The best shot: Laine, Semin or Mogilny?

[SeanMoneyHands]

What do you think?

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[Bouboumaster]

I don't remember Mogilny's but Laine shot's is for sure better than Semin's

Semin had a fantastic wrist shot but so does Laine, and Laine has also a terrific slapshot too, a real laser

 

[Doom Bot]

There's not many players that have had a more overall effective arsenal of shots than Laine. Hes one of the few guys that are elite at each and every type of shot, where most guys have a specialty. Accuracy is amazing, power is second to none, release is quick, and he can get the shots off from anywhere, no matter how bad the pass was, or even if he's down near the goal line.

Theres clearly better goalscorers, but they typically score goals in many different ways. If you watch a Laine highlight reel, it's seriously like 95% snipes, and that's not an exaggeration.

 

[Hntz]

Laine has all the tools when it comes to shooting. Unfortunately his other tools aren’t all that. When he’s on, that shot can compensate a whole lot though..

 

[Offtheboard412]

I don't remember Mogilny's but Laine shot's is for sure better than Semin's

Semin had a fantastic wrist shot but so does Laine, and Laine has also a terrific slapshot too, a real laser

To be fair, Semin had a fantastic slapshot as well. And a very good backhander, which is pretty rare for these types of players. Semin had the full shooting arsenal.

 

[Bouboumaster]

To be fair, Semin had a fantastic slapshot as well. And a very good backhander, which is pretty rare for these types of players. Semin had the full shooting arsenal.

I can't remember Semin's clapper well enough, to me, it wasn't that memorable to me
His wrist shot was Lethal, however

 

[Xspyrit]

I can't remember Semin's clapper well enough, to me, it wasn't that memorable to me
His wrist shot was Lethal, however

To be fair, Semin had a fantastic slapshot as well. And a very good backhander, which is pretty rare for these types of players. Semin had the full shooting arsenal.

Oh yeah but he wasn't just a shooter though, he was also a crazy dangler. The guy was slowed down by injuries a lot IIRC but he was ridiculously skilled, should have had a better career

 

[Gillings]

Oh yeah but he wasn't just a shooter though, he was also a crazy dangler. The guy was slowed down by injuries a lot IIRC but he was ridiculously skilled, should have had a better career

As a player who loves to shoot from just about anywhere ( including my own defensive zone ) this type of shot is ALL instinct.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Their best strengths for each player were Semin's wrist shot, Laine's one-timer, Mogilny's ability to shoot in stride.

I'd say Laine has the best shot arsenal, though he might be the worst overall player of the three...

 

[winnipegger]

In the modern era only Ovi and perhaps Matthews has/had a better shot than Laine. Laine just lacks the tools to dominate the ice. He's a pure sniper.

 

[geebster]

Really really hard to compare either to Mogilny. Modern sticks are a different thing. Mogilny is also a much better player than the other 2 so it's a weird comparison with him there.

That said, between Laine and Semin I'd have Laine ahead. There's a lot of players with great shots though so I don't know if I could say definitively that Laine is a top 3 or 5 shooter of the puck without some sort of statistical backing, but hes one of the best.

An aside though:
The majority of goalscoring is not shooting ability. It's ability to play off of the puck and read plays and its also the ability to create chances. Laine has not consistently done those things in several years, while we have consistently seen all the people you'd compare him to do that. Tons of guys in the league have amazing shots but we wouldn't know that because they just aren't good enough to create chances (responsibly) against NHL defenses on a regular basis. On the other hand, lots of guys that score regularly don't need a top tier shot. McDavids has never been scary, but I'd take him over 99% of the league as a scorer.

All that said it's nice he's having a great run of play after everything that's happened and its nice that it in a big market too. He's reminding everyone of who he is and it gives Habs fans something to be hyped about too (other than Hutson I guess).

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Semin has the best wrister here. After that laine overall.

 

[gritdash60]

Their best strengths for each player were Semin's wrist shot, Laine's one-timer, Mogilny's ability to shoot in stride.

I'd say Laine has the best shot arsenal, though he might be the worst overall player of the three...

He also has the best wrister

also

I'd say Laine has the best shot arsenal, though he might be the worst overall player of the three...

Worse player than Semin? Thats hilarious.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

He also has the best wrister

And you're sure you want to get into a 'wrist shot highlight' war against Alexander Semin? You're 100% sure???

Worse player than Semin? Thats hilarious.

Yeah, probably. Certainly Laine's peak as an offensive force was not as high as Semin's, who from 08-09 to 09-10 was 4th in the league in points per game, only behind Ovechkin/Crosby/Malkin. And Laine is a rare player that doesn't have any advantage defensively over Semin, who was actually a regular penalty killer under Bruce Boudreau.

 

[gritdash60]

Yeah, probably. Certainly Laine's peak as an offensive force was not as high as Semin's

Laine is 26yo, Semin has been retired for 4years, 9 if you count only NHL.

