Player Discussion Patrik Laine: Part 2 - Healthy Living Edition

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I know right. Same agendas driving the same commentary.

Yeah, instead of simplistic reductionism, I rather see a great disparity in how much they earn and how Laine's contract is coming to term as soon as next year and a decision will have to be made about him. In essence, Newhook is irrelevant compared to Laine, and the latter is focused on because people wonder, or already decided, if his adventure with us should continue as he's gonna cost a lot more than Newhook. It has nothing to do with a double standard as those two players don't belong on the same yardstick.

 

[DAChampion]

I feel like the Habs have been crippled by injuries every season that I paid attention, with the exceptions of 2008 and 2013. It's frustrating.

 

[Marioesque]

It has nothing to do with a double standard as those two players don't belong on the same yardstick.

When both are healthy, I agree. But that's not the reality right now, is it?
We know why Laine isn't 100%, everyone saw the hit and the decision to not operate, to participate in the season in some way. We all see the knee brace.

So with all this information about the situation, why is all that brushed aside as not really relevant? I'd say it's the most relevant thing in the conversation.

 

[Habssince89]

I feel like the Habs have been crippled by injuries every season that I paid attention, with the exceptions of 2008 and 2013. It's frustrating.

At least we have new doctors finally. But yes so frustrating

 

[BehindTheTimes]

You sir, are behind the times.

Nope, even as he has improved, he still sucks.

Dach, Slaf and Newhook. The big Hughes acquisitions are by far the biggest disappointments this year. There is still time, but they don’t look like great bets atm.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Nope,

Yep. You are. That’s a fact.

Just kidding man. All in good fun.

even as he has improved, he still sucks.

He’s played well. And when the team has started to crack his line has been better than our first lately.

Dach, Slaf and Newhook. The big Hughes acquisitions are by far the biggest disappointments this year. There is still time, but they don’t look like great bets atm.

Dach has a legit reason. His numbers were worst in league. He recovered and then they put him with Laine - who now is worst in league. And Newhook had to play with both of them.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Yep. You are. That’s a fact.

Just kidding man. All in good fun.

He’s played well. And when the team has started to crack his line has been better than our first lately.

Dach has a legit reason. His numbers were worst in league. He recovered and then they put him with Laine - who now is worst in league. And Newhook had to play with both of them.

Their own play could have nothing to do with it.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Their own play could have nothing to do with it.

Dach was hurt and has improved. Laine is just coming back and sucks. Both have had worst in the league numbers.

That’s not Newhook’s fault. What is Newhook’s fault is inconsistency and not finishing. To me, he’s shown he can’t play on the second line as a regular going forward.

He’s been stuck with two anchors though. That’s a fact.

 

[Habssince89]

Dach was hurt and has improved. Laine is just coming back and sucks. Both have had worst in the league numbers.

That’s not Newhook’s fault. What is Newhook’s fault is inconsistency and not finishing. To me, he’s shown he can’t play on the second line as a regular going forward.

He’s been stuck with two anchors though. That’s a fact.

its a shame too, because Dach and Newhook should compliment each other well. Dach is a beast at cycling and Newhook can get to the puck first. Dach likes to pass, Newhook has a decent shot and can get sprung for rush chances. I'm curious what a full strength Dach and Newhook need (other than a Full strength Laine) for a linemate.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

its a shame too, because Dach and Newhook should compliment each other well. Dach is a beast at cycling and Newhook can get to the puck first. Dach likes to pass, Newhook has a decent shot and can get sprung for rush chances. I'm curious what a full strength Dach and Newhook need (other than a Full strength Laine) for a linemate.

I think if circumstances were different they could’ve had a good year. But Dach was an anchor himself to start the year and then they got stuck with Laine who’s also been an anchor. Joshua Roy was never able to be brought up…. Just one of those years were nothing worked out.

At least Dach has bounced back. I think next year he’s going to have a really good season. Newhook will move to the third line and that’s fine. He’d be great with Evans and Heineman.

