LW Patrik Laine - Tappara, Liiga (2016 Draft) V

[JA]

To be honest, I see more of Ryan Kesler circa 2009-2011 than Corey Perry, Rick Nash, or most of the other names listed as comparables for Laine. He had the one-timer, the long-range wrist shot, the grit, a somewhat selfish game, but also the ability to distribute the puck. His acceleration wasn't particularly great either, but he had great top end speed. He had great hand-eye coordination and was a strong net-front presence with the Sedins, although he scored most of his goals with his shot before the 2010-11 season.



In 2008-09, Kesler played the wing, so we've seen what that looks like too. Laine is never going to play center, but he is all over the ice anyway.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaqkNnPW7LE



Laine honestly seems more like peak Kesler than Ovechkin.

 

[Ducks Nation*]

Peak Kesler was the best defensive forward in the league

 

[JA]

Peak Kesler was the best defensive forward in the league

He certainly was. From an offensive perspective, however, I see greater similarities between Kesler and Laine than I do between Nash and Laine or Perry and Laine.

 

[gwh]

He certainly was. From an offensive perspective, however, I see greater similarities between Kesler and Laine than I do between Nash and Laine or Perry and Laine.

So anybody who does one timers from Ovie spot is "Kessler"? Come on man...

 

[urho]

He certainly was. From an offensive perspective, however, I see greater similarities between Kesler and Laine than I do between Nash and Laine or Perry and Laine.

Laine has much better hands than Kesler. The most accurate comparison from todays NHL is Jamie Benn. They look very similar, Laine just doesn't have the mean streak in him (yet).

 

[kunekune]

Laines wrister is a tier above to his slapshot / onetimer. Don't understand why it's always slapshot when people talk about his shot when in reality it's the worse shot in his arsenal.

 

[Blabber]

Im still worried about Laines skating. Against team USA on tuesday his first steps looked bad compared to any US player. Could it be that he's not NHL ready for the next season?!

And how much can it be improved during years if you are not the most talented skater? I've heard some people say you can't get significantly explosive first steps by training if you don't have fast explosive cells in your muscles.. we are obviously talking about pro athletes where training is maximized and in the end it's talent that matters. Does he have enough talent?

 

[urho]

And how much can it be improved during years if you are not the most talented skater? I've heard some people say you can't get significantly explosive first steps by training if you don't have fast explosive cells in your muscles.. we are obviously talking about pro athletes where training is maximized and in the end it's talent that matters. Does he have enough talent?

You shouldn't be too worried. He's average skater as of now but that's just typical for a young guy that young with a history of leg injuries. I'm sure he has enough "explosive cells", just look at his wrister.

 

[kunekune]

His skating isn't average. He looked slick in USA game. Skating is the biggest strength in his game. His blades have perfect touch to the ice.

 

[urho]

His skating isn't average. He looked slick in USA game. Skating is the biggest strength in his game. His blades have perfect touch to the ice.

It's not his greatest strength, come on. His acceleration is quite poor and he's not that agile. His edge work is good and that's why he's going to be a good skater anytime soon, tho. Just look at Barkov's progress over the past two years.

 

[Ivan13]

Skating can easily be fixed through hard work, see O'Reilly, his skating was the reason he dropped to the 2nd round, and even though he's not a great skater by any standard, he improved tenfold since he was drafted. The most important thing is that Laine is strong on his skates, other things will improve.

 

[QnebO]

Hid skating and glide is his strenght. Leg power and explosiveness is weakness. His acceleration is gym- not technique problem

 

[urho]

Hid skating and glide is his strenght. Leg power and explosiveness is weakness. His acceleration is gym- not technique problem

Exactly what I was trying to say. It just shows you all kinds of promise when he's able to dominate even now when he clearly has so much to improve in his skating.

 

[Blabber]

Hid skating and glide is his strenght. Leg power and explosiveness is weakness. His acceleration is gym- not technique problem

Acceleration seems to be the biggest thing for him to overcome to be able to do stuff in small rink that he did in Liiga. If it's only a gym and fine tuning of technique then no problem. But if his first steps don't get significantly better I doubt him being star in NHL.. I don't want to sound negative he WILL make a long career in NHL anyway..

