Patrik Laine’s Falloff is Wild
- Thread starter Theo Von
- Start date
The problem is when he goes cold he goes cold. Other streaky players usually figured out how to play in their own zone. Something Laine has not figured out yet
When he has space to wind up and pick a spot he's world class. When he doesn't he is very pedestrian.
All His goal highlights look nearly identical . He gets setup from his teammates and shoots from the nearly the same spot on the face off circle
The guy has 27 points. Don't think teams care about him that much anymore, he's just not that much of a threat anymore.
You just made my point. Half the time he's not even playing, so opposing teams won't give two shits about worrying about his shot....yup 27 points...36 games played...
That's a 60+ pts clip , with injuries / missing time / new team. He's been a welcomed offensive weapon on the Habs PP.
He hasn't been perfect or at his peak but certainly wouldn't describe him as a "27 point player".
He's been a solid gamble so far and one of the reasons why Habs are competing for a playoff spot.
Hopefully the rest of his game improves under Marty St-Louis.
He is what he is. A head case that will miss about half the season and score maybe 50 points. Nowadays he's not even a top 50 player in the league.
He's never been a top player in the league. His best season he scored 70 points. Now for a couple of seasons he was one of the best goal scorers in the league, but that was 6+ years ago.
...no one here says he is...however calling him a "27 point" player without adding any of the context to it isn't really being honest either...
That's fine , hopefully he can stay healthy for a bit , his last injury was a freak accident.
Even if he's not a top 50 player , he's certainly a top 6 player and a legit sniper. If he can become a PP specialist and round out the rest of his game that would be ideal.
Time will tell.
At this point, one thinks he would have learned how to play even a modest amount of defense. Laine makes Ovechkin look like Jere Lehtinen.
You're right. He is what he is. Still a useble player in specific circumstances. He needs to be utilized correctly and I think he brings value to team. Heatley was vastly better player. Both are dickheads though.
It's odd because he was doing quite well on the defense against the best players in the world during the Four Nations tournament.
He just seems to be very selective of when to put in effort, and when not. I'd like to see how he performs in a big game scenario.
Since the start of the 2008-09 season Laine has the most powerplay goals in a single season by any Canadiens player: NHL Stats
and he's only played 36 games for them so far...
and he's only played 36 games for them so far...
This is Laine. Better get used to it. When he is good he is really good, but when he is bad he is really bad.
The good thing is that he appears to be "surviving" his minutes on the ice right now. Not too many goals against when he's playing 5on5. As long as he's not an outright liability on even strength, he adds value to the team as a PP specialist. And if he can get his game going a little bit 5v5, he adds a ton of value.
