Player Discussion Patrik Laine: Part 2 - Healthy Living Edition

[Hacketts]

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 +/-

Demidov might be the perfect player for him, they should compliment each other well.

 

[Andrei79]

Demidov might be the perfect player for him, they should compliment each other well.

Demidov will struggle with the 5 on 5 play initially. It would be nice if they could insulate both with a center that's at the very least competent. With how much the D pinches nowadays, centers or at the very least one player on the line has to be aware defensively.

Offensively though, I think Laine is definitely one of the few players that will be able to comprehend Demidov.

 

[Marioesque]

Demidov might be the perfect player for him, they should compliment each other well.

Absolutely. Demidov creates chaos for defense and lots of room for his li emates because he pulls the defense on him. Laine is the best distance shooter in the game, having someone like Demidov to force the defense back and being a scoring threat himself, that opens Laine up for what he does best.

Can't wait! Both are incredibly talented. It's easy to forget how big of a talent Laine
is, because of the broken seasons due to all kinds of things, and the bad "press" online. Before his first injury in NHL, playing in 1st line role as an 18 year old, Laine was pacing Gretzky/Lemieux numbers. Until Wheeler came back to 1st line and Laine was pushed down in lineup, then he suffered a concussion and was out for a while, which allowed Matthews to catch up and win calder

Many seem to think of it as a reward system where you get rewarded more ice time by looking like you're doing a lot even if it's not creating anything positive.

I look at it as asset management . Laine is really productive offensively, he's not great defensively. So play him with people who can be in the offensive end of the ice more than on defense.

He's not a defense asset. He shouldn't play in lines that spend most of it's time defending, receiving

 

[Hacketts]

Absolutely. Demidov creates chaos for defense and lots of room for his li emates because he pulls the defense on him. Laine is the best distance shooter in the game, having someone like Demidov to force the defense back and being a scoring threat himself, that opens Laine up for what he does best.

Can't wait! Both are incredibly talented. It's easy to forget how big of a talent Laine
is, because of the broken seasons due to all kinds of things, and the bad "press" online. Before his first injury in NHL, playing in 1st line role as an 18 year old, Laine was pacing Gretzky/Lemieux numbers. Until Wheeler came back to 1st line and Laine was pushed down in lineup, then he suffered a concussion and was out for a while, which allowed Matthews to catch up and win calder

Laine needs to some serious offseason training this summer tho. He needs to put in the work.

 

[Marioesque]

Laine needs to some serious offseason training this summer tho. He needs to put in the work.

He spent last summer in Florida training hard with NFL athletes etc at some specialized program, to strengthen for avoiding injury. I don't think he had much of vacation like players normally do. I know he was there before and after SC finals, there were Instagram posts showing him training, posted by the clinic or whatever it was.


And then he got kneed in pre-season. And now he accelerates like Joe Pavelski, with a brace.

It's not that he doesn't work.

 

[Hacketts]

He spent last summer in Florida training hard with NFL athletes etc at some specialized program, to strengthen for avoiding injury. I don't think he had much of vacation like players normally do. I know he was there before and after SC finals, there were Instagram posts showing him training, posted by the clinic or whatever it was.


And then he got kneed in pre-season.

It's not that he doesn't work.

I mean he should stay in Montreal this offseason, stay skating, and working on evolving his game.

 

[Marioesque]

I mean he should stay in Montreal this offseason, stay skating, and working on evolving his game.

Yeah, and I'm pretty sure he will because the soon to be wife would likely be bored in Finland

I don't know where the wedding is going to be but she seems like a big city person

 

[Rob Sense]

watching Laine play with the brace is tough...he has lost a step in speed but more so in confidence to attack. I think he declined surgery because it would have ended his season. Not sure this improves without surgery. If he doesn't choose the knife then hopefully time and an off-season program will strengthen the knee...but those darn ACL don't repair themselves.

 

[Marioesque]

watching Laine play with the brace is tough...he has lost a step in speed but more so in confidence to attack. I think he declined surgery because it would have ended his season. Not sure this improves without surgery. If he doesn't choose the knife then hopefully time and an off-season program will strengthen the knee...but those darn ACL don't repair themselves.