 

[26Mats]

Nope, even as he has improved, he still sucks.

Dach, Slaf and Newhook. The big Hughes acquisitions are by far the biggest disappointments this year. There is still time, but they don’t look like great bets atm.

Those are only 3 of the big acquisitions. We used a 1st and a 2nd to get Newhook. Same price as Hage. So he has to be in the conversation. Same with Reinbacher and Demidov. So that's probably the big 6.

And then the secondary assets were used on Hutson, Fowler, Heineman, Beck, Mesar, Engstrom, Carrier via Barron, Matheson via Petry. Will be interesting to see if Hughes can turn Matheson into an asset we can use when it's time to contend.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I will take that game from Laine.. not necessarily driving play, but scoring on his opportunity on the PP and making sure the play didn't die on his stick 5 on 5.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I will take that game from Laine.. not necessarily driving play, but scoring on his opportunity on the PP and making sure the play didn't die on his stick 5 on 5.

He still killed a couple of plays. I don’t like him on that line right now.

 

[the]

Patrik Laine has been scoring the important goals when needed with 4 GWG in less than 30 games played this season. The team’s leader is 5 by Nick Suzuki. League leader is 9 by Draisaitl

 

[BLONG7]

Dach was hurt and has improved. Laine is just coming back and sucks. Both have had worst in the league numbers.

That’s not Newhook’s fault. What is Newhook’s fault is inconsistency and not finishing. To me, he’s shown he can’t play on the second line as a regular going forward.

He’s been stuck with two anchors though. That’s a fact.

Newhook is anchor #3........does he have what, 2-3 assists in 57 games?
The trio has been beyond bad, and MSL marched them out again last night.

As for Laine, he might get his PP mojo back, but his 5 on 5 is still suspect at best, but then again he and his mates are The Anchors.

 

[ReHabs]

Newhook is anchor #3........does he have what, 2-3 assists in 57 games?
The trio has been beyond bad, and MSL marched them out again last night.

As for Laine, he might get his PP mojo back, but his 5 on 5 is still suspect at best, but then again he and his mates are The Anchors.

It’s tough for Laine to play next to two scrubs when he’s already hobbled himself. Only so much he can do.

 

[Vapaatunnus]

He still killed a couple of plays. I don’t like him on that line right now.

And one bad pass to middle from own zone, what I recsll. But definetly better than previous games.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

It’s tough for Laine to play next to two scrubs when he’s already hobbled himself. Only so much he can do.

Laine is the boat anchor.

His numbers are worst in league. 42.99 CF%. Newhook's aren't bad and Dach's (also very bad) have been good since Jan 1.

Since Dec 3rd (Laine's first game) Newhook and Dach's CF% is 52 without Laine. With him it falls to 46.6. A pretty significant drop.

Btw, for those interested, Dach's CF on the year is 44.6. Pretty bad. Since Jan 1 though it's improved significantly to 49%. That's a big jump and he's playing much better hockey than he did to start the year. To give you an idea of just how bad Dach was to start the year... he was 42.5. Absolutely God awful. Right around where Laine is now.

Newhook's at 47.3 for the year. Not good but understandable considering he's played most of his season with guys who at one point or another were worst in league.

Dach and Laine without Newhook? 30 percent... That's so bad you can't even make it up.

 

[VT]

Don't expect much from Laine at 5v5 for the rest of the season. I thought he'd be fine sooner, but he didn't make such mistakes in Columbus even under pressure, on the contrary, he played very well (I don't mean last game, I didn't watch that one). He didn't skate well at the 4 nations tournament either. Although he has gotten better.

Oh, and I don't understand why MSL won't move him to Dvorak, but he's still playing with Dach, who is a bad center right now plus they do not have chemistry. Also Dach has bad positional play what is not too good for center.

 

[OneSharpMarble]

Newhook is anchor #3........does he have what, 2-3 assists in 57 games?
The trio has been beyond bad, and MSL marched them out again last night.

As for Laine, he might get his PP mojo back, but his 5 on 5 is still suspect at best, but then again he and his mates are The Anchors.

