What’s Next for Patrik Laine in 2021??
After notching back to back seasons with 35+ Goals, 25+ Assists & 60+ Total Points from 2016-18, Patrik Laine has all but fallen out of grace with NHL fans. A former #2 Overall Pick in 2015 & 2nd place finisher in the Calder Trophy Race in 2016, Where has the "Next Big Thing" out of Finland gone??
Laine’s Time in Winnipeg
In 5 seasons with The Winnipeg Jets, Patrik Laine was a player who, in the eyes of many was a Top 15-20 type player in the NHL with a wicked slapshot & amazing skating speed for someone who was so large in stature.
2016-2020 Stats:
306 Games Played, 140 Goals (88 Even Strength, 52 Powerplay, 18 Game Winning) 110 Assists, 250 Points, 919 Shots on Goal, 17:40 Average TOI, 0 +/-
Despite some very respectable numbers with Winnipeg, something was never quite right with the situation that was presented throughout Laine's 5 year tenure in Winnipeg. Laine is a player who certainly has the potential to be a 1st-Line Winger & he definitely was early on in his career in Winnipeg, and for reasons we may never officially know, that was one of the main reasons for strife behind the scenes for the Jets.
During most of the 2019-20 Season, Patrik Laine was on a line with #1C Mark Scheifele & given the analytical data, the Jets simply found out that the pairing was not good. Following the Laine trade to Columbus, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said "I think it all comes down to the opportunities. We tried a lot of different things, like last year Mark and Patty played together most of the year, and if you look at the analytics it just really wasn't working. It just really comes down to finding that right fit, finding an opportunity."
But what is “The Right Fit" for Laine?? For most of his Jets career, Laine was stuck on the 2nd-Line given Winnipeg's top line that consisted of Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele & Kyle Connor. Through his 5 years in Winnipeg, Laine played with the likes of Cody Eakin, Bryan Little & Paul Stastny, while being given very little time on the top line.
Trouble Had Been Brewing for Awhile
After reports broke that the Jets and Laine were looking to separate from one another in early 2021, Iltalehti. a news source in Finland, gave some interesting rumors about what was 'REALLY' going on in Winnipeg. As mentioned earlier, Laine's tenure with the Jets came with it's ups & downs, but Iltalehti's interview with Laine & reports that spawned from it all but spun what we thought we knew on it's head.
Relationships among the top stars in Winnipeg is and or was the main reason for Laine's departure following his 1 game played with the squad in 2020 per Iltalehti. Via "Inside Sources" given to Iltalehti, Team Captain Blake Wheeler reportedly felt his position as the top winger on the Jets roster was threatened by Patty Laine. Wheeler also was said to not be "Enthusiastic" that Laine's popularity could potential rival that of Finnish NHL Icon Teemu Selanne. Along with these broken relationships, Mark Scheifele was also someone who was not particularly a fan of Laine as he apparently "Preferred" to play with Blake Wheeler & Kyle Connor.
Not only were Scheifele & Wheeler unfavorable to the idea of Laine being given more time on Winnipeg's top line but Iltalehti claims that Wheeler & Scheifele talked behind Laine's back, while making things difficult for him outside of the locker room. Along with the information given, their was also mentioning of Head Coach Paul Maurice "Was Too Weak" to defy what was being done at the hands of Scheifele and Wheeler.
Pekka Jalonen, the reporter from Iltalehti, put Laine's supposed displeasure with Winnipeg along with the Jets have losing many top players in recent years & wondered if "There is something rotten in the club led by GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and in the locker room led by Wheeler."
Truth to The Rumors??
Though the Iltalehti report has since been shot down & was almost immediately shot down earlier this year due to the translation from Finnish to Englsih & the fact that it seemed as if it catered to Patrik Laine.
