RW Patrik Laine - Tappara, Liiga (2016 Draft) III
- Thread starter JawandaPuck
- Start date
-
Work is still on-going to rebuild the site styling and features. Please report any issues you may experience so we can look into it. Click Here for Updates
- Status
I feel like Patrik's game is being underrated. The kid has a lot of creativity in his game, and he handles the puck exceptionally well. For a player of his size, he can deke around opposition players very stylishly, and then he can still fire off a great shot.
Nail is an underwhelming skater, to be honest; he doesn't quite have a lot of top end, nor does he have the agility to maneuver with ease. He also handles the puck very loosely, so that it's always a few feet ahead of him. I've rarely ever seen him beat a player one-on-one. He doesn't have tight control of the puck. As a result of these deficiencies, he has had trouble adapting. He also lacks creativity and instinct, so his talent doesn't manifest itself; instead, as a result of coaching, he has ended up trying desperately to conform to whatever his coach has asked of him. When he joined the NHL, he was raw; he was rushed and thus has failed to flourish. He never became comfortable with his own game and ended up abandoning it entirely to stay within the coach's good graces.
Laine has greater hockey I.Q. and is far more naturally gifted. He isn't just about shooting the puck, but also about deking around players, dishing the puck, and using his size and reach to protect the puck. When he goes end to end, he uses his physical attributes to keep a lengthy distance from the opposition and the puck. He also has a plethora of experience quarterbacking the offense from the left side and from the point; he's much more of a rover than Nail.
I would still like to see more of Laine, but this is the impression I have gotten from studying his game thus far.
Nail is an underwhelming skater, to be honest; he doesn't quite have a lot of top end, nor does he have the agility to maneuver with ease. He also handles the puck very loosely, so that it's always a few feet ahead of him. I've rarely ever seen him beat a player one-on-one. He doesn't have tight control of the puck. As a result of these deficiencies, he has had trouble adapting. He also lacks creativity and instinct, so his talent doesn't manifest itself; instead, as a result of coaching, he has ended up trying desperately to conform to whatever his coach has asked of him. When he joined the NHL, he was raw; he was rushed and thus has failed to flourish. He never became comfortable with his own game and ended up abandoning it entirely to stay within the coach's good graces.
Laine has greater hockey I.Q. and is far more naturally gifted. He isn't just about shooting the puck, but also about deking around players, dishing the puck, and using his size and reach to protect the puck. When he goes end to end, he uses his physical attributes to keep a lengthy distance from the opposition and the puck. He also has a plethora of experience quarterbacking the offense from the left side and from the point; he's much more of a rover than Nail.
I would still like to see more of Laine, but this is the impression I have gotten from studying his game thus far.
Last edited by a moderator:
The only things he has over McDavid are size, shot and physicality. McDavid's ability to control the puck at top speed is insane, and the skill required to do that is insane. Also defining skill is near impossible and can be a catch all term. By my definition I'd say the most skilled guys in the league have been Malkin, Datsyuk, right now Kane, and soon to be McDavid due to their puck control, elusiveness and ability to change the pace of their play, but shots and vision could also easily be incorporated into this evaluation. I'd also add that Crosby and Ovi while not as skilled by my definition have been the most consistently effective players over the last 10 years.
I haven't seen as much creativity from McDavid as I thought I might. He plays a rather formulaic game that relies on speed to rush the puck up the ice quickly; if he can't cut to the net, he'll circle around the net and either wrap the puck or throw it into the slot. I find that he sometimes guesses where his teammates are, as his rush game is very high-tempo and more about instinct than awareness of his teammates. There have been more than a few errant passes because of this.
When Connor is stationary in the zone, his passing game thrives because he then looks at where his teammates are and can set them up appropriately. Otherwise, there aren't too many dimensions to his game. He has quick hands, is a great skater, and can dish accurate passes, but there isn't a lot of variety to his game. I wouldn't say Connor is an exceptionally creative player, but more of a player whose tools allow him to be effective. He doesn't have a particularly great long-range shot, so he needs to score from further in.
He is the kind of player who might find some difficulty once he hits his 30s, if his hands or speed start to go at some point.