 

[Alexandrov]

He is far better skater than Barkov was at that age and if you look at Barkov today, he is fast and incredibly shifty for a 220lbs manchild

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Laines wrister is a tier above to his slapshot / onetimer. Don't understand why it's always slapshot when people talk about his shot when in reality it's the worse shot in his arsenal.

It's true that he seems to prefer his quick, hard and accurate wrister to a slapper, but also his one-timer is absolutely great even by NHL standards. The best thing about his one-timer is that he is able to get it off hard and accurately even from a bad position. His slapper isn't nothing to scoff at either at around 100 mph and I think it will only get faster with more strength.

 

[syz]

Acceleration seems to be the biggest thing for him to overcome to be able to do stuff in small rink that he did in Liiga. If it's only a gym and fine tuning of technique then no problem. But if his first steps don't get significantly better I doubt him being star in NHL.. I don't want to sound negative he WILL make a long career in NHL anyway..

Draisaitl fixed this in an offseason.

 

[Hokinaittii]

Draisaitl fixed this in an offseason.

Put Barkov also into that list.

 

[JA]

So anybody who does one timers from Ovie spot is "Kessler"? Come on man...

I don't follow your logic at all. So far, the trend has been that anyone who can one-time pucks is compared to Ovechkin.

Laine definitely does not offer any similarities to Ovechkin aside from his shot. There are more similarities between Kesler and Laine than there are between Laine and Ovechkin. His hands are better than Kesler's, but he shoots from the same spot, is also a puck hog, and is about as physical as Kesler is. Kesler averages only half as many hits as Ovechkin, and it's quite clear that Laine is nowhere near as physical as Ovechkin either. Kesler has poor acceleration and has always needed to wind up to hit top speed; Laine does the same.

While Kesler tries and fails regularly to beat players off the rush, Laine has succeeded. There is more finesse in Laine's game than Kesler's, although the latter most definitely tries with regularity to deke around players. He is closer to a Kesler-plus than an Ovechkin-minus.



In terms of style, Laine's offensive game matches Kesler's more than it does Ovechkin's. He is also closer in style to Kesler than he is to Corey Perry or Rick Nash, two players who rely far less on their shooting ability and more on their sheer strength and size to capitalize in the crease.



I would consider this to be more of Kesler's bread-and-butter than Ovechkin's. Many goals were scored with this maneuver.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk6BudGqG44
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RiycCu4r7s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvF5rcRbSj4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgwXLDSfo9Y

Kesler is a sniper as well as a power forward. Most of his goals are the result of wrist shots and one-timers, and he uses his body to shield the puck. Laine has shown the ability to use his long stick well in defensive situations to strip the opponent of the puck, which also reminds me of Kesler. He is, in my opinion, a Kesler-plus type of player. I don't see a player in the league who quite resembles Laine in multiple facets the way that Kesler does. There are some differences, but of the comparisons I've seen thus far, none really fit the bill as well as Ryan Kesler.

 

[cotopaxi]

To me one of the most impressive aspects about Laine is actually the way he skates and glides, when he's bringing the puck up he does it with great poise and is very difficult to defend against because he can either shoot or deke and is very good at changing his rhythm. He just needs some space atm to get going but that is a gym issue like mentioned. I think Laine's already a faster skater than Barkov, although he obviously has better first steps. They have pretty similar stride, very smooth and effortless looking.

Also he seems to be very successful with his toe drag move to get past a defender especially near the boards, I don't think I've ever seen him actually blow the move and lose possession because of it? I can't recall anyone doing it recently like he does. It seems often that the dman is even well prepared for it but he can still step past him and control the puck. Did he use it often in the regular season?

 

[Ippenator]

It's not his greatest strength, come on. His acceleration is quite poor and he's not that agile. His edge work is good and that's why he's going to be a good skater anytime soon, tho. Just look at Barkov's progress over the past two years.