Semin could have probably beaten up Laine with his drummer hands though, best "fight" i've ever seen.

 

[Fatass]

AlMo and it ain’t close. Laine and Semin are very close with their shot and as players. Mogilny is in another class.

 

[ThePlanet]

Shooting: Laine
Goal-scoring: Mogilny
Slap-fighting: Semin

 

[authentic]

AlMo and it ain’t close. Laine and Semin are very close with their shot and as players. Mogilny is in another class.

Semin was much better than Laine, really not even close at their peaks.

Laine is the best shooter though and Mogilny the best player at his peak.

 

[bleedgreen]

It’s funny to say as he’s a 76 goal scorer but I never thought of Mogilny as that kind of shooter. Goal scorer overall…absolutely but he wasn’t as pure a shooter as the other two. Just an amazing all around dynamic forward who could do it all. To me the shot question is Laine vs Semin and it’s Laine all day. Semin and that wrist shot was lethal and fun to watch but Laine despite not being that great a player has an all time great shot. If he can put a few seasons together hopefully he’ll show it. It’s like he can barely stand on skates at times but he can score from anywhere. My favorite pure shooter is Kovalchuk, and Laine has a bit of that guy in him.

Mogilny is the best player of the bunch by a country mile.

 

[tarheelhockey]

And Laine is a rare player that doesn't have any advantage defensively over Semin, who was actually a regular penalty killer under Bruce Boudreau.

Semin is one of those wingers who for whatever reason gets stuck with the “bad defense” label even though he was actually a pretty decent defender.

Maybe it’s because he was soft and most fans don’t recognize the difference between grinding and playing defense. I don’t know. But there are a LOT of wingers I’d be less comfortable with defensively than Semin.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Semin is one of those wingers who for whatever reason gets stuck with the “bad defense” label even though he was actually a pretty decent defender.

Maybe it’s because he was soft and most fans don’t recognize the difference between grinding and playing defense. I don’t know. But there are a LOT of wingers I’d be less comfortable with defensively than Semin.

A lot of it probably has to do with those Caps era teams floundering big time in the playoffs. Also the guy had a weird thing where he would go ballistic in a contract year and then just never try again, he was one of my favorite non Devils in the league when he was playing.

 

[tarheelhockey]

A lot of it probably has to do with those Caps era teams floundering big time in the playoffs. Also the guy had a weird thing where he would go ballistic in a contract year and then just never try again, he was one of my favorite non Devils in the league when he was playing.

I’m not sure what the right way is to say it, but he definitely wasn’t a strong opponent mentally. He was all-world when he was locked in, but that was only like half the time.

I think that’s a really valid criticism, but bad defense? Honestly he was one of the better defensive wingers out there. Really good at chasing guys down on the backcheck and stripping pucks away when they weren’t expecting it.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

I’m not sure what the right way is to say it, but he definitely wasn’t a strong opponent mentally. He was all-world when he was locked in, but that was only like half the time.

I think that’s a really valid criticism, but bad defense? Honestly he was one of the better defensive wingers out there. Really good at chasing guys down on the backcheck and stripping pucks away when they weren’t expecting it.

Prime Semin was really good but ya that's probably a good way to putting it. It feels like he always wanted to be the guy on an elite team but never really got his chance. He was never gonna be that guy in Carolina either with Eric Staal being there. He's one of those guys that jumps from rebuilding team to rebuilding team in hopes of a contract and then just runs himself onto a contender super late in his career. Makes me wonder what would've happened if he left Washington earlier tbh but those teams were fun as f***

 

[HTFN]

Prime Semin was really good but ya that's probably a good way to putting it. It feels like he always wanted to be the guy on an elite team but never really got his chance. He was never gonna be that guy in Carolina either with Eric Staal being there. He's one of those guys that jumps from rebuilding team to rebuilding team in hopes of a contract and then just runs himself onto a contender super late in his career. Makes me wonder what would've happened if he left Washington earlier tbh but those teams were fun as f***

I don't think he wanted that either.

I think he was fine being next to "the guy" but needed a guy that gave him reasons to compete because he didn't really have them for himself. The "Sasha Cares" meme didn't spawn out of nowhere, it was basically born out of people posting that Semin was trying that night. Semin in god mode stole wins from other teams.

Leaving Washington earlier very likely wouldn't have helped, that little Russian circle was pretty certainly not holding him back in a competitive sense, I think he arguably liked it when it was competing with his buddies, he's just not that guy.

If he had that kind of drive he wouldn't have washed out the way he did, and that's not to say he's not a good or motivated player on the ice by and large, but he doesn't have that energy outside of the specific notable games when he really, really did.


Shots like these are somehow getting underrated here, Laine might have a more "perfect" wrister in form with the time for it, for whatever that's worth, but I can't think of many guys at all with more release points and more power through traditionally off-leverage body positions than Semin.

 

[FMichael]

Mogilny