Player Discussion Patrik Laine: Part 2 - Healthy Living Edition

[PeteWorrell]

yep fair trade. 40 goal scorer and a 2nd for Jordan Harris.

Some times i think we try too hard to be impartial.

He wanted out. He was devalued to the point that no one else would take a chance on him unless Columbus ate some of the cap hit. Columbus took the best offer considering the circumstances.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Can't believe some thought acquiring him was a bad idea.

It was all about cost.

Injured expensive player who had mental health issues. There's absolutely no way we should pay top dollar for that. We got paid to take him and that's exactly what it should be.

Great trade. I don't know anyone who didn't like it. But for us to absorb that contract, the Habs were right to ensure that there was no risk.

 

[BullLund]

Columbus just has a different team identity. I never thought Laine was going to be a good fit, especially back when Tortorella was still coaching. He tried to turn Laine into a two-way player/power forward, which just isn't really his game. However I can't really even say that the GM was at fault for bringing Laine in, because he was also dealt a crappy hand with Dubois wanting out. Laine was probably the best available option at the time.

It's just one of those things, Columbus needs that space to increase their depth, especially at the center position, meanwhile Montreal has found Laine to be the right fit for them as they're playing around his strengths. Columbus rarely utilized Laine as their PP cannon, their top D man and Laine just never really synced up.

 

[Frank Drebin]

He wanted out. He was devalued to the point that no one else would take a chance on him unless Columbus ate some of the cap hit. Columbus took the best offer considering the circumstances.

I understand that. I don't understand framing it as a win win. Columbus lost.

 

[The Great Weal]

Future contract should be interesting. Although there should be no rush, I think we can sign him for something reasonable. He's ideally a second liner because he does have some pretty big flaws, but you can't let go of a 40 goalscorer because of flaws that he overcomes more often than not. 7.5-8x4 (pretty similar to what he currently has) would be ideal.

 

[ahmedou]

 

[the]

It was all about cost.

Injured expensive player who had mental health issues. There's absolutely no way we should pay top dollar for that. We got paid to take him and that's exactly what it should be.

Great trade. I don't know anyone who didn't like it. But for us to absorb that contract, the Habs were right to ensure that there was no risk.

I was willing to trade a 2nd round pick to acquire him. The upside was huge and the risk was small imo. A lot weren't even willing to entertain a positive scenario and thought he was damaged goods.

Obviously Hugo did a masterful job and somehow managed to get paid to acquire him but even after fhe trade you had a lot of naysayers thinking he wouldn't be a good fit and it was a disaster waiting to happen. Just his pre-season had some fans questioning the trade.

 

[Hacketts]

Columbus just has a different team identity. I never thought Laine was going to be a good fit, especially back when Tortorella was still coaching. He tried to turn Laine into a two-way player/power forward, which just isn't really his game. However I can't really even say that the GM was at fault for bringing Laine in, because he was also dealt a crappy hand with Dubois wanting out. Laine was probably the best available option at the time.

It's just one of those things, Columbus needs that space to increase their depth, especially at the center position, meanwhile Montreal has found Laine to be the right fit for them as they're playing around his strengths. Columbus rarely utilized Laine as their PP cannon, their top D man and Laine just never really synced up.

Well.... that was silly.

Why trade for a Laine, if you're not going to let him Laine.

 

[PeteWorrell]

Well.... that was silly.

Why trade for a Laine, if you're not going to let him Laine.

It's an example of a GM and coach not really working together. There is no point bringing in a player that does not fit the coach.

 

[Frank Drebin]

By all accounts it sounds like he wasn’t liked in the room in columbus

Its much easier to get along when you’re winning games

 

[TheBuriedHab]

It's crazy. I really thought Harris and Barron had 0 value, but they turned 2 fringe NHL defenseman into Laine, Carrier and a 2nd. Jeebuz

 

[Theodore450]

I understand that. I don't understand framing it as a win win. Columbus lost.

Because they got out of a 2 year 8m contract and it costed them a 2nd

Teams usually pay 1st rounders to remove a single year of a large dead contract. It’s really not that complicated

 

[DAChampion]

It's crazy. I really thought Harris and Barron had 0 value, but they turned 2 fringe NHL defenseman into Laine, Carrier and a 2nd. Jeebuz

Hey, half the speculation posts last year were about how Hughes could convert the surplus of defensemen into higher quality players.

 

[Rapala]

That was one of the best executed give and goes I've seen in a while. People talk a lot about Matheson's skating ability but Guhle is just as fluid and maybe just a tad bit wiser. I talked about how I appreciated his instincts last season he knows when to go and he rarely if ever hangs his team out to dry.

 

[BullLund]

Well.... that was silly.

Why trade for a Laine, if you're not going to let him Laine.

Well they just had a struggle to fill the center position, they even tried to play Laine as a center. At that point you pretty much knew he was done over there.

But it was really Dubois who forced their hand, Dubois was supposed to be Columbus's future top center, but he wanted out. And Laine was about the only guy available at the time who was regarded as having similar value.

Where Columbus's GM failed is by not increasing their depth at the center position after acquiring Laine, he even brought in Gaudreau, another winger. The current GM seems to have done a much better job of actually bringing in the right guys for the right roles.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I was willing to trade a 2nd round pick to acquire him. The upside was huge and the risk was small imo. A lot weren't even willing to entertain a positive scenario and thought he was damaged goods.

