Player Discussion Patrik Laine: Part 2 - Healthy Living Edition

[26Mats]

Laine has to get Laine going. The injury means he gets a mulligan from me for now but he has been pretty useless 5 on 5.

Well I've seen him make a lot of nice zone entries to set Newhook up, only to ha e Newhook do nothing with it and lose the puck. It's not like Newhook was lighting it up and then Laine came to his line and his production dropped. He never had any production.

Let's try Laine with other players that can make plays and see what happens?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Well I've seen him make a lot of nice zone entries to set Newhook up, only to ha e Newhook do nothing with it and lose the puck. It's not like Newhook was lighting it up and then Laine came to his line and his production dropped. He never had any production.

Let's try Laine with other players that can make plays and see what happens?

Laine is losing the puck just fine on his own.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Agreed. It's OK to put a little heat on him. He's not a young developing player so there should be some level of pressure. But lets not go overboard with it like we usually do. Stay calm, cool, and collected boys and girls.

This is up to Laine to make adjustments.

Laine is currently what scouts feared would be the worst version of Cole Eiserman. Big shot and that’s it.

He MUST improve his game. Getting healthy should hopefully help. We may have to wait until next year to know how good a player he really is

 

[Marioesque]

Laine is losing the puck just fine on his own.

That's the thing when he has to be carrying to the puck more but if his line mates can create space and skate it up , that's the situation you want where Laine is the triggerman.

In his current line, it looks like he often becomes a net front player trying to tip the puck and that's about the worst spot you could have him in the offensive zone.

 

[overlords]

Laine is losing the puck just fine on his own.

He's the worst guy on his line and it's not particularly close. He's lost. It took Kirby like half a season to get his shit somewhat back together, no reason to expect more from Laine who has played even less games than Dach over the last 3 years.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

He's the worst guy on his line and it's not particularly close. He's lost. It took Kirby like half a season to get his shit somewhat back together, no reason to expect more from Laine who has played even less games than Dach over the last 3 years.

Agreed. Dach has improved tenfold and Newhook - while inconsistent- does create chances on that line. I haven’t seen Laine do anything.

But your point about him not playing in a while is forgotten about. I was just thinking about recovery from injury but he hasn’t played in a while too. And we saw how that messed up Dach earlier in the year.

 

[sampollock]

“Overall, my body is good, I skate well. My confidence is not at a high level, but otherwise, I feel good. It’s difficult even if my body feels good sometimes and my confidence is less there. I have to contribute in another way if my offensive game is not there. It will work, it will work” - Patrik Laine, via RDS

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

“Overall, my body is good, I skate well. My confidence is not at a high level, but otherwise, I feel good. It’s difficult even if my body feels good sometimes and my confidence is less there. I have to contribute in another way if my offensive game is not there. It will work, it will work” - Patrik Laine, via RDS

Oh yeah, I beleive it !!

 

[Habssince89]

“Overall, my body is good, I skate well. My confidence is not at a high level, but otherwise, I feel good. It’s difficult even if my body feels good sometimes and my confidence is less there. I have to contribute in another way if my offensive game is not there. It will work, it will work” - Patrik Laine, via RDS

He definitely is self-aware. I like Laines blunt attitude. I think he has a lot of challenges to overcome still but no one can accuse him of not giving a shit

 

[ursus maritimus]

Laine has its flaws. He needs a certain type of player who is able to feed him and at the same time he is able to give good passes to the opponent as well, who has the ability to solve or move the puck forward.
It doesn't work in this line. Laine is not the type to fight with the puck, but a quick solver.

 

[Ozmodiar]

He's the worst guy on his line and it's not particularly close. He's lost. It took Kirby like half a season to get his shit somewhat back together, no reason to expect more from Laine who has played even less games than Dach over the last 3 years.

Maybe the whole line is bad. All 3 players. Castoffs. The line of misfit toys.

3 former 1st rd picks, incl 2nd and 3rd OA, and nobody can drive the line?

I think there’s still room for improvement, esp Dach, but I don’t think HuGo is banking heavily on any of them. The 2nd line will look much different in 2 years.

 

[BergevinBurner]

If I'm being honest, Laine being benched over Newhook irks me.

I know he's not great 5v5, but everyone on the planet knew that his main purpose on the team is to be a sniper, yet Dach and Newhook combine for 14 assists across 104 shared games this season in which they both played on the 2nd line essentially the whole time and received powerplay time, that's utterly insane to me. Of course Laine isn't going to succeed when he has those 2 as linemates.

 

[WeThreeKings]

If I'm being honest, Laine being benched over Newhook irks me.

I know he's not great 5v5, but everyone on the planet knew that his main purpose on the team is to be a sniper, yet Dach and Newhook combine for 14 assists across 104 shared games this season in which they both played on the 2nd line essentially the whole time and received powerplay time, that's utterly insane to me. Of course Laine isn't going to succeed when he has those 2 as linemates.

I'm more irked that Dvorak never gets benched but Laine, Dach and Slaf have all been benched during the season. Dvorak has some of the worst giveaways this season, so it's not like it was never warranted.

For the line, Laine has every bit of blame as anyone for why it hasn't gone in recent games. His puck touches have been atrocious.

I'm happy they are breaking the line up, because the bottom 6 isn't doing anything anymore, so there's no reason to just leave the 3 to try to figure it out together. Laine doesn't want to create off the cycle, Dach does, they are oil and water at this point.

 

[sampollock]

If I'm being honest, Laine being benched over Newhook irks me.

