Player Discussion Patrik Laine: Part 2 - Healthy Living Edition

[sampollock]

View attachment 969112

View attachment 969113


View attachment 969114

You definitely had reservations

yet he is here and can score.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I think it's fair to wait until middle of next year to sign Laine. If he keeps playing more or less like he's been playing, 5 years at 8 million is fair.

There's no way I'd want to pay him 8 mil a year if he's playing like this. Right now he's a PP specialist only. He's useless at 5 on 5.

My hope is that he's playing hurt and has more in the tank. I totally agree with you that we should wait until next year if he's pushing for big money. Let's see what he can do when he's healthy.

As is though? I just can't justify 8 mil even if he is scoring those goals.

 

[ReHabs]

yet he is here and can score.

Yeah, I deleted my post. He's here, we're happy he's here, he's re-invigorated our team's spirit, and his acquisition has sent a signal to the rest of the league that Hughes isn't a coward and will improve the team when and where he can.

Despite all he's suffered, Laine proves he is a cut, or two, above Dach, Slaf, and other players we're meant to love. He's elite at the most important thing in the game.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

players don't sign 3 year deals when they are 28 and 6 year deals when they're 31

Right. Which is why he might turn out to be a stopgap for us. And honestly, if that's all he is... we still won with this trade. We got paid to take him. He scored some goals for us and we can deal him off.

I'm all for keeping him but with or without him this rebuild is on track. We don't need him.

He's still playing with Newhook and Dach. I don't know what we're expecting?

What's wrong with how Dach's been playing?

 

[WeThreeKings]

He's still playing with Newhook and Dach. I don't know what we're expecting?

He's the worst player on the line.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

There's no way I'd want to pay him 8 mil a year if he's playing like this. Right now he's a PP specialist only. He's useless at 5 on 5.

My hope is that he's playing hurt and has more in the tank. I totally agree with you that we should wait until next year if he's pushing for big money. Let's see what he can do when he's healthy.

As is though? I just can't justify 8 mil even if he is scoring those goals.

This is what he is and has been for quite some time

Exactly why I wanted to stay away from him. His goal totals will look good, but they’re 90% PP and he can’t do anything else.

 

[ReHabs]

This is what he is and has been for quite some time

Exactly why I wanted to stay away from him. His goal totals will look good, but they’re 90% PP and he can’t do anything else.

If you had any patience for Dach and have patience for Slaf, you should have patience for Laine. He admits himself he hasn't been focussed on hockey or being in game shape for years AND he started the season with a knee injury. I think his talent shows how valuable he can be if he's in game shape. The very best aspect of this deal is that we don't need to worry about re-signing him until next season, so we can show if he has the goods or not.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

If you had any patience for Dach and have patience for Slaf, you should have patience for Laine. He admits himself he hasn't been focussed on hockey or being in game shape for years AND he started the season with a knee injury. I think his talent shows how valuable he can be if he's in game shape. The very best aspect of this deal is that we don't need to worry about re-signing him until next season, so we can show if he has the goods or not.

I don’t though

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Yeah, I deleted my post.

Yeah, I saw it before you deleted it. You didn't show anything here. Feel free to undelete that post, it's clear as day that he's saying that we shouldn't pay a premium for him.

What WTK said in his posts is that he wasn't worth the cost. That doesn't mean he was fully against bringing him on board. Those are two different things.

Once again, I don't remember a single poster who didn't like this trade. Not one.

 

[ReHabs]

I don’t though

At least you're consistent!

 

[Paddyjack]

Cool. Show us the posts.

The reality is that Columbus needed to dump him and we didn't need to take him. Speaking for myself, I wanted us to just stick with the kids and use it as an evaluation year. I did not want us to pay anything to get this guy. But taking him for free? Sure. Shortly before the deal I said we should do something like Harris and get back a 2nd to take him. That's exactly what happened.

I can't remember a single poster who thought this was a bad deal.

I remember I didn't want to sacrifice anyone from our young core to get him, but when I heard it was Harris I was, wow ok, that's great, he is expandable. And then someone here explained to me that we even got a 2nd from Colombus, I was laughing so hard, couldn't believe it.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

This is what he is and has been for quite some time

Exactly why I wanted to stay away from him. His goal totals will look good, but they’re 90% PP and he can’t do anything else.

He's contributed and we got paid to take him. It's been a huge success from that standpoint. And he's recovering from injury. I think it makes sense to wait and see what he can do.

There's no doubting his talent. That shot is world class - better than Caufield's and that's saying a lot. So yeah, I'd love to keep him. For 8 x 8 though with what we've seen? No. Either his play will have to improve (as his health improves) or he'll need to take less money. I don't think Hughes will re-up with him for that amount.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I remember I didn't want to sacrifice anyone from our young core to get him, but when I heard it was Harris I was, wow ok, that's great, he is expandable. And then someone here explained to me that we even got a 2nd from Colombus, I was laughing so hard, couldn't believe it.

Exactly. People were throwing out things like first rounders to get him. That's when a bunch of us said 'no way.'

 

[Sasha Orlov]

I

He's contributed and we got paid to take him. It's been a huge success from that standpoint. And he's recovering from injury. I think it makes sense to wait and see what he can do.