Last edited by a moderator:
Puljujarvi require more projection and doesn't quite fit a traditional mold (out of recent stars Hossa may be the best or a bigger Taylor Hall, but both are still off), whereas Laine fits the mold of an elite scoring power winger (in the Ovi, Kovalchuk or a bit further off Rick Nash). I believe that Laine is much easier to project and hit his top end due to playing a simpler game, Pulju is a bit rawer but has more tools but is harder to figure out how he will be able to utilize them all at the next level. Personally I go Laine due to these factors, but I can see how someone would prefer the skill set of Puljujarvi.
Since WJC they both have been pretty great, but Laine's goal scoring is on another level.
Hokinaittii
Registered User
- Aug 15, 2015
- 2,497
- 1,293
I'm pretty sure the hype started to grow after U18 where Laine outshined Puljujärvi despite him being more of a unknown player compared to Puljujärvi who everyone thought back then would be the next Selänne.
Then came the off-season and Laine was able to train without injuries first time after a few summers. I think it's a known fact Laine was able to improve himself more in the summer than Puljujärvi who looked really shaky at the start of the season, performance and point wise. Meanwhile Laine started to tear it up immediately in CHL by scoring 2+1 in the first preseason game and he definately looked like an improved guy on skates. Needless to say the skill set had remained.
Laine kept scoring in Liiga whereas Puljujärvi struggled. If I recall right Puljujärvi had better PPG ratio last year than this year in the first 20 games or so which didn't look good on scouts' papers.
Despite Puljujärvi winning the MVP of the WJC and scoring more points than Laine, many think Laine Laine played really well, scoring the important goals when Finland needed them, granting himself a name for being at his best when the games became tougher. And outside of points, Laine showed he can give out checks, keep up with skating and pace against his peers although he was consired slow by some people and most importantly he was able to show he isn't just a selfish sniper but actually has a really good vision in the offensive zone.
After the WJC, Laine's game didn't look as dominant as it was earlier in the season but he was still able to score a point per game for the first 15 games or so.
Puljujärvi also started to play strong game after the WJC, scoring points in the same pace than Laine. Arguably Puljujärvi improved more after the WJC but Laine was still able to keep up with him (Laine 17 points in 22 games vs Puljujärvi 16 points in 19 games). Now when you consider the fact Laine scored more points compared to Puljujärvi (Laine 33 points in 46 games vs Puljujärvi 28 points in 50 games), it's not a surprise most(?) people have Laine over Puljujärvi at the moment.
But it's damn close between these two.
kelsier
Registered User
- Aug 17, 2013
- 4,280
- 1,741
Had Tappara not chosen to divide the talent and scoring between the lines this season I'm also certain Laine would be challenging Barkov's PPG record in FEL. Playing him with Kuusela instead of Ilomäki and Peltola would have flamed up the production in another heights. However, unlike another top team in FEL, Kärpät, Tappara doesn't have the depth to keep the best players in one unit. Of course it's pointless to speculate and in the end doesn't even matter, but second line minutes rarely gets a player into top10 when your talking of production regardless of the fact of getting to play in the 1st PP unit.
Phosphophyllite
Registered User
Ovie has been my favourite since he entered the league, and to be honest I think Laine might be the closest to him when it comes to playstyle, skill and size. Really exciting player and can't wait to see him in the NHL (and in finnish team, olympic gold 2018 here we come)
behemolari
öh¨ns-ä
- Dec 1, 2011
- 6,540
- 3,151
My read is Laine plays a more polished game. He has sublime confidence handling and shooting the puck. While Puljujarvi also has a really high skill level I feel he is more raw and prone to error. He has more ease and acceleration in his skating, but for most scouts it's probably not enough to make up for the difference in puck-handling and shot. Laine is also stronger.
Bardown warrior
Registered User
Laine is not near as physical as ovie. Laine will never be able to reach ovie's tier
Brock Radunske
안양종합운동장 빙상장
- Aug 8, 2012
- 16,787
- 4,701
If both players are neck and neck, you take the potential #1C every time.
In all likelihood it will be
Matthews
Laine
???/???/??? (depends on the team picking 3)
In all likelihood it will be
Matthews
Laine
???/???/??? (depends on the team picking 3)
Loffer
Registered User
- Sep 22, 2011
- 3,938
- 427
Never say never. Your fallacy is only too evident there; and it begs the question why wouldn't Laine be able to reach this mythical "Ovie's tier"? - Just because, eh, "Ovie is Ovie", eh. - No can do, eh.
