Hockey

Patrik Laine will never change
Jonathan Di Gregorio
Patrik Laine will never change
Credit: Getty Images

Patrik Laine is having a rather ordinary practice camp. As my colleague Maxime Truman wrote, the Finn hasn't been convincing so far. Yes, it's only two preparatory games, but after hearing Laine say several times over the summer that he was at the top of his game physically and mentally, you'd have expected to see him come out with the knife between his teeth even in pre-season.

In fact, Nicolas Cloutier, who reposted a video posted by Mike Lemieux, thinks that Laine has simply slowed down due to his injuries, which have made him less mobile and less agile.

In the video, which shows the forward when he played with the Jets, he does indeed look a little more fluid on his skates, but I don't find his dekes particularly fast compared to what we saw last year with the Canadiens.

The speed of his dekes is even said to have been a source of mockery from his Jets team-mates, contributing to his departure from Winnipeg. However, where I disagree is when people say that Laine was more effective at five-on-five.

He wasn't in Winnipeg, he wasn't in Columbus and it would be utopian to think that he will become so in Montreal

In 2018-19, the 6′ 4″ forward had his worst offensive season with the Jets with 50 points, including 30 goals, in 82 games. He finished the campaign with a minus-24 differential, and in his first season in Columbus, he did even worse with a minus-29 record in just 45 games during which he scored 21 points, including 10 goals.

Moreover, Laine finished with a negative differential in all four of his seasons in Columbus, although he had two campaigns of close to a point per game. Even in his most productive years with the Jets, his best finish was a plus-8 record on two occasions, so it's hard to talk about a guy who was effective five-on-five in the past.

So don't expect Laine to suddenly become a good five-on-five player with the Canadiens, where he was used less and less by Martin St-Louis at the end of the 2024-2025 season. If he can stay in shape, I think the Finn can score 30 goals and 50 points this season, but I also know he's going to get me sacred often by his lack of involvement on defense.

What's more, if Kirby Dach has the same difficulty at five-on-five as last year, with a minus-29 differential in just 57 games, this line could struggle at even strength, no matter how talented and brilliant Ivan Demidov is.

'Overtime'

– He should go to Laval.

– He'll be joining the Armada

– Grand slam for the Jays!

– Read on.

– A michigan to go!

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