.

 

[mazmin]

79 games played 52 goals 32 assists 84 points

Runner up for Rocket

 

[Daximus]

16-18mins a game

70 to 80 points
45 to 50 goals

18-20mins a game

80 to 90 points
50 to 55 goals

Little ( he is good, he'll bounce back) don't jive with Laine.
Laine needs an attacking center.

He needs a playmaker I think. He played well with Scheif but I think it changes Scheifs game for the worst. Scheif may put up more points but he likes to shoot to and doesn't like to pass up opportunities to set up his teammates.
Laine needs a Backstrom, Getzlaf, Larkin type.

Has he ever played with Koivu?

 

[Duke749]

Laine doesn’t need anyone. He just needs to keep working hard and he’ll be a complete player that won’t have to rely on anyone.

 

[Psych0dad]

Laine doesn’t need anyone. He just needs to keep working hard and he’ll be a complete player that won’t have to rely on anyone.

Hockey is a team game and one man can't just do it all by himself. That's why there are different roles for different players.

Complete players still play with other great players. Bergeron and Barkov don't do it alone, grinding in the second line with secondary support.

 

[Psych0dad]

He needs a playmaker I think. He played well with Scheif but I think it changes Scheifs game for the worst. Scheif may put up more points but he likes to shoot to and doesn't like to pass up opportunities to set up his teammates.
Laine needs a Backstrom, Getzlaf, Larkin type.

Has he ever played with Koivu?

Laine and Scheifele read eachother well and both can finish. It will inflate both of their numbers, goals and assists.

 

[Tommigun]

Maybe you are comparing him to some guys in their prime and getting this kind of goal and point amounts? I don’t honestly think Laine is even that close to his prime and also his usage hasn’t been at all optimal so far.

I would also like to make two other predictions for his goal and point totals, as my first one was done thinking that he would be already mostly playing in the first line. My second prediction is for the situation if he will after all play mostly in the second line and with not so optimal linemates and icetime. In that case I would predict 48+30=78 points for him. My third prediction is with the extremely optimal usage of Laine, which would mean him playing with Scheifele and Perreault (or Wheeler) for the whole season, and playing already at least 19 minutes per game. This would also mean that the 1st PP line would have a clear playmaker at the blueline, which hasn’t been really the case so far. In this very optimal (but not likely) scenario I predict Laine scoring 63+42=105 points.

Adding these two predictions doesn’t still mean that I wouldn’t see my 1st prediction (54+36=90 points) as the most likely one to happen after all.

I’d LOVE for him to get that, but 54 goals is insanely much these days. Not impossible though. Funny thing is that I doubt the 36 assists figure more than the 54 goals one. I think Laine will never be a PPG player due to his low assists numbers. Which is a good thing, it’s very much different having touched the puck 10 seconds earlier for a secondary assist, than scoring a goal. I think secondary assists shouldn’t yield an entire point. It perverts the points totals and is imho a worse stat than +/-. Thorburn would have a lot of points if he played with McDavid or Laine. Goals is king.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

PPG+ 50+ goals

 

[Duke749]

Hockey is a team game and one man can't just do it all by himself. That's why there are different roles for different players.

Complete players still play with other great players. Bergeron and Barkov don't do it alone, grinding in the second line with secondary support.

Ok...? What’s your point? Laine will be playing heavy minutes with good players. I didn’t say he wasn’t. Don’t understand your penchant for arguing every little thing.

 

[Psych0dad]

Ok...? What’s your point? Laine will be playing heavy minutes with good players. I didn’t say he wasn’t. Don’t understand your penchant for arguing every little thing.

It wasn't an argument but an observation about hockey.

It just seems the expectations for Laine are higher than any player before him, nobody did it by themselves

 

[Neuf]

79 games played 52 goals 32 assists 84 points

Runner up for Rocket

Who wins rocket?!

 

[backwards motion]

Ok, gotta do it since this might be my favorite Laine thread (because the others give me a headache...). So there it goes, all the lurking. Not to touch the training threads. I may have a permanent headache from them. Been Winnipeg fan since Teemu, so it's not a new thing to root for us.

I like the almost consensus here, no negativity really. Maybe the other threads are so toxic, because everyone has so high hopes. The trainer who shall not be named, has been very professional here, even Koivu has trained with him in their both home towns.

Anyway, that's not the topic at hand. Thank god. I have high hopes for Laine. Eventhough there's always this Finnish mentality and rivalry between teams. Laine has risen above that and is a national treasure.