It's not suspect, it's non-existent and if it doesn't improve he also cannot play in the bottom 6 because he doesn't bring anything but pp goals. How much does a powerplay specialist cost in the NHL?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Newhook is anchor #3........does he have what, 2-3 assists in 57 games?

He had no assists through November because the guy he was playing with was a CF% of around 40.

Blame Newhook for lack of consistency and lack of finish. He deserves that. But they lashed him to not one but TWO guys who've had awful years. Dach at least has come back but now they stick them both with Laine...

The trio has been beyond bad, and MSL marched them out again last night.

Yeah, I'd much prefer Laine bottom six right now. Next year he can play on the 2nd.

As for Laine, he might get his PP mojo back, but his 5 on 5 is still suspect at best, but then again he and his mates are The Anchors.

His mates are not the anchors. He is.

Dach and Laine together on the ice without Newhook have a CF% of 30!!!!

 

[SOLR]

its a shame too, because Dach and Newhook should compliment each other well. Dach is a beast at cycling and Newhook can get to the puck first. Dach likes to pass, Newhook has a decent shot and can get sprung for rush chances. I'm curious what a full strength Dach and Newhook need (other than a Full strength Laine) for a linemate.

There is no real playmaker on the line. Starting to sense Dach's real limitation is that he's just an accessory play maker at this level, this is why his stat lines grows when he plays with Suzuki (Suzuki is a good play maker at this level)

I think we have to be patient here as we'll get another elite playmaker before next year begins (Demidov).

Demidov - Dach - Laine, lets test that for 4 months to start next year. If Dach can't make it then, he'll never make it.

 

[SlafySZN]

There is no real playmaker on the line. Starting to sense Dach's real limitation is that he's just an accessory play maker at this level, this is why his stat lines grows when he plays with Suzuki (Suzuki is a good play maker at this level)

I think we have to be patient here as we'll get another elite playmaker before next year begins (Demidov).

Demidov - Dach - Laine, lets test that for 4 months to start next year. If Dach can't make it then, he'll never make it.

I honestly don’t want Demidov to play with Laine. He needs some good veteran guy who’s also able to help him offensively.

 

[SOLR]

I honestly don’t want Demidov to play with Laine. He needs some good veteran guy who’s also able to help him offensively.

We have 1 of 1 of those (Suzuki). Unless we trade Laine for a 2nd C and we move Dach to the wing.

 

[VT]

There is no real playmaker on the line. Starting to sense Dach's real limitation is that he's just an accessory play maker at this level, this is why his stat lines grows when he plays with Suzuki (Suzuki is a good play maker at this level)

I think we have to be patient here as we'll get another elite playmaker before next year begins (Demidov).

Demidov - Dach - Laine, lets test that for 4 months to start next year. If Dach can't make it then, he'll never make it.

Laine doesn't need a playmaker. You've even claimed to say he plays best with players like Boone Jenner. If I had to compare lines, I'd move him to Dvorak and Gallagher. Newhook would be a good partner, but not Dach. He has the bad FO. He's not good in front of the net, in the corners, around the boards. I don't know about last game, but more than once I've seen Laine in front of the net instead of using his shot. What kind of stupidity is that? Other lines have players in front of the net - Slafkovsky, Anderson, Heineman if just one. Only the second line doesn't. To be successful Anderson must be on the wing because he has excellent acceleration, is fast, wins battles.

For example, if Laine made passed from the boards with his back turned to the ice, Jenner and Nyquist exactly knew where to stand. Which led to fast transition. Btw, this also applied to Lundell and Luostarinen. Alternatively, with Chinakhov, they knew exactly where to stand for the transition to be successful. But the minimum with Dach it doesn't work. That's not mean Dach is bad, they just don't have the chemistry. Add to that Laine's serious issues (go see a neurologist and ask about the effects of concussions and prolonged depression) plus the need to play up, and you immediately understand his bad play at 5v5. And he is playing bad in that situation.