Patrik Laine with more goals than Cole Caufield

A few months ago at La Poche Bleue podcast, when Guillaume Latendresse was asked if he would take Laine or Caufield on his team, the host hesitated for a long time. To avoid controversy, he leaned towards Caufield, but let’s just say that if he wasn’t making content for Habs fans, he might have gone with the Finnish player.

Now both are in Montreal, so he doesn’t have to choose.

André Roy wouldn’t necessarily take Laine over the other Habs forward, but this year, he thinks the 92 will score more goals.

He’s got the experience, he’s got the physique and he’s obviously got the shot.

The question now is: will he play at least 72 games? Because if he played that many games, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be able to score 30 goals. That’s a big ask, though, because in the last two years, he’s played 55 and 18 games respectively.

Right now, he seems to be doing well physically and mentally, and we hope that continues.

Roy believes that his former teammate Martin St-Louis has a knack for weighing in on the right pitons, and if there’s one guy who can get him going again, it’s the Québécois. And playing with Nick Suzuki or Kirby Dach will certainly help Laine put the puck in the net time and time again in 2024-2025. Both centers are good passers.

Mathieu Chouinard is also excited to have a guy like Laine in Montreal. He echoed André Roy in saying that if he stays healthy, he could be the club’s top scorer.

While Roy and Chouinard are very optimistic in his case, there are others like Bob Hartley who remain more reserved. The former Flames coach, in particular, doesn’t want to hear him say he’ll score 40 goals, but he wants to see it.

Overtime

– News on restricted free agents.

Touched on a few RFAs on @NHLNetwork a few moments ago. Here’s a quick recap:

– Bruins & Swayman seem confident a deal will be there for camp
– Jarvis & Canes sound close on long-term deal; maybe 7-8yr range around $7.5M AAV?
– Raymond & Wings not close; Berggren deal likely by…

– David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) August 26, 2024

– To see.

Hot or Not presented by @MontanasBBQ – Will Stamkos and the Predators enjoy a better season than the Lightning?

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Will McDavid will return to the 150-point mark this season? https://t.co/mQfi2IJh8v pic.twitter.com/bwVt59eZEj

– TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) August 27, 2024