However, members of the Winnipeg Jets seemed to be shocked at the news of the Laine trade becoming official back in January of this year. After the Columbus Blue Jackets oacquired Patrik Laine & Jack Roslovic from Winnipeg, Jets Captain Blake Wheeler seemed numb to the fact that Laine was no longer on the team.
While speaking to the media, Wheeler chose to focus on "What Could Have Been?" with him & Laine saying "Maybe I could have communicated a little better instead of just getting frustrated. Never once was I hard on Patty, far from it. If anything, I was very respectful and coddled a teenager & a young 20 year old, maybe if I could have communicated better, maybe it would have made things better."
Laine Lands in Columbus
After 1 game played with Winnipeg to begin the 2020 season, Patrik Laine was shipped off to Columbus in a trade that saw the #2 & #3 Overall Picks from the 2015 Draft being swapped out for one another. In 45 Games with Columbus, Laine provided little production compared to what NHL fans had gotten used to seeing from Patty.
2020-2021 Stats:
10 Goals (6 Even Strength, 4 Powerplay) + 11 Assists, 21 Points, 79 Shots on Goal, 17:28 Average TOI, -29 +/-
And of course, the ever going saga of Patrik Laine & his revolving problems including lack of discipline & defensive awareness carried into Columbus.
On March 11th, 2021: The Columbus Blue Jackets blew a 4-1 lead to the Florida Panthers & during the game, Patrik Laine was absent from the game during the final period of regulation & all of overtime. At the time, Then Head Coach John Tortorella didn't give too much information on why Laine was nonexistent for the remainder of the game but the reasoning has since been revealed.
On the night of March 11th, Patrik Laine reportedly got into a spat with then Assistant (Now Head Coach) Brad Larsen, though it was never confirmed that Laine got into it with Larsen specifically.
Laine reportedly “Verbally disrespected” a team coach & just a few days later, Laine told the media “This kind of stuff happens sometimes. Everybody’s locked in the game, and stuff like that happens. We’ve moved on.”
So What’s Next??
Twenty Three…Patrik Laine is 23 Years Old with 5 NHL Seasons under his belt & he still has so much potential that hasn’t been unlocked.
Is it too early to say that the 2021/22 NHL Season is a make or break year for Laine?? Well yes and no. As presented before, Laine is capable of many things when he’s on the ice but the question that has always lingered around him is, Can he develop a strong 2 way game while staying consistent on offense?
Laine has certainly felt the growing pains of learning to be a balanced player the past few seasons & it’s not entirely crazy to think that Laine will potentially have a bounce back year with Columbus with the new season looming.
However, what if he doesn’t bounce back?? It’d be foolish to say that Laine would be expelled from the league or would be looked at in the same light as other former top prospects that never panned out i.e. Nail Yakupov, but his value would certainly drop.
Entering this upcoming season, Patrik Laine has fallen out of the Top 10-20 list of players ranked by analysts. Laine is not even in the Top 50 in the eyes of hockey writers and it’s not hard to see why, on paper at least. Let’s acknowledge that yes, Patrik Laine is currently not a Top 50 player in the NHL, but let’s not forget that Laine has yet to finish a season in which he didn’t score 20+ goals (excluding shortened 2020-2021 seasons).
Patrik would have to have a drastic drop in offensive production along with borderline and or bad play on defense for teams still hoping to have Laine on their side sometime in the future to begin worrying. Columbus did themselves a favor re-signing Laine in late July of this year, which kept Patrik away from teams interested in having a retooling project with him to reap the eventual benefits.
In summary, it’d be worth the bet that Laine will have a big bounce back with Columbus after a full offseason of transition, getting to know teammates better & actually being able to practice with his new squad regularly throughout the regular season. And even if he doesn’t score 20+ goals or even 30+ for that matter, it’s still wise to think that Laine will be a much different/improved player in 2021.
Reference Page:
The Athletic
Hockey Snipers
The Columbus Dispatch
Sportsnet
The Denver Post
NHL.com
Iltalehti