There's no doubting his talent. That shot is world class - better than Caufield's and that's saying a lot. So yeah, I'd love to keep him. For 8 x 8 though with what we've seen? No. Either his play will have to improve (as his health improves) or he'll need to take less money. I don't think Hughes will re-up with him for that amount.

yeah man that’s about right imo

 

[WeThreeKings]

Yeah, I saw it before you deleted it. You didn't show anything here. Feel free to undelete that post, it's clear as day that he's saying that we shouldn't pay a premium for him.

What WTK said in his posts is that he wasn't worth the cost. That doesn't mean he was fully against bringing him on board. Those are two different things.

Once again, I don't remember a single poster who didn't like this trade. Not one.

Exactly what I was saying.. people were throwing out a heavy futures package for him. There were valid concerns about bringing him in and paying that type of cost to get him.

As soon as the trade was announced, anyone can see my initial response, which was very very positive.

I'm not against re-signing him either but his play needs to improve which I suspect it will as we are seeing a very Dach-ian recovery in his ability to skate and make plays under pressure.

 

[covfefe]

Yes I think he’s a stopgap, not because of his age but because of his history of missing extended period of time, and even when he plays he’s a one trick pony. I think committing big years+money to a guy like him would be a mistake.

And like I said, his salary structure is just tailor made to fit in a trade for a bigger fish.

This team could become expensive real quick. Suzuki, Caufield, Slaf, Demidov, Hutson, Guhle, Reinbacher, Hage, Beck, potentially Evans, our 2 1st this year in the future, Dobes/Fowler? Maybe a player currently not in the lineup that we’ll trade for.

Laine is not a core piece IMO. Giving significant money+term to a non-core piece is not the way to go forward.

Like a said, I do 3/4 years to give Demidov and Dach someone to play with while one of your youngsters gets ready or we trade for another long term solution.

Either way we’ll see soon enough what they do with him.

I'd prefer that to our current state, which is spending ~25m on Gallagher, Anderson, Dvorak, Armia, and two players who are no longer here.

 

[LaineBOOM]

Im one of the biggest Laine fans and even I am unsure on whether he will ever find back to what he has earlier been. And Im not talking about the Columbus-years, even though he was close to point per game it was not the Laine we used to see. Just some flashes of him here and there. It mostly a Laine who tried to play a complete game but was losing the fun in it.

The positives Ive seen this season:
- PP-BOOMs, nifty passes, some nice dangles, some nice puck protection, some nice defensive plays.

The negatives Ive seen this season:
- Losing the puck all around the ice, waiting too long with his shots alllowing opponents to steal the puck, playing ok defensively but in a very inactive manner.

Do the positives outweigh the negatives? Maybe, for the right price. But if he is this injury prone and imo vulnerable to becoming even streakier than before.. Im sorry to say that he is not the type of 8 million dollar guy that suits this team in the long run.

 

[LaineBOOM]

I'd prefer that to our current state, which is spending ~25m on Gallagher, Anderson, Dvorak, Armia, and two players who are no longer here.

This is a great point. No matter how incomplete Laine is, maybe we can avoid spending the money on some other players who are just way too overpaid. If spending on Laine makes us spend less money on such players you listed, then its worth the investment.

 

[sampollock]

every one knows my take
I wanted him waaaay before the deal went down.

many here can crab on the fact he was hurt and went in the program, that is your choice
But to carve his play and call him inj prone needs to stop. but hey, you choice to whine
but IF KH extends him I agree it has to be a deal that makes sense. I don't say he gets 9 mill.

 

[ReHabs]

every one knows my take
I wanted him waaaay before the deal went down.

many here can crab on the fact he was hurt and went in the program, that is your choice
But to carve his play and call him inj prone needs to stop. but hey, you choice to whine
but IF KH extends him I agree it has to be a deal that makes sense. I don't say he gets 9 mill.

The dreaded MTL nightlife was going to ruin him, it was a disaster waiting to happen, someone with his condition would be eaten alive in Montreal, etc.

I'm glad Laine proves the dumb stereotypes wrong.

 

[Hacketts]

I wouldn't mind seeing him taking a shift with Nick & Cole for a few shifts during the game in different situations. This isn't saying he deserves a promotion or Slaf deserves a demotion, and not talking about changing the lines. It just would be interesting to see our most offensive players on the same line in situations where we need a goal.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I wouldn't mind seeing him taking a shift with Nick & Cole for a few shifts during the game in different situations. This isn't saying he deserves a promotion or Slaf deserves a demotion, and not talking about changing the lines. It just would be interesting to see our most offensive players on the same line in situations where we need a goal.

They'd never get the puck back.

 

[Hacketts]

They'd never get the puck back.

Maybe, maybe not. I think it's important to find out tho.

I don't disagree the last couple games that Laine has been turning it over too much, but before that the 2nd line was starting to gel and seemed Laine chilled out on the turnovers.

 

[sampollock]

Maybe, maybe not. I think it's important to find out tho.

I don't disagree the last couple games that Laine has been turning it over too much, but before that the 2nd line was starting to gel and seemed Laine chilled out on the turnovers.

true

snipes a goal and the comments stop until he has a couple games with no goals, seems to be the trend

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Exactly what I was saying.. people were throwing out a heavy futures package for him. There were valid concerns about bringing him in and paying that type of cost to get him.

As soon as the trade was announced, anyone can see my initial response, which was very very positive.

I'm not against re-signing him either but his play needs to improve which I suspect it will as we are seeing a very Dach-ian recovery in his ability to skate and make plays under pressure.

I’m okay signing him as is. But not for 8 mil a year.