Player Discussion Patrik Laine: Part 2 - Healthy Living Edition

  • We sincerely apologize for the extended downtime. Our hosting provider, XenForo Cloud, encountered a major issue with their backup system, which unfortunately resulted in the loss of some critical data from the past year.

    What This Means for You:

    • If you created an account after March 2024, it no longer exists. You will need to sign up again to access the forum.
    • If you registered before March 2024 but changed your email, username, or password in the past year, those changes were lost. You’ll need to update your account details manually once you're logged in.
    • Threads and posts created within the last year have been restored.
    • Our 2025 light and dark themes were lost, so we are rebuilding them. Light theme is currently available, but work in progress

    Our team is working with Xenforo Cloud to recover data using backups, sitemaps, and other available resources. We know this is frustrating, and we deeply regret the impact on our community. We are taking steps with Xenforo Cloud to ensure this never happens again. This is work in progress. Thank you for your patience and support as we work through this.

    In the meantime, feel free to join our Discord Server
So much skill and talent but bloody slow.Looks alright with Newhook that is playing well. Add another somewhat quick and talented winger and see what happens.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LaineBOOM
He’s cheat code in the PP. He’s improving at 5 on 5 as well. Slowly but surely he’s coming along.
Did they play more one timer chances to him after the PP-goal? I just saw the highlights and that was the most free space Laine was given on PP since December. I hope Habs utilized it fully.
 
1+1 rewarded with 3 minutes of icetime for the later half of the game.

And the opponent climbed back in and won the game while he sat there waiting to play

Nah, that's how it's been going for a good while. Good way to break a players mental, I guess.

Yeah if they are trying to deflate his confidence and nerf his ability to win games for the team, giving him 10 minutes of ice time should do it just fine
 
Did they play more one timer chances to him after the PP-goal? I just saw the highlights and that was the most free space Laine was given on PP since December. I hope Habs utilized it fully.


On the second PP they had a guy on Laine, so they learned from first
 
No, I don't really want Laine on team. Long season and then 2 month grind of playoffs, I have no faith in him playing well to cup.
You don't have to worried about playoffs. Without talent like him on the team the only excitement you have is does the team win lottery or not. But I quess, that's enough for you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Farmboy Patty
Laine is a big boy now and gets his money, honestly it's up to him to play at a level that demands more ice time. He has shown the ability to drive a line in the past, he did exactly that in Columbus, bringing people up no matter who he was playing with. I understand it might be difficult to adjust to playing like half the minutes you're used to, but tough break.

We are talking about a player supposedly in his prime. Sure, he didn't play hockey for a long time and had a pre-season knee injury, it would be very understandable if he's not up to his usual level yet. But if that's the case, then are people expecting the coach to base his lineup decisions on trying to find a spot for a guy playing on one leg to succeed?

He's on pace for something like 35g / 60 points total per 82gp while getting very little TOI or 5v5 production so clearly the talent is still there but if he's physically capable of playing 5v5 hockey at a level I'm used to seeing from him, then he just needs to find a way to start doing that despite not having the coaches trust, and the trust will follow or even if the coach is a complete idiot, eventually his hand will be forced to give Laine more minutes, because the pressure on him would be so insane.
 
No ones paying 8mm and giving term for a part time one dimensional player. 6mm for 55 games is the equivalent of 8mm for a full season.

I said a month ago he’s maybe a 5mm player and was mocked for that opinion. I’d be hesitant to go more than 5x1. He had negative value to start the year at 7.6 and his value has arguably gone down.
If Laine isn’t healthy all season next year, I would move on completely from him. We need reliable players. He doesn’t seem capable of being that and hasn’t for a long time.
 
So much skill and talent but bloody slow.Looks alright with Newhook that is playing well. Add another somewhat quick and talented winger and see what happens.
I missed last gsme.

Interested to see Laine with Roy. Both gave offensive talent. But will they be too slow, even with Newie at C? We'll see...
 
How about leaning in to his talent?

I have watched the player since he was 16. If you lean on him, he REALLY delivers. If you play him 3rd line minutes, you get unexpected gpg but generally nothing special.

Laine plays as well as his crew. It's NOT at all surprising that Suzuki and Hutson are the main feeds for Laine goals. They are the ones on that level. Demidov is the 4th, and CC is right there too.

3rd or 4th line Laine will score points above average but will look like a 3rd or 4th liner. While being almost PPG.

Laine in top line with top talent, he's beyond 3.5 points per 60. It really depends on what you ask of him. The more you ask, more he provides. But don't ask board battles or defensive excellence (nobody expects that from Drai or Pasta). He's average or less at that. He's 99%th percentile on offensive production, lean the F into it.

Full PP. 1st line 3 vs 3. Do it.
 
Last edited:
How about leaning in to his talent?

I have watched the player since he was 16. If you lean on him, he REALLY delivers. If you play him 3rd line minutes, you get unexpected gpg but generally nothing special.

Laine plays as well as his crew. It's NOT at all surprising that Suzuki and Hutson are the main feeds for Laine goals. They are the ones on that level. Demidov is the 4th, and CC is right there too.

3rd or 4th line Laine will score points above average but will look like a 3rd or 4th liner. While being almost PPG.

