Guess who plays RW and is currently murdering the league he’s in right now? Only our top prospect not in the NHL. It would be Just So Jackets to have him skip the AHL next season.
Player Discussion: Patrik Laine IVever: a new hope? (Laine out of PAP, trade request still stands)
- Thread starter Viqsi
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It kills me because I was thinking something similar we really need two knock out RWs right now and while I am not sold on Dumais (he's either gonna be a Superstar or a Tweener...no inbetween) this team really could really use a Bjorkstrand.
Dumais popping would be huge, or if we still had Bjorkstrand that would make a big difference. But also it would still really help the lineup if Bemstrom could fill a scoring line RW role, he does a lot of things well, just needs to score more consistently.
Dolzhenkov too. We have some interesting prospects for the position but they are all atleast a couple years off
That's who I am expecting to fill the next roll. I was just as excited as getting him as I was for Fantilli and this year shows Brindley wasn't carried by Fantilli on his line. I do wonder if he goes pro this next year because he will be 20.
Probably depends on how Michigan does in the tournaments, and what their recruiting class looks like.
Cowumbus
Registered User
Viqsi
"that chick from Ohio"
I don't think anyone doubts that he's been atrocious so far this year; the debate is more about whether or not said atrocities will continue.
Cowumbus
Registered User
I didn’t think his play was that bad…
That is the 2nd worst player card from Andy&Rono that I have ever seen. Worst pictured here:
Laine has been an abomination this year, I'm not the least bit surprised by that number.
But it should also be noted that Laine had a very good "player card" number last year. Not elite but very good. This year is probably a blip for him.
But it should also be noted that Laine had a very good "player card" number last year. Not elite but very good. This year is probably a blip for him.
If he's now playing just the last seconds of PPs, it's not gonna be fun.
I didn't find his previous game bad, watching Avs right now and Rantanen isn't looking much different and is on a 9 game scoreless streak but nobody is digging his grave online.
I thought there were some promising signs last game. Especially in the first when Johnny was feeding him in the slot. On and off Laine's stick in a split second.
But the end of that PP where Laine tried to go hero puck is such a good example of what is wrong with his game. Most players can get back to basics when they're struggling, Laine instead tries to do too much with the puck on his stick. He's in a doom loop.
Double-Shift Lasse
Just post better
This team has helped ruin (temporarily, maybe) Laine. In its desperation to have a superstar complete player and/or a top line center, the organization both put him in positions for which he wasn’t suited and acquiesced to his wishes to prove himself likewise. In the process, he’s lost confidence and isn’t doing well the things he used to do well.
He’s been hurt, and this team has been problematic, so there are explanations/excuses. But what needs to be done is to take things off his plate rather than add to it, and just let him get back to being a gifted scorer rather than team linchpin. Even if successful I realize that makes his next contract problematic, but they shouldn’t be worried about that right now.
I say this as a fan not generally predisposed toward Laine as a Jacket. But I don’t think there are a lot of options.
He’s been hurt, and this team has been problematic, so there are explanations/excuses. But what needs to be done is to take things off his plate rather than add to it, and just let him get back to being a gifted scorer rather than team linchpin. Even if successful I realize that makes his next contract problematic, but they shouldn’t be worried about that right now.
I say this as a fan not generally predisposed toward Laine as a Jacket. But I don’t think there are a lot of options.
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He had 96 last year. Is it not elite? I don't know, isn't it time to see a psychologist? The team recommended it to Bobrovsky.
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CBJWerenski8
Rest in Peace Johnny
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I’d like to see what Laine’s numbers were pre injury compared to post injury. I know it was an extremely small sample size but I would have to imagine it’s better than that.
