Player Discussion Patrik Laine: wearing a regular practice jersey

[VT]

He was also buried in the bottom 6 by Torts.

Only in the end of the season, one game and he deserved it. But interesting, had very good chemistry with Josh Dunne and Liam Foudy, btw.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

For me, i am excited to see Dach, Hutson (potentially) and Laine - in that order. And excited to see Slaf's continued development. It was a total gut punch last season when Dach went down in game 2. Watching a one-line team play hockey is painful. Now with the depth at forward and two (on paper) bonafide top lines it will be much more enjoyable to watch. The D will still be a circus but they will be better than last season.

Also excited to see Xhekaj mature as a player.

I think I am most anticipating Cole Caufield. Still think he’s got 40-50 talent, but at some point he needs to do it. I think him and Nick could have big years now that it looks like we will have a strong 2nd line. 80-90 points from either of them wouldn’t be surprising to me.

 

[G0bias]

From the highlights I've seen, not really. He's just able to walk people and protect the puck to gain the zone at a steady pace because he's so dangerous if he has any room to shoot in the zone. I think part of his training with NFL players might be for explosiveness. He's not slow, but I wouldn't call him a fast player.

Laine's more of a diesel engine. He's not quick in short bursts but once he gets up to speed he's a powerful skater. Very efficient stride.

 

[cphabs]

Laine's more of a diesel engine. He's not quick in short bursts but once he gets up to speed he's a powerful skater. Very efficient stride.

Thanks

 

[Marioesque]

Laine's more of a diesel engine. He's not quick in short bursts but once he gets up to speed he's a powerful skater. Very efficient stride.

Yeah that's the reason why many label him "lazy". It's the long stride he has, it reflects my username.

He doesn't have the fastest first two kicks, but after that those long strides can gather a lot of speed. And once he gains that speed, with those hands, it's really hard to defend. With a long body and stick, you make large dekes, again referring to my username.



And it's not like those first two kicks are that bad either, you can compare to Monahan and Gaudreau here



Here's one where he outsmarts Subban (he really understands what 3 on 3 is about)

 

[KevSkillz4]

Laine is ready to be a leader. All struggles he having, he is the best to know what struggling is.

Mathieu Perreault said on "LaPocheBleue" that he was a great teammate and funny guy, when he played with him in Winnipeg. Adam Fantilli said that he help him in his rookie year. Mathieu Olivier said that he is a great confident aswell.

Suzuki and Laine can be both great leader in offense.

 

[Marioesque]

Laine is ready to be a leader. All struggles he having, he is the best to know what struggling is.

Mathieu Perreault said on "LaPocheBleue" that he was a great teammate and funny guy, when he played with him in Winnipeg. Adam Fantilli said that he help him in his rookie year. Mathieu Olivier said that he is a great confident aswell.

Suzuki and Laine can be both great leader in offense.

This is the first locker room where Laine doesn't come to a culture where there is like veteran leadership group that might shun the "outsider". It definitely happened in Jets, Laine threatened Wheeler's position immediately being better than him, and he was knocked down a peg and then some. There were some older voices in the CBJ locker room not happy with the "retooling" as Jarmo put it, getting rid of the old core and bringing in new blood. They did not like the new direction and were moved.

This core in MTL are guys who have actually looked up to Laine, he's senior to them. Like that cool college kid all the highschool kids knew. And there's no older core guy fighting for the same spot to create animosity. Shouldn't be much of an issue.

Perreault is the best to speak about Laine. Best line Laine has played in was Laine-Scheifele-Perreault, if there is someone like Perreault in current habs then for the love of god put him in the same line as Patty (also for this reason, he should play with Lehkonen and Barky in team Finland).

Someone who can win pucks behind the net and in corners, and has enough sense to make passes to Laine. That's the recipe. Make room for him to shoot and get him the puck. Can't fail.

 

[SOLR]

This is the first locker room where Laine doesn't come to a culture where there is like veteran leadership group that might shun the "outsider". It definitely happened in Jets, Laine threatened Wheeler's position immediately being better than him, and he was knocked down a peg and then some. There were some older voices in the CBJ locker room not happy with the "retooling" as Jarmo put it, getting rid of the old core and bringing in new blood. They did not like the new direction and were moved.

This core in MTL are guys who have actually looked up to Laine, he's senior to them. Like that cool college kid all the highschool kids knew. And there's no older core guy fighting for the same spot to create animosity. Shouldn't be much of an issue.

Perreault is the best to speak about Laine. Best line Laine has played in was Laine-Scheifele-Perreault, if there is someone like Perreault in current habs then for the love of god put him in the same line as Patty (also for this reason, he should play with Lehkonen and Barky in team Finland).