Hokinaittii
Registered User
- Aug 15, 2015
- 2,497
- 1,293
Agree. If anything, it's only a good sign that Laine likes to finish his checks in men's games and at least compared to his peers in WJC, he was a stud and showed some great physicality throughout the tournament.
A player doesn't have to be as physical as Ovechkin to be on his tier, although admittedly it will be a mighty challenge to be on Ovechkin's level as a scorer in this era.
Laine size advantage allows him to protect the puck. He has a large frame, which makes competing against him for the puck difficult. If he becomes a physical player with his size, that's even better. The ability to force opposition turnovers with his size would be of great use to him. If he plays with a physical edge, he'll be a rather imposing player on the ice. Grit would be nice, but that thunderous physicality that Ovechkin brings isn't a necessity; Jaromir Jagr, for example, isn't as physical.
Last edited by a moderator:
vaiski
Registered User
- Dec 27, 2015
- 381
- 4
Laine is one of the most talented sniper prospects since Ovi, but even his chances of reaching a perennial 50-goal scorer status are slim. I wouldn't say it's because Laine is not physical enough but because he does not have the freak of nature explosiveness, on a big body, that Ovi has.
Obviously Laine can work on his skating and get better at it but IIRC Ovechkin is top 3 on acceleration among all players. You can't learn that. If Laine had the skating of Puljujärvi, he might have a chance at being Ovi 2.0.
Ovie plays or atleast used to play this game in insane tempo. Laine is more celebral. I think he has alot of similarities with Ovie but i don't thin he'll ever be Ovechkin calibre of talent. Maybe Laine has ceiling of Ovechkin today but not that young 100+ point 60g Ovechkin.
IceHockeyDude
Registered User
Laine is not very explosive but a ''good'' skater. Better comparison would be a bit slower and towering sniper than Alex O.
IceHockeyDude
Registered User
QnebO
Wheel, snipe, celly
- Feb 11, 2010
- 9,763
- 644
I doubt that. Aren't you the one who always bashes Pulju for no reason, btw?
Anyway, I don't see ovie making wrong decisions all the time that leads in opponent goals. His hockey sense is good, he uses his sense to find the scoring oppoturnities and be in right place and time in that regard. We cannot compare Laine to Ovechkin yet in straight skill level comparasion. Ovechkin is probably the all time best sniper to ever play the game. We need to hold our horses.
gwh
Registered User
- Mar 4, 2013
- 3,688
- 622
Come on?
Kid is just getting drafted the question is whether he can match one of top3 players in the 2000s?
My previous upload of Laine's 2015-16 Liiga season highlights appears to be trending right now, with about 10,000 views at the moment. There were some plays that I overlooked when I released it, however. I realize that people are using it as a reference for Patrik's season, which I am quite thrilled about; unfortunately, those additional plays are missing in the initial release, and so viewers aren't getting everything in that original video.
As a result, I have just released an extended highlight reel with three additional minutes of footage. I'll be redirecting everyone to this version of the video now, which includes some plays that highlight Patrik's hockey I.Q. and puck handling abilities. Those plays are slotted into the latter half of the reel. My strategy is hopefully to get this video up to the first page of the Laine search results (where the old one currently sits), and then to remove the original release so that people are seeing this one instead.
The new footage is slotted between 7:27 and 10:47 of the video.
As a result, I have just released an extended highlight reel with three additional minutes of footage. I'll be redirecting everyone to this version of the video now, which includes some plays that highlight Patrik's hockey I.Q. and puck handling abilities. Those plays are slotted into the latter half of the reel. My strategy is hopefully to get this video up to the first page of the Laine search results (where the old one currently sits), and then to remove the original release so that people are seeing this one instead.
The new footage is slotted between 7:27 and 10:47 of the video.
Last edited by a moderator:
Chuck Norris Trophy
Registered User
- Jan 22, 2015
- 2,975
- 3,220
- Status
Ad
Upcoming events
-
-
-
Beanpot Boston University vs Harvard - TD Garden, BostonWagers: 7Staked: $19,456.00Event closes- Updated:
-
-
