Past 2-years he was the offensive driver in CBJ. If a move gets made and someone expects a floaty shooter with deadly shot & zero defense, they are likely going to be disappointed in his shot and blown away by his back checking and two-way play in general
His shot just hasn't been what it once was for years, it's still good, but not best-of-the-league good and he used to be able to get it off from insane positions and one-time pucks where you'd think the pass is way off until you see him shoot it. He also hasn't been playing with the kind of goal scorer mentality I'd love to see.
His health is a huge question mark, he's been super unlucky past couple years so he might be fine or he might be a perennial 50-60 games guy, if I was dealing for him I'd expect the latter and be positively surprised by anything more. I mean 4 seasons in a row more or less hampered by injuries, even if they seem individual ones in isolation and many have been incidents where "anyone" would've been injured, that's still concerning.
Btw. AFAIK he's still in the PAP.
On a human level his struggles are very understandable, so the upside here is after an extended break from hockey he might be in the best shape physically he's been in years and if the mental issues are a thing of the past and he's got his life in order, he might come back and play the best hockey of his life.
I realize this is the mains and any Laine thread is going to be a shitshow with witty one liners and "dude is lazy" drive by comments from people who watch him for 4 games a year if that, and those through the lense of someone who had already made up their minds on him when he was still a teenager, but as someone who has watched him play hockey a lot for the past 8+ years my honest opinion is he's a very good player when healthy and is capable of P/GP baseline production and well above that if he gets on a roll.
To me his biggest problem never has been not trying enough, but trying too hard. If he has come to realize there's way more important things than black rubber puck in life, that could be very good for his future as a hockey player as well. He just needs to get his confidence and enjoyment of the game back.
That said I wouldn't be surprised to never see him lace them up again, I simply have no idea at this point. If there ever was a guy who needs a total reset, that's probably him. That last concussion also seemed more brutal than people perhaps realize, he was clearly nothing like his usual self when he started playing again and then soon entered the program. I'm sure whatever his problems are/were have deeper roots than that, but it could also very well be that made everything reach the tipping point - depression, mental problems etc. are very common concussion after effects.