I know he's not great 5v5, but everyone on the planet knew that his main purpose on the team is to be a sniper, yet Dach and Newhook combine for 14 assists across 104 shared games this season in which they both played on the 2nd line essentially the whole time and received powerplay time, that's utterly insane to me. Of course Laine isn't going to succeed when he has those 2 as linemates.

AGREE newhook keeps getting a pass

but. fans have not had a sniper like this for a long time. So...MSL find a way to make this work
40 goal man will have times that they are not 100% perfect, in fact he is pd to score let's face it

 

[BergevinBurner]

AGREE newhook keeps getting a pass

but. fans have not had a sniper like this for a long time. So...MSL find a way to make this work
40 goal man will have times that they are not 100% perfect, in fact he is pd to score let's face it

If they can get a legitimate 2C that can win draws, set up plays and shoot the puck then I honestly think Demidov-Mystery 2C-Laine has the potential to be a more dangerous line than Slaf-Suzuki-Caufield as early as next season.

 

[sampollock]

If they can get a legitimate 2C that can win draws, set up plays and shoot the puck then I honestly think Demidov-Mystery 2C-Laine has the potential to be a more dangerous line than Slaf-Suzuki-Caufield as early as next season.

great
he needs a set up man for his shot
but that being said, if and when they get a guy.... PL will have to be a shooter and prove he critics wrong

 

[kris]

If they can get a legitimate 2C that can win draws, set up plays and shoot the puck then I honestly think Demidov-Mystery 2C-Laine has the potential to be a more dangerous line than Slaf-Suzuki-Caufield as early as next season.

Really don't think so 5 on 5 unless McDavid magically turns into the mystery C. Laine and Demidov will need a babysitter if they're on a line together

 

[HuGort]

I'm more irked that Dvorak never gets benched but Laine, Dach and Slaf have all been benched during the season. Dvorak has some of the worst giveaways this season, so it's not like it was never warranted.

For the line, Laine has every bit of blame as anyone for why it hasn't gone in recent games. His puck touches have been atrocious.

I'm happy they are breaking the line up, because the bottom 6 isn't doing anything anymore, so there's no reason to just leave the 3 to try to figure it out together. Laine doesn't want to create off the cycle, Dach does, they are oil and water at this point.

Dvorak only guy we have who can win a faceoff probably why.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Dvorak only guy we have who can win a faceoff probably why.

Laine being one of the only guys who can score 6 on 5 didn't get him out there. Plus winning a face off shouldn't get you out on 5 on 3s after you've coughed up two goals in your slot area.

Either you punish everyone or you don't. Can't just let one guy get away with being terrible cause he's slightly better on face offa

 

[DAChampion]

There's a quote in there that is absolutely Subbanesque and got the alarm bells ringing:


Yeah, I remember with each passing year Subban putting more and more emphasis on telling the world he was "more than a hockey player" and packing pounds and living the life on the 'gram while he got worse on the ice.

Laine is half-assing it, hoping to milk one more big contract out of the league, but he's already more interested in the latest PS5 offering than playing 5v5 hockey.

It's not too late for him to turn things around, but it's getting late. I am glad St.Louis is calling him out.

Get a grip. It's normal for people to have some existence outside their job.

 

[ReHabs]

Get a grip. It's normal for people to have some existence outside their job.

Laine has said his issue was largely that he would withdraw both figuratively and literally. Having some externality is a solution for him!

 

[DAChampion]

I don't think he's the type of guy that can do that on a regular basis. He's like a Kovalev light in a sense. Incredible talent but just really doesn't have that drive to be the best because it doesn't mean that much to him. Just my take on him

People liked to say that Kovalev only showed up one game in ten, and nonsense like that, but he averaged 65 pts / 82 games with the Habs, including a season with major injury.

Laine has said his issue was largely that he would withdraw both figuratively and literally. Having some externality is a solution for him!

I think many people just get angry when talented players don't talk like robots.

 

[Habssince89]

People liked to say that Kovalev only showed up one game in ten, and nonsense like that, but he averaged 65 pts / 82 games with the Habs, including a season with major injury.



I think many people just get angry when talented players don't talk like robots.

yeah the "he only showed up every X number of games" seems to get exaggerated a bit. As someone who was there, he would disappear sometimes but it wasn't how some people describe it.

Overall, Laine still has 18pts in 25GP and he looks like he's not fully back to 100%. If he wasn't injured in pre-season I doubt he'd look this rusty. We are going to get a clear picture by next TDL. Worse case scenario is we let him walk and the trade is still Harris for a 2nd. I think we're seeing the risks in taking him on, but at least he's not expected to be the Kovalev and lead the team. He's a PP specialist and that's fine. The team isn't losing because of him alone.

 

[ReHabs]

Overall, Laine still has 18pts in 25GP and he looks like he's not fully back to 100%. If he wasn't injured in pre-season I doubt he'd look this rusty.

Notice how some commentary excuses away Alex Newhook's pathetic performance this year (16pts in 53gp) but hyper-fixates on Laine (18pts in 25gp)?

In his LAST 25gp, the re-awakened, re-born, proved-'em-wrong Kirby Dach has 12pts in 25gp. Slafkovsky has 14pts in 25gp. Newhook has 10pts in 25gp. Gallagher, Anderson, and Dvorak each have 8pts in 25gp. Only Suzuki, Caufield, and Hutson have more than Laine in their last 25gp with 23, 23, and 18pts in 25gp respectively.

But the biggest problem with the team is Patrik Laine, right?