Someone who can win pucks behind the net and in corners, and has enough sense to make passes to Laine. That's the recipe. Make room for him to shoot and get him the puck. Can't fail.

That's either Roy or Newhook. Or dare I say Slafkovski.

Might rapidly become

Laine - Suzuki - Slafkovski
Caufield - Dach - Roy
Armia - Newhook - Dvo
Gallagher- Evans - Anderson

Laine is competing with Caufield the most.
That's good for Cole.

I could see Marty take a look at
Laine - Suzuki - Dach
Caufield - Newhook- Slafkovski

Or even

Laine - Dach - Slafkovski
Caufield - Suzuki - Roy

So many options.

 

[KevSkillz4]

I won't go there.

Laine might be a zero for us, there's a reason the cost was Harris.

I speak in talent only. I'd rather have him than Svech, Zegras or Necas!

But I'm very confident that if he stay healthy, he will show that he is a elite player. He is already in better healthy mental at this point!

 

[overlords]

Laine - Dach - Slafkovski

 

[SOLR]

The two towers line makes opposition coaches in their ....

 

[Guess]

Most commonly referred to as the 1-2-3 Line or the LSD line

That line would be sick but Caufield and Suzuki also need a strong forechecker to get pucks for them as well. I don't see Roy or Newhook as those guys actually, Roy is too slow and I don't think Newhook is that strong on puck battles.

I'm sure we'll see it a few times in the season though!

 

[Guess]

David St Louis of Elite Prospects wrote a great article on Laine with videos and analytics. It's behind a paywall though. If you have access, here's the link: EP Article

The main takeaways for me were that Laine likes to create offense in the Ozone by cycling the puck, using the available space, and waiting for a high percentage scoring chance, as opposed to volume shooters like Matthews and Pastrnak. He also plays a type of east-west style that fits very well into how the Habs are playing. He also likes to control the puck, and when he was in Columbus he didn't fit well with Gaudreau because he liked to control the play and his pace neutralized Gaudreau's speed and had him play a supportive role.

Some interesting quotes:

"Laine’s offence lives and dies by his ability to fire off the pass, but his tendency to want to control the play clashes with how he wants to score. A player controlling the play can’t get lost in coverage and find passes to hammer in the net."

"The team’s more creative, freer-flowing offensive system should enable him to find opportunities to both control the play and shoot off the pass. The Habs like to cycle the puck around the offensive zone and use available space, just like he does. And the team attacks in east-west patterns in the neutral zone, changing speed and exchanging the puck, just like he does."

Biggest room for improvement: "better puck-retrieving and low-slot skills, continue to develop defensively"

I do think he will mesh well within our system and culture, and wouldn't be surprised if our development team can help him improve his two-way play.

 

[Rob Sense]

That's either Roy or Newhook. Or dare I say Slafkovski.

Might rapidly become

Laine - Suzuki - Slafkovski
Caufield - Dach - Roy
Armia - Newhook - Dvo
Gallagher- Evans - Anderson

Laine is competing with Caufield the most.
That's good for Cole.

I could see Marty take a look at
Laine - Suzuki - Dach
Caufield - Newhook- Slafkovski

Or even

Laine - Dach - Slafkovski
Caufield - Suzuki - Roy

So many options.

I think Laine will help CC. If other teams put their top pairing to counter Laine because of his skills/size then Caufield will get better matchups against the second pairing giving him more room and time to manoeuver to find his spots.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Some players excel in a hockey market. For me, if I was an NHLer I would want to be playing in Montreal or Toronto on the biggest stage the sport has to offer. I couldn’t imagine showing off my talents where college football is more popular.

I think Laine might have his best seasons to date with us. He strikes me as a guy who wants to play hockey in the biggest hockey market.

 

[Lshap]

Some players excel in a hockey market. For me, if I was an NHLer I would want to be playing in Montreal or Toronto on the biggest stage the sport has to offer. I couldn’t imagine showing off my talents where college football is more popular.

I think Laine might have his best seasons to date with us. He strikes me as a guy who wants to play hockey in the biggest hockey market.

Personally, I'd prefer a smaller market where I'm only in the spotlight when I'm working, and invisible the moment I leave the rink. Don't need fans staring at me, interrupting my dinner with, "Are you really Lshap, the moderator??" Sure, the HF groupies were cool for awhile, but even that got old.

Seriously, I think the impact of big & small markets are way overblown. Hockey players aren't stalked by paparazzi like movie stars. Habs have lives, go to restaurants and parties, date, make friends, etc. The difference is mostly the number of journalists in the dressing room and calling them for interviews. Yeah, your name will appear in the media a lot more here than Columbus, but unless you keep Googling your own name (and read the french press) you can enjoy a normal life in Montreal as easily as anywhere.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Insane that he was only in Montreal for 50 games, it feels like it was an entire era.