Laine in top line with top talent, he's beyond 3.5 points per 60. It really depends on what you ask of him. The more you ask, more he provides. But don't ask board battles or defensive excellence (nobody expects that from Drai or Pasta). He's average or less at that. He's 99%th percentile on offensive production, lean the F into it.

Full PP. 1st line 3 vs 3. Do it.
This is the thing. He is a specialty weapon. And we actually have the players to feed him the puck. The more I watch Laine the more I see an unorthodox style that doesn't always look great and then suddenly is zipping a perfect pass.

I saw some poster on here the other day say how they "can't understand how someone who looks so uncoordinated can shoot the puck like that?" And while I agree its puzzling, he just makes it work. It reminds me a bit like Kotkaniemi, but with more Talent and an Elite tool at his disposal. I think he should be playing a little bit more than he has, and I agree full 2mins of PP, why not?
 
  • Like
Reactions: HHel
I really want to see Demidov with Laine next year. Imagine having a playmaker like Demidov with a sniper like Laine.

The 2nd line have potential to be very dangerous next year and I think having Demidov on his line, Laine will be hype to play.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HHel and Hacketts
I really want to see Demidov with Laine next year. Imagine having a playmaker like Demidov with a sniper like Laine.

The 2nd line have potential to be very dangerous next year and I think having Demidov on his line, Laine will be hype to play.
I want to see Laine stay in Montreal this offseason and spend 30 minutes a day picking up the puck off the wall.
 
I really want to see Demidov with Laine next year. Imagine having a playmaker like Demidov with a sniper like Laine.

The 2nd line have potential to be very dangerous next year and I think having Demidov on his line, Laine will be hype to play.
Giving a liability at 5 on 5 like Laine to Demidov is not a good idea. Give him some players that can play at a higher pace
 
Giving a liability at 5 on 5 like Laine to Demidov is not a good idea. Give him some players that can play at a higher pace

I think Laine and Demidov will work great together. You match them with a good center and we will have a very dangerous top 6.

Laine this season coming back from a major injury, hes pacing on a 82 games season for 35 goals and 30 assists. And he havent played on a good line. Next season I can see him scoring 40 goals.

Laine will never be the first to comeback make a great defensive play but pair him with a better center whos good defensively and a playmaker like Demidov and he will be a very valuable player. I dont understand all the critics, what were they expecting from Laine?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Goalfield22
I don't understand why people want us to give him first line minutes. But that's just me , he is a mess at 5 on 5 and plays at a snails pace , are people really questioning why marty doesn't give him much 5 on 5 ice time lol it seems pretty obvious when you watch him , especially in a tie game or up 1.

Is the goal to win games or get Laine more points haha
 
Laine is -10, but he has 16 PP points (12 of them goals), so he has been a net positive even if you attributes the full -10 to him. His prowess on the PP is a key element to our playoff hunt. We just need to live with his mediocre 5v5 play for now. Next year, I hope he has his legs back.
 
  • Like
Reactions: The Gr8 Dane
I don't understand why people want us to give him first line minutes. But that's just me , he is a mess at 5 on 5 and plays at a snails pace , are people really questioning why marty doesn't give him much 5 on 5 ice time lol it seems pretty obvious when you watch him , especially in a tie game or up 1.

Is the goal to win games or get Laine more points haha

Hes coming back from a major knee injury. Hes not in game shape so playing him less minutes makes a lot of sense. Plus there is no clear second line. We dont have a good playmaker to match him with.
 
  • Like
Reactions: The Gr8 Dane
Hes coming back from a major knee injury. Hes not in game shape so playing him less minutes makes a lot of sense. Plus there is no clear second line. We dont have a good playmaker to match him with.
Yes I have no real issues with Laine or his play considering the circumstances I'm just saying there's no way he should be out there for like 18 minutes like some are suggesting , especially not with the linemates he gets
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pat Riot
I don't understand why people want us to give him first line minutes. But that's just me , he is a mess at 5 on 5 and plays at a snails pace , are people really questioning why marty doesn't give him much 5 on 5 ice time lol it seems pretty obvious when you watch him , especially in a tie game or up 1.

Is the goal to win games or get Laine more points haha


As I said, he will look like his line does, he adjusts to their pace.

He can play with faster players, like Rantanen does. They have the IQ to compliment the faster linemates.

Laine at his best is F3 into the zone, the first 2 fwds enter zone and push defense back, it opens room for Laine to get shots.

Laine taking shots=habs win more likely


I've seen every iteration of it, he's played with 1st line, 2nd and 3rd line talents and ice time. The best use of him is to support that shot, have enough talent in the line to push defense down and enable his shooting.

Worst use of him is giving him lesser talent and less ice time to work with.

All this "liability " talk too, he wasn't out there bleeding goals last game, Newhook line took the first two goals against. When Laine was in Newhook line, he got minuses. When he's out of it, he doesn't.

Offense is the best defense. Don't have to worry about not being the best boardplay guy, if you are constantly creating offense

Also always need to look at 5 on 5 stats rather than +/-, as Laine is always on the ice when our goalie is pulled and never out there when opponents goalie is pulled. That skews the +/-
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Hacketts

Ad

Ad