![]() ![]() Laine, much like other elite shooters on the wing (think Ilya Kovalchuk and Ovechkin), has long made the left circle his personal office. It is fascinating to map out Laine’s shot profile and compare that to the video when Winnipeg’s set up in the offensive zone. His slower production last season was a large reason why Winnipeg’s power play slumped to 15th in the NHL. He scored 15 power-play goals in 2018-19 (ninth), and just eight in 2019-20 (38th). That year, the Finnish sniper handed the Jets 20 goals on the man advantage, two ahead of Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin. Recall back to the 2017-18 regular season – Laine’s sophomore year – where the Jets finished fifth in the NHL in power-play conversion rate. Curiously, it’s happened on the power play, where Laine is one of the league’s most dangerous weapons. Most of the recent focus has been spent on improving Laine’s defensive game, but there has been an interesting shift in his offensive game, too – one that has a similarly adverse impact on Winnipeg’s overall production. Add an expiring contract into the mix, and you have all the ingredients for rampant trade speculation. The counterargument is that there should be much more daylight in those goal differentials when you are dressing a player who can seemingly score at will. The argument in defence of Laine is quite simple: whatever defensive concerns the team may have, he is still on the right side of goal differentials since entering the league (183 goals for, 178 goals against at even strength since 2016-17). That lack of trust stems largely from Laine’s off-puck play and Winnipeg’s woeful defensive performance numbers with Laine on the ice. Laine has never been fully satisfied with his usage – the mere fact that such a prolific scorer can’t seem to crack the first line on a talent-average hockey team is puzzling – but the trust from head coach Paul Maurice hasn’t been there. The situation between Laine and the Jets can seem a bit awkward at times. To that end, Laine is a unicorn of sorts – and a valuable one at that. It’s not often a player manages four consecutive (pro-rated) 30-goal seasons, and it’s even rarer when it happens before a player’s 23rd birthday. Perhaps the most interesting name mentioned in trade rumours this off-season has been Winnipeg Jets winger Patrik Laine.
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