Player Discussion Patrik Laine: ruining the tank

[SwiftyHab]

There’s a lot of what will Laine do this year talk. Will he score 30-40 more?

I tell you that if all things go right, and he works closely with MSL and Adam Nicklaus, you’ll see a much different version of him. One that:

• checks well down low.
• Uses that big body of his to cut off lanes.
• Cuts off opponents passes.
• Backchecks .
• Uses more deception in his offence.
• And most importantly, doesn’t get too hard on himself when he’s not scoring because he’s doing all these little things with and without the puck.

Look for these things first before we start tallying all the goals to see how he’s really adapting and fitting into the team

 

[HuGort]

their owner didnt want to pay any retain, GM was forced to give him away. puts you think which kind of franchise work like this

I see. Just checking because should of had another high end asset

 

[the]

Still feels weird to log in here and see a player discussion thread about Patrick Laine.

Can't believe we got him.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Best part of the Laine acquisition is now we get a classic Leafs trope.

Leafs fans invent Habs fans saying Laine is better than Matthews.
Leafs fans get mad at non-existent made up Habs fans for saying Laine is better than Matthews.
Leafs media runs with articles and talking points about how Matthews is better than Laine

 

[morhilane]

There’s a lot of what will Laine do this year talk. Will he score 30-40 more?

If he manage to avoid freak injuries, it shouldn't be a problem to score 30-35 goals. He's been a constant shooter (sh% and shot per games) outside the Covid season and it's good for ~30-35 goals per 82 games.

Even last year, his drop in production was mostly because his assists total dropped significantly.

 

[HomaridII]

“It wasn’t necessarily veterans who didn’t want to see him anymore. It’s mostly that, when things were going badly, he tended to feel sorry for himself instead of rolling up his sleeves. At a certain point, it could become disruptive in terms of his performances on the ice,” explained Perreault, specifying in passing that Laine had never been a distraction in the locker room. It wasn’t his personality that caught on, but his way of being on the ice.”

“He also lost his father in 2021. A heart attack at the age of 54. In Winnipeg, they were always together. His father was like his best friend. I think that played a big role in his mental health,” he added, happy to see that he now seemed radiant.

“Martin St-Louis seems to me to be a good coach for him, a guy who will help him maintain a high level of confidence. "Plus, if the Canadiens can put him in a situation where he can perform, that will be beneficial. A confident Patty is a dangerous Patty."

Mathieu Perreault who played with Laine in Winnipeg.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Laine will also face 2nd line opposition rather than 1st line opposition, wonder how much of a boon that will be to him.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Wow there is so much risk you don't even say what any of it is! Oh man look out for all of this imaginary risk!

The pick is more about sweetening the pot for Montreal to take on his salary when Columbus had very few options of where they could send him that wouldnt involve retaining salary. Like I said there is no risk here for Hughes to make this move, do I have to add the disclaimer that Hughes works for Montreal? Montreal has nothing to lose here and everything to gain.

Please stop pretending that this is playstation or ignoring the point . As has been alluded to a lot already (including some by me despite not "say[ing] what any of it is", there are risks that Laine could end up not being effective, be a a big drag on Montreal's cap picture and be a lot of real money tied up on a player that isn't effective (even if you don't care about actual money, it still matters).

some others are:

- Laine could hurt the locker locker room cohesion (he's been part of two organizations with widely reported locker room issues/drama).
- Laine could take opportunities away from Caufield because of similar shooting profiles without a major benefit.
-The L/R shot imbalance (Suzuki, Caufield, Laine, Newhook, Armia, Gallagher, Anderson and Evans are all right shots) could make balancing lines properly a challenge.

You don't care about most of the risks because you're a fan of the Montreal Canadiens, but that doesn't mean there's "nothing to lose". Montreal is specifically in a position where most of the risk is mitigated and the upside is significant, which is why the trade makes sense (and has always made sense), and why the competition for a Laine deal was almost non-existent.

 

[Benstheman]

The way the deal was done, they took out pretty much all the risk. Obviously if he hits in Montreal, there's the salary cap implications down the line to re-sign or let him go but cross that bridge now when we come to it.

Got paid to take him.
Got rid of the logjam on the left side of the defense for this year.

Hughes masterclass.

