KC has been superior offensively than Laine the past couple years. He's better at generating shots and chances too. Both are terrible defensively. But then you consider the fact KC is signed to a pretty fair deal at 7.1M and Laine is (imo) likely angling for 9-10m?, I totally agree with you that there'd be several GMs are taking KC over him. Laine is a bit more "box-office" i think (he has bigger mainstream appeal i find) so maybe there's some allure there.
i think more conversations need to be had about KC's offensive & overall ceiling tbh. He's only a year older than Laine so it's not like there is a huge gap in age, and been progressing each year offensively, although we need some progression on the defensive side.
been hammering this for a while.
if laine remains in the 12% range like he has for the last 2 seasons, he'll need Ovi type shot volume in order to hit 40-50 goals. I don't see him doing that. His shot volume and quality/distance has been virtually unchanged in 4 years. KC has already been a superior goal scorer the past 2 years, and is right there with him in career GPG.
It's generally accepted that laine and connor (and for that matter shief and wheels as well) are bad defensively.
The stats back up that argument
But I've watched most jets games, and don't come away with my eye test going "ooooh, that a was terrible d by ________". Yes there are moments, but there will be for everyone.
Laine turns the puck over near both blue lines that I've seen result in goals against
Connor can be weak on the puck in his own end and struggles with zone exits resulting in turnovers
Shief cheats up too high in the zone at times
Wheeler blows the zone early
Is that what people are talking about? Also, when 4 of your top six are weak defensively, maybe it's the system? Or a bit of both?
I still think that these guys will have better shot metrics when there is a d corps that does a better job denying zone exits/entries, makes better outlet passes (and for that matter, regroup passes off of turnovers in the neutral zone).
I'm looking forward to a full season with de Melo, and eventually heinola