I don’t remember anyone saying they wouldn’t take him at all. I do remember thinking that he wasn’t worth acquiring because they’d want too much.

They wanted him gone and he had an expensive contract. Few teams could absorb it and take the risk. That’s why I (and others) said we should actually get something to take him. And that’s exactly what happened. I’m surprised they gave him up for that but it’s the right price for us.

Obviously Hugo did a masterful job and somehow managed to get paid to acquire him but even after fhe trade you had a lot of naysayers thinking he wouldn't be a good fit and it was a disaster waiting to happen. Just his pre-season had some fans questioning the trade.

There was always a risk with him. The mental health was a concern and if he’d gotten off to a slow start the fans can be brutal.

Again though, I can’t remember anyone who was upset with that trade after it was made. Not saying it didn’t happen but it was really low risk. At worst we could just trade him at next year’s deadline.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Because they got out of a 2 year 8m contract and it costed them a 2nd

Teams usually pay 1st rounders to remove a single year of a large dead contract. It’s really not that complicated

Dead contracts don’t score at a 40g pace

It’s extremely patronizing to cbj fans to paint this as win win

Its horrible asset management, horrible leadership, horrible culture that caused this

This isn’t Calgary making room for kadri
This is a star player that columbus couldn’t make a spot for

 

[Boxscore]

Laine has been a perfect fit in Montreal and it's great to see.

 

[Rapala]

By all accounts it sounds like he wasn’t liked in the room in columbus

Its much easier to get along when you’re winning games

He had a slight meltdown on the bench the other night and his team mates seemed to be a bit taken aback for a second. One of his triggers is directly related to him berating or beating up on himself. All this because he missed the net. I laughed like hell because we've seen so many players constantly doing the same thing.
I like that he holds himself to higher standards but I hope someone talked to him to let him know it's not a big deal and to ease up on himself.

 

[the]

I don’t remember anyone saying they wouldn’t take him at all. I do remember thinking that he wasn’t worth acquiring because they’d want too much.

They wanted him gone and he had an expensive contract. Few teams could absorb it and take the risk. That’s why I (and others) said we should actually get something to take him. And that’s exactly what happened. I’m surprised they gave him up for that but it’s the right price for us.

There was always a risk with him. The mental health was a concern and if he’d gotten off to a slow start the fans can be brutal.

Again though, I can’t remember anyone who was upset with that trade after it was made. Not saying it didn’t happen but it was really low risk. At worst we could just trade him at next year’s deadline.

We were so star deprived for so long that acquiring him even if we overpaid and rolled the dice made sense. He fit our rebuild timeline and we had the cap space. Laine was still a PPG player minus his last season in Columbus. I thought he was a great fit for us.

I remember reading an article during the summer before we acquired him about Barkov saying he was ready for a huge comeback. These types of players with game breaking talent more often than not figure out a way to succeed.

 

[Jurivan Demidovsky]

Currently, who has a better shot than Laine in NHL ?

From that spot on the power play no one.

 

[Bumbul]

He's ideally a second liner because he does have some pretty big flaws, but you can't let go of a 40 goalscorer because of flaws that he overcomes more often than not. 7.5-8x4 (pretty similar to what he currently has) would be ideal.

Only 40 goals?
Stats not yet updated after the Rangers game, but according to MoneyPuck, Laine is leading the league in "goals per 60 minutes", having 2.58, whereas Draisaitl (currently the goalscoring leader) is at 2.00.

 

[DAChampion]

Only 40 goals?
Stats not yet updated after the Rangers game, but according to MoneyPuck, Laine is leading the league in "goals per 60 minutes", having 2.58, whereas Draisaitl (currently the goalscoring leader) is at 2.00.

It's nice to dream but I don't expect Laine to maintain a 70 goal pace over a full season.

 

[ReHabs]

I was willing to trade a 2nd round pick to acquire him. The upside was huge and the risk was small imo. A lot weren't even willing to entertain a positive scenario and thought he was damaged goods.

Obviously Hugo did a masterful job and somehow managed to get paid to acquire him but even after fhe trade you had a lot of naysayers thinking he wouldn't be a good fit and it was a disaster waiting to happen. Just his pre-season had some fans questioning the trade.

You remember well the discussion before the trade was made — we gotta keep a spot for Joshua Roy and not interrupt his development, we gotta make sure if we acquire Laine that he doesn’t do so well and “ruin” our cap situation by earning an extension, we gotta avoid Laine because there are nightclubs in Montreal, etc.

Who cares about serving crow though? Loser stuff. Let’s just enjoy the fact Hughes saw the same thing we did and was ambitious enough to execute. It bodes well.

 

[Dagistitsyn]

Laine is so interesting to me. I never got to watch him play much before we got him, only the highlights (which was mainly his lethal accurate one timer).

Was he this slow prior to the last 2 years of injuries and missed time?
He still covers a lot of ice with his gigantic lanky frame and extra long stick, puck handling etc. but it seems like he is painfully slow skating, and I can’t tell if that’s something we should be worried about or if it’s always been like this. For people that have seen him frequently prior to the injuries and time off, has he a lost a step skating wise? It feels like it’s holding him back from being that star forward at 5 on 5 play.

Regardless, he’s been the the highlight of the year for me (Hutson close second, but I already knew he was going to be good for us. Didn’t think we’d ever land a star like Laine)