Laine 11th career hatty vs BUF

[MoneyManny]

No. The Montreal pick. The implication of Laine possibly costing the Habs draft position should have been obvious.

If Laine was enough of a factor to propel this garbage team forward like that, he'd be worth a lot more than that pick.

 

[MoneyManny]

It’s just a little strange that after years of Habs fans espousing the virtue of doing a rebuild organically and valuing draft picks like gold to suddenly pivot and throw support behind an infidel who can derail the “proper” rebuild.

Happy for Laine though. He went through a lot. And it’s nice to finally see that the Habs have the player that Caufield should have been.

Caufield is playing great. He's definitely a lot better than what y'all thought he would be. Your "should have been" is hugely hypocritical.

And only successul rebuilds are derailed by victory. If we could only be so lucky.

 

[Frank Drebin]

We need the extra emoji for Habs threads

 

[Lshap]

The thing of it is, they need a proper center. Those go high in the draft. That’s why falling might be painful. Cant even criticize them for not taking Wright. Cooley might have been nice though. But they need a top 6 center. The higher draft pick would be a big help.

Learning to win games is the ultimate goal of a rebuild. Drafting higher is the consolation prize. There's nothing painful about watching Montreal's young roster slowly making progress.

As for centers, Montreal has a great looking prospect in Michael Hage. He may or may not become a top-6 C, but the same is true for any draft pick.

 

[abax44]

Lots of room to do Laine things when you're 5 on 3 (2 goals were 5 on 3). That shot though... yeesh. We were at the game in Winnipeg just waiting for him to tee one up like that.

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

With Winnipeg Jets, on the powerplay, I always felt like both Scheifele and Wheeler intentionally avoided passing to Laine in such spots(btw many others Finnish fans felt the same even though Jets fans thought we were hallucinating) but seems like when you do pass to Laine, it might end well. Who knew?

Wheeler has a ton of assists from passing to Laine in that spot on the PP.
The bigger issue was early on he wasn't even on the top PP (garbage) and rarely played with Scheifele 5 on 5. Teams also started to way over cheat on Laine and that seam which opened the door for Scheif and Connor to score more.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Lots of room to do Laine things when you're 5 on 3 (2 goals were 5 on 3). That shot though... yeesh. We were at the game in Winnipeg just waiting for him to tee one up like that.

He had 7 shots on goal that game , Helley knew all his go to's

 

[LevelingSolo]

Always was a good player if healthy which is never

 

[Fogelhund]

He has six goals..... all on the powerplay.

Three goals 5 v 4, Three goals 5 v 3

The Habs are being outshot 49 to 22 and outscored 5 to 1, at 5v5 with him on the ice. On ice expected goals 27%.

Scoring on the PP is good, no doubt. Being terrible at 5v5 hockey isn't good.

 

[amnesiac]

He has six goals..... all on the powerplay.

Three goals 5 v 4, Three goals 5 v 3

The Habs are being outshot 49 to 22 and outscored 5 to 1, at 5v5 with him on the ice. On ice expected goals 27%.

Scoring on the PP is good, no doubt. Being terrible at 5v5 hockey isn't good.

jesus, can we maybe wait a bit given that he hadnt played a game in almost a full calendar year? was very slow to start, and is considerably better now.

Also thats a reflection of the team as a whole. Its not like they were much better 5 on 5 when he wasnt playing.

 

[Fogelhund]

jesus, can we maybe wait a bit given that he hadnt played a game in almost a full calendar year? was very slow to start, and is considerably better now.

Also thats a reflection of the team as a whole. Its not like they were much better 5 on 5 when he wasnt playing.

I mean, his off ice expected goals is 46.4%... so his differential is 18.5%.... which is substantial.

I can appreciate being patient, but the guy is also a career -63, and hasn't been very good 5v5 for most of his career. He's decent at scoring goals, he's excellent at scoring PP goals. If Montreal wants success with him, they are really going to need to shelter him 5v5, even once he's established.

 

[amnesiac]

I mean, his off ice expected goals is 46.4%... so his differential is 18.5%.... which is substantial.

I can appreciate being patient, but the guy is also a career -63, and hasn't been very good 5v5 for most of his career. He's decent at scoring goals, he's excellent at scoring PP goals. If Montreal wants success with him, they are really going to need to shelter him 5v5, even once he's established.

Fine, but personally I dont even see them signing him long term.... Too risky given his injury history, and maybe passed his prime when theyre set to be contenders.

Plus, theyre going to have more expensive RFA contracts to worry about like Hutson and Demidov. Laine probably wont be signing short term at a discount in his UFA year. Like anyone hes going to want to make as much as possible.

Id let him walk, and worry about expensive UFAs when theyre contenders (which wont be soon)

 

[Fogelhund]

Fine, but personally I dont even see them signing him long term.... Too risky given his injury history, and maybe passed his prime when theyre set to be contenders.

Plus, theyre going to have more expensive RFA contracts to worry about like Hutson and Demidov. Laine probably wont be signing short term at a discount in his UFA year. Like anyone hes going to want to make as much as possible.

Id let him walk, and worry about expensive UFAs when theyre contenders (which wont be soon)

Pump his value the next year and a bit, give him all of the PP time, shelter him, and flip him for an asset, to a contender looking for some scoring help.

I'm a Leafs fan, but I think Montreal does have some nice young players, but really need a top C in this draft. If they can draft Misa for example, it's a big help.

 

[amnesiac]

Pump his value the next year and a bit, give him all of the PP time, shelter him, and flip him for an asset, to a contender looking for some scoring help.

I'm a Leafs fan, but I think Montreal does have some nice young players, but really need a top C in this draft. If they can draft Misa for example, it's a big help.

yep totally agree. Would be the piece they need.... I wouldnt be mad if its Schaffer and McKenna in 2026

 

[Fogelhund]

yep totally agree. Would be the piece they need.... I wouldnt be mad if its Schaffer and McKenna in 2026

I think you guys should start performing better next year. I don't think you'll draft high enough to get those guys in 26'... I think this is the year for you guys to suck.