Boy is he overrated. He’s too damn slow. I mean, ok player, but without his shot, does he play in the NHL?
At his 18 year old season 36 goals and at the age 19 the kid pots 44 goals in the best league in the world. All in all in the teenage era adjusted goals Laine lands #1 in the history by a landslide. Yeah, definitely "overrated". This must be the #1 joke of a post I've read this month... no wait, this year? Thanks for the laughs pal.
Boy is he overrated. He’s too damn slow. I mean, ok player, but without his shot, does he play in the NHL?
At his 18 year old season 36 goals and at the age 19 the kid pots 44 goals in the best league in the world.
It could also be he’s got the (physical) preconditions to do this specific thing at this specific age, so you probably shouldn’t be too over-confident in your guy, looking forward. Players can stagnate. Other players can grow. Game can change. Surroundings can change. A player with a relatively narrow tool-box can get lost.
There could still be room for a strong niche player though.
What I’ve seen from Laine in last years playoffs and now is too much standing still. He needs to find another clip so he can throw in a combo once in a while.
I'm used to having this discussion pretty much every season and watch people take cheap shots at him just to go mute later on when Laine gets his game together. The man always gets around his dry spells one way or another and silences the 'not so friendly' audience.
As far as him having physical preconditions go, he certainly has never been a freak of nature despite of being taller than most of his peers. Physique definitely wasn't his strong suit going back to 16-17 or 17-18 and if you're suggesting that Laine was able to have the early success because of his build then you're off the trails pretty bad here. He didn't score 36 goals in the rookie year because he had a great shot. He scored those goals because he had the hockey IQ to overcome all the obstacles that where in the way of enabling the trigger. As far as stagnation go, well there where people saying he didn't only stagnate but took steps back in the development around the same time last year. Look how that turned out again.
His tendencies of having a slow or sluggish start is a trademark and usually by the midway of the season we're looking at a whole another player. My confidence in Laine hasn't shaken along the way and it certainly isn't shaking now, no matter the non-sparkling performance so far. It's only matter of time once he finds his game and confidence. With that said, looking long-term there'll be less roller coasting in terms of consistency and he's going to be more than just fine.
I'm not saying Laine can't be an effective player in his own right, I'm thinking more what kind of player is the final product. Is it a player driving the play, as the center of attention, or is it a complimentary piece potting shots here and there.
But much people are comparing Laine with Ovechkin(Top-Tier Player/Legend). He(Ovi) don t need long time for developmend. He s strong from beginning till now. !He's not going to be in the passenger's seat from where I see it. Then again everyone has their own projections of him/other young guns which by all means is entirely fine. Bigger players tend to take longer to develop and Laine is no exception. All you have to do is use a bit of imagination and consider what a summer fully focusing on skating (and perhaps even taking figure skating lessons) can do for him. That's the one final obstacle that is holding him back at the moment. Once he gets some wind underneath, the rest will come naturally. Nonetheless, Laine has already proven to be an impact player and despite the career seasons being yet ahead, I'm certain he's in for another splash maybe sooner than some think.
But much people are comparing Laine with Ovechkin(Top-Tier Player/Legend). He(Ovi) don t need long time for developmend. He s strong from beginning till now. !
Obvious jealousy, who cares when you score 80 goals as a teenager.Boy is he overrated. He’s too damn slow. I mean, ok player, but without his shot, does he play in the NHL?
Laine deserves so much more than the Jets coaching staff is providing him. The Jets can forget about signing him longterm regardless of the $ offered if he does not get the minutes he is worthy off. Keeping the present/future best scorer in the game playing those minutes compaired to his peers won’t be keeping him in Winnipeg for a long period of time, and without Laine the Jets are bombed pretty much back to stone age...
Patrik Laine is by far the most popular Jet player in the game, not maybe the best player on the team yet , but the centerpiece of their success.
Would be interesting to see how the Jets would do without having their #1 assett in the lineup. The powerplay would suffer the most but also the media coverage and the whole franchises credibility when people start questioning how the hell they managed to get rid of the most lethal goalscorer in the league.
I think the Jets (Maurice) have allready done massive damage to the chance of keeping Laine in the team for multiple years. He does not care if he makes 7 or 9 or 11 million, he wants to play for a team that has the chance to win the cup AND gives him the equal chance to achieve those personal achievements as his peers and breaking those records he is able to do , being that exceptional talent he is.
It sucks for those who spent tons of time on these boards arguing how superior he was to Matthews, made 80 goals 120 points predictions and are now embarrassed when their ludicrous predictions turned out to be widely wrong who know feel the need to blame all of that on icetime, the coach or his C.
Also good to hear that you read Laine's mind. Weren't you the same poster who spent half the summer arguing on the Jets board that skating in the offseason was detrimental to a player's game and it was best Laine avoided that? And that Rautala had some kind of masterplan with his training program for Laine and all would be revealed once the season started? Looks like you were widely wrong again on that as Laine struggled to start the season again and took him more than 6 weeks into the season to start looking like the player he can be.
A player with a relatively narrow tool-box can get lost.
The same Laine who was flattened in the Calder voting by one of the biggest landslides in recent memory? Yea hes just like Gretz bud lol. 99 first 3 seasons he never had less then 130pts, his 3rd season (same season 2nd place pate is in) 99 had over 200pts. Another great comparison from you, keep your tired online personality on the mains kid, it's not needed here.
The same Laine who was flattened in the Calder voting by one of the biggest landslides in recent memory? Yea hes just like Gretz bud lol. 99 first 3 seasons he never had less then 130pts, his 3rd season (same season 2nd place pate is in) 99 had over 200pts. Another great comparison from you, keep your tired online personality on the mains kid, it's not needed here.
Laine did not exactly choose to play in Winnipeg, that being said it does not meen he does not like the city, he seems to. But as years go by Laine starts to have more leverage and influence to choose where he wants to spend and play his peakseasons.
My wild guess is he will sign a shortterm deal with the Jets , win the cup , and after that sign a longterm deal with some other team
Damn refreshing seeing him finally get out of that black hole vacuum of Little. He's been scoring ever since and actually looked like the good old Laine. Still strange how they first tried to get his value down for a cheap signing and now all of the sudden let him play with his strengths do what his good at. I guess the purpose could be one of the two: i) trying to make him feel comfortable to sign the next contract ii) trade him for king's ransom (there's some speculation and that tweet from Brian Lawton). Interesting times.
*Didn't even realize the trade deadline had passed so maybe there was nothing to it. It's better that Laine gets to play the playoffs before anything happens anyway.*
Liked the Laine pass here, pretty unselfish to get Wheeler the hattrick.