Surgery might be what is needed. I watched Selanne's career rejuvenated by knee surgery. He looked done in SJ and Avs, came back a SC winner

Laine isn't as affected by acceleration deficiencies as much as Selanne, it's not the highlight of Laine's game. So it can be a lesser problem for Laine, his specialty is not first two strides like Teemu's was

 

[the]

This team would be at the bottom of the standings if it wasn't for Patrik Laine. His offensive output has been a gamechanger for this team.

 

[Marioesque]

This team would be at the bottom of the standings if it wasn't for Patrik Laine. His offensive output has been a gamechanger for this team.

But you know, apparently he's a liability or something. I've been told by some posters

 

[DAChampion]

But you know, apparently he's a liability or something. I've been told by some posters

The hatred of Laine is some of the most ridiculous nonsense I've seen of here.

But I guess he's preventing the Habs from drafting Misa so there's that.

 

[the]

Just buy him out. We don’t need such player supposedly.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Absolutely. Demidov creates chaos for defense and lots of room for his li emates because he pulls the defense on him. Laine is the best distance shooter in the game, having someone like Demidov to force the defense back and being a scoring threat himself, that opens Laine up for what he does best.

Can't wait! Both are incredibly talented. It's easy to forget how big of a talent Laine
is, because of the broken seasons due to all kinds of things, and the bad "press" online. Before his first injury in NHL, playing in 1st line role as an 18 year old, Laine was pacing Gretzky/Lemieux numbers. Until Wheeler came back to 1st line and Laine was pushed down in lineup, then he suffered a concussion and was out for a while, which allowed Matthews to catch up and win calder

Many seem to think of it as a reward system where you get rewarded more ice time by looking like you're doing a lot even if it's not creating anything positive.

I look at it as asset management . Laine is really productive offensively, he's not great defensively. So play him with people who can be in the offensive end of the ice more than on defense.

He's not a defense asset. He shouldn't play in lines that spend most of it's time defending, receiving

Your Laine bias meter is red lining again and it is difficult to look at with any fragment of objectivity and not be annoyed.

Laine was never trending anywhere in any rational mind as being in the same conversation as Lemieux and Gretzky and Mathews is a better shooter in every regard. Laine has a great one time but his wrist shot is easily disrupted/blocked due to the fact that he only shoots from one release and does not shoot with multiple angles and through toe drags like Mathews does. The fact that you are still acting as his certified apologist for not winning the calder is embarrassing.

Nobody is arguing that Laine does not have a world class one timer but Laine is not in Mathews league as an overall/complete shooter from any distance. Caufield is truthfully a much better all around shooter even though Laine gets the edge on the one timer. Laine has broke 30 goals twice in his career including the one year that he broke 40.

Laine relies on other players to prop him up whereas both Mathews and Caufield often make their own shots. His back checking and overall involvement are embarrassing to watch as well as his terrible body language and how uncomfortable he makes everyone around him. Unless he does a 180 with these things his time in Montreal will not exceed his current contract imo.

 

[Heffyhoof]

But you know, apparently he's a liability or something. I've been told by some posters

He is. Your ability to judge is clearly being overshadowed by his PP goals.

 

[Benstheman]

At this point, Laine is a specialist and that’s ok for me. Our special units are the very reason why we are in a position to make the playoffs and he is part of it.

Off course, he doesn’t play to his salary level but we always knew he’d never would.

Let’s see what happens next season playing with Demidov and maybe a legit 2C, on a contract year. and maybe a summer surgery?

 

[Halberdier]

He is. Your ability to judge is clearly being overshadowed by his PP goals.

Wins matter.

Not only he makes otherwise horrible 2nd line at least occasionally effective and dangerous, his PP points in top of that are literally game changing.

He has brought already at minimum some dozen or more points for the team, and had cost at most a couple. He is a net positive player, and has practically always been that way, sans one bad season.