Yep. Now what's great is all we have to do is sit back and enjoy. I mean we don't have to worry about a certain production from Pure that would make the deal somewhat ok for us. There is just no downside at all with the deal we got. And even if he only pots 25 goals/50 pts, he will help us because we lack that kind of depth production. And i'm pretty sure we will see some beauty goals from him.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Wow there is so much risk you don't even say what any of it is! Oh man look out for all of this imaginary risk!

He did outline it. Quite clear in fact.

The pick is more about sweetening the pot for Montreal to take on his salary when Columbus had very few options of where they could send him that wouldnt involve retaining salary. Like I said there is no risk here for Hughes to make this move, do I have to add the disclaimer that Hughes works for Montreal? Montreal has nothing to lose here and everything to gain.

And that’s pretty much what he said.

The risk is a loss of cap space. And fortunately for us, it’s mitigated by the fact that we have a lot of it. That’s what good planning does, it puts you in a position to take advantage of these kinds of situations.

 

[That Habs Fan]

I'm trying to remember the last time we got a player who had ever scored 40 goals in a seaon.

Kovalchuk was here so briefly, so late in his career and was so misused by Mi***l The****n that he barely counts.

If he stays healthy/good mentally the next couple seasons will be a treat and we'll have lots of cap space to re-sign him in the offseason of 2026.

 

[rahad]

If I was Jackets I would retained on Laine to get superior return. It would open up more teams involved. Had to be the money. This way they just gave him away

When a player ask in the media about a trade and wanting to leave Columbus. The GM lose the ability to negotiate for a good trade. This is probably why it took so much time. Columbus new GM took the best deal available for Laine. Not many team have 9m available in the cap. With Dvorak, Armia and maybe Savard gone next summer. Will have more money to take project like Laine and Monahan.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

Please stop pretending that this is playstation or ignoring the point . As has been alluded to a lot already (including some by me despite not "say[ing] what any of it is", there are risks that Laine could end up not being effective, be a a big drag on Montreal's cap picture and be a lot of real money tied up on a player that isn't effective (even if you don't care about actual money, it still matters).

some others are:

- Laine could hurt the locker locker room cohesion (he's been part of two organizations with widely reported locker room issues/drama).
- Laine could take opportunities away from Caufield because of similar shooting profiles without a major benefit.
-The L/R shot imbalance (Suzuki, Caufield, Laine, Newhook, Armia, Gallagher, Anderson and Evans are all right shots) could make balancing lines properly a challenge.

You don't care about most of the risks because you're a fan of the Montreal Canadiens, but that doesn't mean there's "nothing to lose". Montreal is specifically in a position where most of the risk is mitigated and the upside is significant, which is why the trade makes sense (and has always made sense), and why the competition for a Laine deal was almost non-existent.

Newhook is a lefty, as are Roy and Demidov who will be with the team moving forward. Of possible future top 9 players (of which I think 10 are likely), Suzuki, Caufield, Dach, Laine, Hage, and Beck will be righties, while Demidov, Newhook, Slaf, and Roy will be lefties. Hardly an area of concern IMO.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Newhook is a lefty, as are Roy and Demidov who will be with the team moving forward. Of possible future top 9 players (of which I think 10 are likely), Suzuki, Caufield, Dach, Laine, Hage, and Beck will be righties, while Demidov, Newhook, Slaf, and Roy will be lefties. Hardly an area of concern IMO.

Yeah especially since some of the named individuals aren't part of the long-term plan - Gallagher, Armia and Anderson.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Please stop pretending that this is playstation or ignoring the point . As has been alluded to a lot already (including some by me despite not "say[ing] what any of it is", there are risks that Laine could end up not being effective, be a a big drag on Montreal's cap picture and be a lot of real money tied up on a player that isn't effective (even if you don't care about actual money, it still matters).

some others are:

- Laine could hurt the locker locker room cohesion (he's been part of two organizations with widely reported locker room issues/drama).
- Laine could take opportunities away from Caufield because of similar shooting profiles without a major benefit.
-The L/R shot imbalance (Suzuki, Caufield, Laine, Newhook, Armia, Gallagher, Anderson and Evans are all right shots) could make balancing lines properly a challenge.

You don't care about most of the risks because you're a fan of the Montreal Canadiens, but that doesn't mean there's "nothing to lose". Montreal is specifically in a position where most of the risk is mitigated and the upside is significant, which is why the trade makes sense (and has always made sense), and why the competition for a Laine deal was almost non-existent.

