Slumping Jets sniper needs a wake-up call
Flashy Finn Laine could be headed for press box if his performance doesn’t soon improve
WINNIPEG — The numbers from Tuesday’s game tell the whole story for slumping sniper Patrik Laine.
Zero goals, zero assists, zero shots, zero shot attempts, zero hits, minus-1 and 31.25 per cent possession in a career low 10:55 of ice time.
Those are the kinds of stats that usually lead to a healthy scratch.
While it once seemed laughable that the Winnipeg Jets might consider giving their 20-year-old star a seat in thepressbox—whenhewas scoring 18 goals in the month of November — it now looks like the kind of wake-up call the young Finn needs.
Jets coach Paul Maurice already sent Laine a message on Tuesday through his reduced ice time. He played only three shifts for 2:17 in the second period.
If not a healthy scratch, maybe Laine should spend some time on the Jets’ fourth line and let someone like hard-working winger Mathieu Perreault have a crack at playing up in the lineup.
The Jets’ second line, consisting of left winger Laine, centre Bryan Little and right winger Jack Roslovic, put in an awful night in Boston, despite the Jets pulling out a 4-3 shootout win.
The entire line managed exactly three shot attempts in the game and didn’t register a single hit. They were on the ice when the Bruins scored their first goal of the game.
The line isn’t working and it’s time for Jets coach Paul Maurice to give it a different look.
The return of winger Nikolaj Ehlers from a shoulder injury sometime in the next week or two should help, but the line needs an infusion of life before then.
Maurice and the Jets are being as patient as possible with Laine, who is very young and still trying to figure out the NHL game in his third season. But his game simply isn’t where it should be.
He has one goal in January after scoring only three in December. He had 21 goals at the end of November and was on pace for 70-plus on the season. He’s still on pace for 41, which is an impressive number, but the other parts of his game are struggling.
He continues to struggle with the puck in his own zone, is turning it over in all zones and looks less confident than he ever has as an NHL player.
This is not to suggest Laine doesn’t still have a bright future with the Jets.
He’s still an incredible scorer who has 105 goals in his first three NHL seasons. There are few players in the history of the game who have done that in their first three seasons. But Laine needs a jolt. The Jets are a good enough team that they can win, even when Laine and the second line are not producing, but at some point they need things to change.
A trade before the Feb. 25 deadline could bring an infusion of talent into the lineup. The Jets would love to replicate the deal they made last season to bring in veteran playmaking centre Paul Stastny to play with Laine. Stastny was a perfect fit with Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers, but he’s not available any more, having signed with the Vegas Golden Knights as a free agent in the off-season.
There are a few centres reportedly on the trade block around the league and surely Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is looking to find one who can make the second line more productive.
Giving Laine different linemates could help, but he also needs to help himself. He needs to get his feet moving faster, make quicker decisions, and stop trying to stickhandle through the defence, which rarely, if ever, works.
A player of his talent should be the driver on a line and right now that’s just not the case.
One night in the press box and an opportunity to see the game from above could be the ticket.