His 5-on-5 numbers will be better when he fully recovers from the knee injury and gets his speed back, but the goals for vs. goals against numbers are already better than for his most common linemates anyway.

 

[Rob Sense]

Wins matter.

Not only he makes otherwise horrible 2nd line at least occasionally effective and dangerous, his PP points in top of that are literally game changing.

He has brought already at minimum some dozen or more points for the team, and had cost at most a couple. He is a net positive player, and has practically always been that way, sans one bad season.

His 5-on-5 numbers will be better when he fully recovers from the knee injury and gets his speed back, but the goals for vs. goals against numbers are already better than for his most common linemates anyway.

Agreed but we also need players on the 2nd line that compliment him.

 

[Halberdier]

At this point, Laine is a specialist and that’s ok for me. Our special units are the very reason why we are in a position to make the playoffs and he is part of it.

Off course, he doesn’t play to his salary level but we always knew he’d never would.

Let’s see what happens next season playing with Demidov and maybe a legit 2C, on a contract year. and maybe a summer surgery?

That's fair. Given that Laine doesn't play on 1st line and has reduced minutes, his point per game is pretty awesome at 0.75, almost the double of Kirby Dach and more than Dach + Newhook combined!

I see absolute no reason why Laine would not be over point per game had he played with Suzuki on the 1st line, and that should match his salary. However, for the team that would be less optimal as there isn't really secondary scoring to speak of, and also I guess that his knee isn't really OK for playing regularly like 20 minutes per night.

Let's pray he stays healthy, gets healthy summer training without setbacks and gets someone along the caliber of Demidov, Suzuki, Caufield on his line, optimally two and then watch out. He was already a treat to watch on 4 nations tournament with Florida forwards Lundell & Luostarinen.

 

[Benstheman]

That's fair. Given that Laine doesn't play on 1st line and has reduced minutes, his point per game is pretty awesome at 0.75, almost the double of Kirby Dach and more than Dach + Newhook combined!

I see absolute no reason why Laine would not be over point per game had he played with Suzuki on the 1st line, and that should match his salary. However, for the team that would be less optimal as there isn't really secondary scoring to speak of, and also I guess that his knee isn't really OK for playing regularly like 20 minutes per night.

Let's pray he stays healthy, gets healthy summer training without setbacks and gets someone along the caliber of Demidov, Suzuki, Caufield on his line, optimally two and then watch out. He was already a treat to watch on 4 nations tournament with Florida forwards Lundell & Luostarinen.

Speaking of Lundell, he would be a great target for us. If Bennett is extended in Florida, they might have to shed salary.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Maybe it's me, but Laine seems better away from the puck. Would like him to be better, but even a bit more he could have a spot with the Habs in the future, but at a reduced cap hit.

8.7, drop that to 7, maybe even 6.5 and I'd be more than fine with the Habs keeping him.

He has 12 points in his last 10. With his wicked shot and Caufields the Habs have 2 shots that can potentially change a game.

 

[Goalfield22]

Maybe it's me, but Laine seems better away from the puck. Would like him to be better, but even a bit more he could have a spot with the Habs in the future, but at a reduced cap hit.

8.7, drop that to 7, maybe even 6.5 and I'd be more than fine with the Habs keeping him.

He has 12 points in his last 10. With his wicked shot and Caufields the Habs have 2 shots that can potentially change a game.

With the cap going up, I don't think he will accept a reduction in cap. If anything, the lowest he will want is his current salary of $8.7, which will be a pretty good bargain.

 

[DAChampion]

Laine is the most talented Habs forward since Kovalev. What he can do with an injured body is amazing. He turned the Habs' season around.

 

[DAChampion]

With the cap going up, I don't think he will accept a reduction in cap. If anything, the lowest he will want is his current salary of $8.7, which will be a pretty good bargain.

Laine can demand 16 million if he wants, but reality is that past salary doesn't actually determine future salary. His play next year will set his potential salary, and I think he'll be self aware enough to realize that.

 

[MoneyManny]

He is. Your ability to judge is clearly being overshadowed by his PP goals.

PP goals are actually pretty damn important in hockey.