He should have been with the Habs 4 years before. Two lines of Koivu and Lang prime age could bring us a SC. Theodore was solid, Markov, Quintal and Souray were strong too, Higgins, Kovalev, Plekanec, Rivet, Zednik. Just had Lang in the mix and he's way better than Juneau, Perreault, Smolinsky & Bonk. He plays good center.

 

[26Mats]

Some players excel in a hockey market. For me, if I was an NHLer I would want to be playing in Montreal or Toronto on the biggest stage the sport has to offer. I couldn’t imagine showing off my talents where college football is more popular.

I think Laine might have his best seasons to date with us. He strikes me as a guy who wants to play hockey in the biggest hockey market.

He's a world class talent.

The will may be there, but we'll see if the injuries and/or how well or not well he's taken care of his body will slow him down, make him a lesser player.

When he came into the league he was in the top stratosphere of offensive players. Can he accept a role to do what he does best? If he plays with Dach, Dach can be more of the puck possesser and Laine can more get himself open to finish. And I know Laine is good with the puck himself.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

David St Louis of Elite Prospects wrote a great article on Laine with videos and analytics. It's behind a paywall though. If you have access, here's the link: EP Article

The main takeaways for me were that Laine likes to create offense in the Ozone by cycling the puck, using the available space, and waiting for a high percentage scoring chance, as opposed to volume shooters like Matthews and Pastrnak. He also plays a type of east-west style that fits very well into how the Habs are playing. He also likes to control the puck, and when he was in Columbus he didn't fit well with Gaudreau because he liked to control the play and his pace neutralized Gaudreau's speed and had him play a supportive role.

Some interesting quotes:

"Laine’s offence lives and dies by his ability to fire off the pass, but his tendency to want to control the play clashes with how he wants to score. A player controlling the play can’t get lost in coverage and find passes to hammer in the net."

"The team’s more creative, freer-flowing offensive system should enable him to find opportunities to both control the play and shoot off the pass. The Habs like to cycle the puck around the offensive zone and use available space, just like he does. And the team attacks in east-west patterns in the neutral zone, changing speed and exchanging the puck, just like he does."

Biggest room for improvement: "better puck-retrieving and low-slot skills, continue to develop defensively"

I do think he will mesh well within our system and culture, and wouldn't be surprised if our development team can help him improve his two-way play.

I actually think Laine will end up 2nd in points on the team behind Suzuki this year. It’s a hot take, but it’s what I believe will happen.

Suzuki -83pts (30 goals)
Laine - 79pts (41 goals)
Caufield - 70 pts (38 goals)
Slafkovsky - 66pts (27 goals)
Dach - 59 pts (19 goals)
Roy - 44 pts (17 goals)
Newhook - 43pts (15 goals)

Assuming 82GP, which likely won’t happen. lol.

 

[cphabs]

Thank you LMAO I cant stop laughing!

 

[HuGort]

Inconsistency can be on every player. Name me one player who is consistent in 82 games? None.

Even Suzuki, sometimes... he is truly invisible. But in general, we like his game.

We just want Laine to be happy with the team, produce 40 goals, make highlights, great passing play, great show with his hands.

The most important thing, it's if he revive his passion of hockey in MTL.

I think Laine start season on fire. Blow doors off Bell Center . He's had almost year get over injuries. Trade should rejuvenate him. Play for good coach in Marty, night and day difference. I would think anyway.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Patrik Laine > Andrei Svechnikov
Patrik Laine > Trevor Zegras
Patrik Laine > Martin Necas

The way Laine has been the past 4 years, you're taking Svechnikov allllll day long.

Also, not even sure why his name is on the list.

 

[The Great Weal]

Well,

Laine certainly had its deep low. Lower than the other 3, indeed.

But the high is also extremely high and higher than the other 3.

But yes, it is futile to predict anything because the possible outcome goes from an extreme to another with the possibility too of the in-between.

Laine's high has been equivalent to Svechnikov's high in terms of production. But then you need to include how Svech brings a lot more outside of production that Laine doesn't.

 

[Redux91]

Laine's high has been equivalent to Svechnikov's high in terms of production. But then you need to include how Svech brings a lot more outside of production that Laine doesn't.

And what is this 'a lot more' you speak of exactly?

 

[Nedved]

Has MSL talked about Laine yet? I think MSL turns his career around and we see Laine with the habs for the next 5-7 years. Here we go red! here we go!!