What do I hope and think is going to be a very motivated Laine. Points are really hard to predict since we don't know what Maurice is thinking. There are different scenarios (as some have said) how it could go. I for one am a little bit realistic, but that being said, Laine has all the potential. If healthy 45-50 goals should be achievable, plus play making aspect with maybe 35-40 assists, depends about the line-ups. So that lands thoughts in 80-90 points range, but if Maurice is willing to release the beast, and TOI, wound't be too surprised if that range gets higher, like 90-100. Sounds much but do-able IMO.

Really hope the progress continues as well as the fans don't burden him too much. Still a young stud, much work to be done. The Finnished product may be everything we want it to be, and I can't wait. Some aren't so patient as me.

 

[ffh]

Laine and Scheifele read eachother well and both can finish. It will inflate both of their numbers, goals and assists.

Sheifele and wheeler choose to play with whoever they want on their wing. Seems they chose another player.

 

[Psych0dad]

Sheifele and wheeler choose to play with whoever they want on their wing. Seems they chose another player.

I don't believe any of this and you have no evidence for it either.

And if that would be the case, Laine should choose another team. Like yesterday.

 

[Chairman Maouth]

Knock off the crap.

 

[ffh]

I don't believe any of this and you have no evidence for it either.

And if that would be the case, Laine should choose another team. Like yesterday.

I don't know this to be true but a coach asking his 2 best players and top 20 players in the world who they would prefer to play with is more then likely. Why would this be such an insult to a 19 year old at the time that he would want to play for another team. Should ehlers feel the same way.

 

[Psych0dad]

I don't know this to be true but a coach asking his 2 best players and top 20 players in the world who they would prefer to play with is more then likely. Why would this be such an insult to a 19 year old at the time that he would want to play for another team. Should ehlers feel the same way.

I meant that if in a hypothetical situation you have a coach who lets players make lineup decisions, that's not really a good selling point for any kind of future success and that would steer an ambitious guy away from the organization. And yeah that applies to Ehlers too.

 

[1stDan]

I’d LOVE for him to get that, but 54 goals is insanely much these days. Not impossible though. Funny thing is that I doubt the 36 assists figure more than the 54 goals one. I think Laine will never be a PPG player due to his low assists numbers. Which is a good thing, it’s very much different having touched the puck 10 seconds earlier for a secondary assist, than scoring a goal. I think secondary assists shouldn’t yield an entire point. It perverts the points totals and is imho a worse stat than +/-. Thorburn would have a lot of points if he played with McDavid or Laine. Goals is king.

Hogwash. Plenty of times the secondary is more impressive than the primary.

Think super long outlet pass.

I remember Laine making sweet passes last year that moved the box and set up a tic tac that lead to a goal. He was left off the board though.

 

[Hunter368]

I don't know this to be true but a coach asking his 2 best players and top 20 players in the world who they would prefer to play with is more then likely. Why would this be such an insult to a 19 year old at the time that he would want to play for another team. Should ehlers feel the same way.

Coaches decide the lines, not players. NHL lineups are not a popularity contest. Coaches make lineups that they believe give them the best chance to win each night.

 

[Tommigun]

Hogwash. Plenty of times the secondary is more impressive than the primary.

Think super long outlet pass.

I remember Laine making sweet passes last year that moved the box and set up a tic tac that lead to a goal. He was left off the board though.

Of course some secondary assists are the key plays behind a goal, but they are just as likable to be someone who just happened to touch the puck a while back. Why stop it at 2 touches before the goal, the key play could have been the third touch but no point will be awarded for that. It’s very very arbitrary and random, not a good stat. At least +/- affects everyone in the rink instead of arbitrarily cutting it at two touches before the goal. If you play with good players you will rack up secondary assists no matter what.

Apparently I’m not the only one thinking that way and there seems to be plenty of proponents for dropping it, here’s one such example: Simplify scoring: drop the pointless secondary assist

 

[LowLefty]

Coaches decide the lines, not players. NHL lineups are not a popularity contest. Coaches make lineups that they believe give them the best chance to win each night.

It's highly unlikely that Maurice is asking his players who they would prefer to play with.

But it wouldn't surprise me if he solicits and considers feedback from his players - especially Scheif and Wheels. I'm sure who is on the left wing with these two and how they are fitting in, is discussed - but it has nothing to do with popularity.

 

[JetsFan815]

It's pleasing to the eye that the results of the poll is a normal distribution

 

[Jets4Life]

95 goals.