Farmboy Patty
Senior Hockey Analyst
- Nov 2, 2017
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Laine’s last two seasons were very good IMO. The right move for Pascal would be to put him in his most comfortable position as a scoring winger, with emphasis on scoring. That should be his dedicated task for now. Encourage him of not overthinking the game and trying to be a jack of all trades, or a so called complete player for the moment. When the puck starts going in the rest will follow.
from last jaunary:
he certainly hasn't looked like himself. some of that is the injury. i think the bigger issue though is that, for all the talk about the 'confidence' of offensively-oriented players, pascal vincent has no clue how to set them up to actually succeed.
they sent johnson down to play big minutes and get his confidence back, and he did… only to come back up and barely play (less ice time than he had before being sent down) and be used out of position (right wing) without any power play time.
laine got hurt, then got put back at center, then scratched, then given reduced ice time, put in the wrong spot on an already-broken power play, then taken off of PP1 entirely.
the team isn't good. they know what laine can be. they need him to get back to that – whether that's for the sake of trading him or keeping him around. but vincent doesn't know how to set skill guys up to succeed.
imo the power play should be built around him pumping one-timers as much as possible. let him re-establish his confidence that way. i also think they should keep him with gaudreau, with one of the youngsters (fantilli, sillinger, voronkov or kj) in the middle instead of danforth.
Laine's interpretation of "scoring winger" seems to be to try to carry the puck all around the ice.
He needs to be told to not hold the puck. Shoot it or pass it. Quickly. Zero extra handling.
There's about twelve players you could say that would be in a better position to succeed offensively and develop confidence if they were on PP1.
We can't blame Vincent for all of them, there are only 5 slots!
Should he be praised for giving the Russian players PP time?
That's the most obvious fix to two different problems, Laine's confidence and the PP producing.
Just feed it and the goals will come. It's crazy to have him there for 20 seconds in PP2 having to carry the puck to the offensive zone starting from own end. Should be there for 2 minutes on PP's while others around change. Way too much shooting talent in this team not to have a working PP but as long as they can't move Werenski around I don't think much will be changed.
sure, but if he's gonna bellyacahe about guys like kj and laine not having confidence but not put them in a position to actually regain that confidence, that's not leadership.
when a player's game is built around skill and confidence, and they lose that, they can't earn it back in a lesser role. it doesn't happen in a vacuum. you need to give them enough bites at the apple to get that confidence back.
not when they're being trotted out there as the PP1 unit. laine and fantilli gain nothing by going out there with 30 seconds left as the PP2 unit.
that's not to say the russians haven't played well or 'earned it' – but that mentality only withholds opportunities for other guys to get their proverbial mojo back. they have more to gain from that than they do from the marginal (theoretical) increases to goal output from putting the russians on PP1.
imo either of these would be more beneficial to run:
| the kids | 5F option |
| --- 11 29-91-13 ---55 | --- 4 29-91-11 ---13 |
the first option has more natural passing options (gaudreau > kj bump > jiricek > laine one-tee) plus the righty-righty chemistry of jiricek > laine, and a big clapper at the top. you'd also have the potential for KJ to cut to the back post when johnny holds the puck on the right flank.
the second option (5F) is also something worth trying because they've had a few good looks when gaudreau's played up top in 6v5 situations, and fantilli's best future spot is probably on the right flank.
in either case, the entry would be handled by gaudreau + fantilli, and laine could focus on retrieving pucks that get rimmed around from right to left.
ideally, PP2 would be the russian trio + two defensemen, and their goal would be to create pressure that they can hold over if/when the play transitions to even strength.
Sometimes I wonder if any coach or player on the Blue Jackets have asked him to play a simpler puck game, and in general, how much freedom there is for players to try things offensively?
Whether my impression of him is justified or not, sadly, he comes off as a guy who might have some kind of authority issues and who doesn't like to be told as to what to do with the puck. Maybe someone has already tried to say "hey Patty please stop trying to dangle 2 or 3 times before every pass and force those risky east-west passes, it's hurting us" but he thinks he knows better, and needs his bohemian way of playing to re-gain his confidence / make himself more helpful for the team.
I'd think that the breakout is a planned play and someone drew it that way and want them to execute it that way. It's a strategy. So if Laine is carrying the puck in a lot, someone likely told him to do that. They could change it.
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