A better, more confident Laine
Winnipeg winger who wanted out in off-season appears to turn corner
Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine will be forever linked as the first and second picks in the 2016 NHL draft.
While the Maple Leafs centre and Jets winger continue to emerge as top-shelf forwards, arguably the best shooters in the North Division, the comparison pales against the likes of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin at a similar point in their careers.
Laine, however, fired an early warning shot that suggests he’s ready to take his game to another level: a tour de force performance in Winnipeg’s season opener against the Calgary Flames. After suggesting in the off-season that a change of scenery might be best for him and the Jets, the 22-year-old Finn scored a pair of goals, including the overtime winner, to throw cold water on that discontent.
He missed out on the first of 10 scheduled meetings with Matthews and the Leafs this season, scratched for Monday night’s game with an upper-body injury. And when he returns, he still has some catching up to do.
Matthews posted a careerhigh 47 goals last season and, over the past two years, has dedicated himself to becoming a complete player, with noteworthy results at both ends of the ice. It’s reflected in Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe handing the star centre his first regular penalty-kill assignments since he broke into the league.
Laine, meanwhile, averaged a career-high 19:25 in ice time last season, but his key offensive stats dipped to career lows or close to them.
The six-foot-five winger responded by following the lead of players such as Matthews and working with leading experts in hockey training. Jets coach Paul Maurice says the results have been striking. Not only is Laine a better player — notably in puck battles — but he appears more confident. In the past, he has been known to let frustration mount during goal slumps, compounding the problem.
“He came to camp and worked like a pro,” Maurice said Monday. “He is in good shape, he’s big, he’s strong, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is he pushed himself right from the first shift, right from the first practice, and everyone noticed it.
“Fifteen minutes into practice, everyone’s going: Who is this six-foot-five guy that battled in the corner with unbelievable hands? So that’s where his performance is … Everyone knows about the goals, but his play away from the puck, the battling in the corner — if you watch that Calgary game, that’s a different player. That’s a different player than everyone is used to seeing.
“He’s morphing himself into a dominant power forward … and if we get to (a goal slump), we would now point to the camp he had and the work he put in. The payoff would be what you saw the other night.”
Matthews has benefitted just as much, if not more, from elite training.
Last season, he emerged as a league leader in getting to the slot and scoring. He ranked first with 174 slot shots, burying 34 of his 47 goals from the inner (17) and high slot (17). Matthews was also first with 150 scoring chances off the cycle and took 290 shots overall, good for fourth in the league.
By comparison, Laine ranked 24th with 119 slot shots, and 20th with 100 cycle chances. Ten of his 28 goals came from the inner slot, 11 from the high slot.
Matthews’ lethal one-timer is relatively new, developed in the past two seasons, while Laine has possessed one of the best since his rookie season. Overall, Laine was more of a threat than Matthews in the offensive zone last season, according to metrics that measure scoring danger. Matthews ranked 10th in one-timer shot attempts with 118, one behind Laine.
Leafs defenceman Zach Bogosian has defended against both players at times over his career, and knows how difficult it can be.
“Any time you give a player of that calibre time and space, they can really make you pay,” Bogosian said Monday. “Obviously both have great shot. They both can get in those areas where they can get the puck and get it off quick, so I guess on the defensive side of things you try and limit their time and space.
“But there’s going to be times when they get shots off, and it’s pretty impressive how both guys can shoot the puck.”
For Matthews, the 2016 draft order isn’t as relevant today with both players starting their fifth seasons. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t aware of what Laine’s up to when they meet.
“We spent a lot of time in that little pre-draft stuff, got to know each other a bit … and it’s always good playing against good players, guys like him,” Matthews said Monday.
“You always have to be aware of when he’s on the ice. He can shoot the puck from anywhere. He can score from anywhere as well. I don’t try to put much added stuff into the game (against him). Just try to go out and play my game and help our team win, but when you go up against a really good player like him, you definitely want to be aware of when they’re on the ice.”
The Leafs and Jets face off again on March 9, the first of three consecutive meetings.