Sorry, but against USA Barkov looked as slow as I have always seen him. The first steps especially. And his top speed is definitely not as good as Laine's is. But he has definitely improved with top speed, if compared to two years ago.

One thing we are though forgetting here when talking about skating. When a player is as big as Laine or even Barkov is, they will practically always look a bit slow to the eye. Especially with the first steps, as the movement of the feet with the strides is obviously longer than with some smaller players. That can make the first steps also look slower than they really are. It is good to remember that the skaters real speed is not necessarily so much tied with the quickness of the feet moving, but more with how much strength there is with each stride.

Mario Lemieux and Mats Sundin at their prime were about the same size as Laine, and they really didn't look that quick and agile to the eye with their skating. Leg movement especially wasn't that quick with either of them. But the power sure was there with their strides. After all both of them were pretty fast and even agile skaters for their size, but it didn't really look too much like it to the eye, if you compare to smaller guys.

Laine is definitely not exactly there with his skating, but the improvements have been absolutely huge during this season. I have no doubt in my mind that without major injuries Laine will be the same class of a big sized skater as Lemieux and Sundin were. And with that size that is for sure a big deal.

 

[FinlandPanther]

To me one of the most impressive aspects about Laine is actually the way he skates and glides, when he's bringing the puck up he does it with great poise and is very difficult to defend against because he can either shoot or deke and is very good at changing his rhythm. He just needs some space atm to get going but that is a gym issue like mentioned. I think Laine's already a faster skater than Barkov, although he obviously has better first steps. They have pretty similar stride, very smooth and effortless looking.

Also he seems to be very successful with his toe drag move to get past a defender especially near the boards, I don't think I've ever seen him actually blow the move and lose possession because of it? I can't recall anyone doing it recently like he does. It seems often that the dman is even well prepared for it but he can still step past him and control the puck. Did he use it often in the regular season?

Laine is not faster than Barkov I love Laine but some of these comments show you don't watch both players.

 

[cotopaxi]

Laine is not faster than Barkov I love Laine but some of these comments show you don't watch both players.

I've watched every single one of Barkov's games in NHL and a lot when he was still in Liiga, I only saw a couple games from Laine's regular season but all of playoffs. And I stand my case.

They both have somewhat deceptive speed because both are so big with strong strides. Laine's glide is better than Barkov's and I'd argue he has already better top speed too or atelast on the same level, but Barkov has better first steps.

I'm not saying Laine is actually overall the better skater of them two because there's so much more involved in that than just speed and first steps.

Laugh all you want if you can't even see who the faster skater is.

 

[Ippenator]

Laine is not faster than Barkov I love Laine but some of these comments show you don't watch both players.

Your nick shows probably from which side you watch the game. I have nothing against Barkov. He has great offensive and defensive talents. Definitely a much more complete player than Laine. But Laine has also several areas already better than Barkov (shot, deking skills, and hitting). And by the basis of the USA game it is easy to say that Laine is clearly the faster skater of the two. In fact was quite depressing to see how slow Barkov really was in that game. Although by all the other means his game was looking already quite ok after travelling and probable jetlag.

Might of course be that the jetlag was affecting his skating still a bit. But I have seen him play this season in several games in the NHL too, and have to say that although his skating has definitely improved from two years ago, it definitely is not even good yet. Maybe a bit above average already, but by no means can I see that his skating is really that great as some of his fans like to think here.

In my opinion Barkov is a tad overrated player so far. That was shown especially in the playoffs series against the Islanders, where Tavares outplayed Barkov in almost every single game. It can be seen that even Barkov has a lot to learn still, although he definitely is a very mature player for his age. But definitely if you see that Barkov can match the top speed that Laine has, then you have to be a biased Barkov fan. Otherwise I don't see that simply possible.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Laine is definitely not better at deking.

Barkov is slightly faster as well. But for player of his size it's tough to get your legs going on the big ice. Just give him some games and he'll be alright.

Barkov is not fast though, his skating is just enough for the NHL because of his smarts and long reach. Not sure why anyone would say he's fast.