I wouldn't want Laine on the Flames.
He does have an awesome elite-level shot - unquestionably.
He does not play defence.
He does not play physical.
He does not make other players around him better.
He does not live like a pro or seem interested in working on his craft.
If he ever snaps and decides to be a pro and work on his craft, and start moving his legs out there, he can be an elite franchise level winger that only come along every so often. His gifts are enormous.
However, raise your hand up if you have seen him take over a game, or be the best player on the ice, or leave you feeling like you just watched a great player have a great game. What, no hands?
I am constantly underwhelmed by his game. People complained non-stop about Jankowski's compete level - but Jankowski did battle along the boards, did skate hard on the backcheck, etc. Wait until you get a load of Laine who just always looks disinterested unless he looks like he is going to have an opportunity to score.
His next contract is going to be big, but there is a damn good reason that Laine rumours are surfacing. He is not a committed player. He has almost all the tools you could hope for, and it comes in a really great toolbox as well. Unfortunately, he is missing the one tool that every player in the NHL needs - a willingness to compete. He is underwhelming almost every time I watch him play.
Johnny has underwhelming results at times, no question. However, I rarely feel like Johnny is taking a night off. I can see that some things aren't clicking in his game, and he sometimes is a victim of his own frustration out there, but I do think he generally works hard out there, and there has been MANY nights where I thought he was the best player on the ice for both teams and was a hugely impactful player. I don't see that with Laine - I mean, it happens soooo rarely.
Laine's value is more than Gaudreau's, unquestionably. Laine has the tools to be an elite goal scorer, and I do think that he will break 50 goals in a season. However, he is NOT Ovechkin-level, contrary to what people insist.
52, 46, 65, 56 vs 36, 44, 30, 28. Those are the first 4 seasons's worth of goals for Ovechkin and Laine respectively. Not even close. Sure, the last number was this shortened season, but let's not lose sight of the fact that it would have been highly unlikely of Laine to score 28 goals MORE in the remaining games of the cancelled season to reach Ovechkin's 56. Laine is not trending in that direction.
He will be overpaid on his next deal by a long shot, and though he scores a good amount of goals, he brings nothing else to the team. Nothing. If he wakes up and decides to be committed? He will be one of the NHL's brightest stars for the next decade, and GMs will be paying him as such on his next deal hoping that they can turn him around.
Gaudreau's value is lower - unquestionably - but it is funny how I think he has been much more of a game-breaker than Laine. Give me Kyle Connor or Mark Scheifele any day of the week over Laine - those guys help you win and will be stars in this league for a long time to come.
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