The good news is that those secondary risks aren't likely to have any real effect. The deal is short and I think the locker room can survive him. If anything I think there's a greater chance of the room influencing Laine rather than the other way around. I'm more worried about him crumpling under the pressure of playing in Montreal. We'll see.

As for Caufield, he simply needs to start capitalizing on his shots. If that happens, he'll be fine. The guy who gets bumped is Roy. That sucks... but, it takes pressure off of him and he can fill in on injuries.

But yeah, there's a reason we were the only ones who seemed interested. We had the space for him and we're in a postition to assume that contract. For other teams it simply wasn't doable. For us it's minimal risk.

 

[Jaynki]

The way the deal was done, they took out pretty much all the risk. Obviously if he hits in Montreal, there's the salary cap implications down the line to re-sign or let him go but cross that bridge now when we come to it.

Us getting in a position to sign him to a long term deal after his 2 year stint here because he gained back his mojo would be the ideal scenario.

How great for our rebuild would it be if he finds his mojo back?

This has the potential to turn the team around on a dime.

Peak Laine is a franchise player.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

I'm trying to remember the last time we got a player who had ever scored 40 goals in a seaon.

Kovalchuk was here so briefly, so late in his career and was so misused by Mi***l The****n that he barely counts.

If he stays healthy/good mentally the next couple seasons will be a treat and we'll have lots of cap space to re-sign him in the offseason of 2026.

Besides Kovalchuk like you mention, Vanek hit 40 twice, Kovalev once, Gionta once and Cammalleri came close the season before we signed him with 39

 

[WeThreeKings]

Us getting in a position to sign him to a long term deal after his 2 year stint here because he gained back his mojo would be the ideal scenario.

How great for our rebuild would it be if he finds his mojo back?

This has the potential to turn the team around on a dime.

Peak Laine is a franchise player.

It's more that he's already our highest paid player, so if Hughes wants to keep an internal cap structure in place and Laine finds his mojo back, it may be sticky to get him back at a cap number that fits with how we want to run things, especially since most players don't take less on a new contract until they are aging out.

But I will trust Hughes on this, he almost always operates having understood the risks I've identified with any move. Breath for fresh air.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

It's more that he's already our highest paid player, so if Hughes wants to keep an internal cap structure in place and Laine finds his mojo back, it may be sticky to get him back at a cap number that fits with how we want to run things, especially since most players don't take less on a new contract until they are aging out.

But I will trust Hughes on this, he almost always operates having understood the risks I've identified with any move. Breath for fresh air.

It's a nice problem to have.

 

[That Habs Fan]

Besides Kovalchuk like you mention, Vanek hit 40 twice, Kovalev once, Gionta once and Cammalleri came close the season before we signed him with 39

Oh yeah I forgot we had Vanek...god Therrien sucked

 

[Captain97]

-The L/R shot imbalance (Suzuki, Caufield, Laine, Newhook, Armia, Gallagher, Anderson and Evans are all right shots) could make balancing lines properly a challenge.

Small correction, Newhook shoots left but you forgot Dach so it's kind of a wash.

Also Armia Anderson, and Gallagher aren't too much of a concern imo. They'll be gone in two years

 

[Lshap]

It's more that he's already our highest paid player, so if Hughes wants to keep an internal cap structure in place and Laine finds his mojo back, it may be sticky to get him back at a cap number that fits with how we want to run things, especially since most players don't take less on a new contract until they are aging out.

But I will trust Hughes on this, he almost always operates having understood the risks I've identified with any move. Breath for fresh air.

It's inevitable that Hughes' carefully managed cap structure will be cracked open by a future player. If Laine returns to being a top goalscorer he could become that guy. But a more likely but still hopeful scenario is he becomes a very good complementary player, in which case he'll have to settle for a downgrade on his current number.

 

[HomaridII]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1826256377846616193

 

[Jaynki]

It's more that he's already our highest paid player, so if Hughes wants to keep an internal cap structure in place and Laine finds his mojo back, it may be sticky to get him back at a cap number that fits with how we want to run things, especially since most players don't take less on a new contract until they are aging out.

But I will trust Hughes on this, he almost always operates having understood the risks I've identified with any move. Breath for fresh air.

100% agree

As for the internal cap structure, it was a fit considering CC and Slaf extended out of their ELC in a similar cap environment than Suzuki.

Laine signing a deal at 28 with a cap that will have rose won't have such restriction.

Also confident Hughes will do the right thing here.

 

[HomaridII]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1826256377846616193

https://x.com/i/web/status/1826259721550168540