JETS WALK FINE LINE TRYING TO SIGN LAINE
Finnish winger mired in a slump, but he still could reach 40 goals
With Auston Matthews and William Nylander having both signed extensions, the focus in Toronto shifts to re-signing Mitch Marner and Kasperi Kapanen.
In Winnipeg, the laundry list of pending free agents is a lot longer — and more complicated. Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Jacob Trouba are all in the final year of their contracts. And though the team still has control over them, getting them all under the salary cap is going to be tricky.
Let’s focus on Laine, who could be the biggest financial hurdle. The 20-year-old winger selected one spot after Matthews in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft might be the best pure sniper since Alex Ovechkin. He had 36 goals as a rookie, finished second in the Rocket Richard Trophy race with 44 goals last year and is on pace for almost 40 goals this season. His 0.5 goals per game is on par with Matthews’ 0.53 goals per game.
But he’s having an awful contract year, with 35 points in 53 games, including four goals since the start of December. That’s not the kind of production you reward with a five-year deal worth US$11.6 million annually (the deal Matthews signed).
As of now, there’s no chance Laine gets even close to that number — especially with top Jets goal-scorer Mark Scheifele earning $6.125 million. Unlike Matthews, Laine is not the best player on his team. He’s not even among the top three forwards. He’s a second-line winger. And he’s a streaky one, having mustered just one goal in his past 15 games. Worse yet, he’s proving to be one-dimensional. If Laine isn’t scoring, he isn’t doing much to help the team. He has just 10 assists this season, including three during his fiveweek goal drought. And he has a team-worst minus-15 rating (the next-worst player is a minus-6). There’s a good chance Laine will break out of his slump — he had 18 goals in November — and challenge Ovechkin in the scoring race. But even then, he’s got company.
Connor, who had a breakout season with 31 goals last year, has 22 goals and 42 points in 53 games alongside Scheifele and Blake Wheeler. Look for him to get $6-7 million.
As for Laine, he will demand even more money. And if the Jets found him another Paul Stastny to play with at the trade deadline, he might deserve it. But as it stands, his best bet might be a two-year bridge contract.
It gives the Jets some flexibility to try to re-sign Trouba in a year when Wheeler’s cap hit jumps from $5.6 million to $8.25 million. And it allows Laine, who once believed he was every bit as good as Matthews, to prove he can be a franchise player.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
It’s worth noting that while
Laine has struggled to score, he still has 25 goals in 53 games. At this point last year, he had 24 goals. Two years ago, he was at 28. Here’s betting he ends up with 40.
If I’m Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, the No. 1 priority at the trade deadline is finding Laine a centre. Whether it’s Matt Duchene, Derick Brassard or Brayden Schenn, the team won’t get anywhere close to the Cup final with Bryan Little centring the second line.
Someone tossed an Oilers jersey onto the ice during Edmonton’s 6-2 collapse Tuesday against the Blackhawks. But until fans start flinging frozen waffles, you haven’t really hit rock bottom.
HERE’S ONE FOR YOU
The combined salaries of Toronto’s top-two centres (Auston Matthews and John Tavares) will be a league-high $22.634-million next year. In Calgary, you can get the entire top line (Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm), plus the No. 2 centre (Mikhael Backlund) for $23.325-million.
There’s a bit of panic in Buffalo now that the Sabres, who rode a 10-game winning streak in November, are in danger of missing the post-season. I get that Buffalo fans are impatient. But keep in mind this is a team that finished dead last a year ago. That they have already eclipsed last season’s win total is a major step in the right direction.
How many games do you have to play to win the Calder Trophy? Because if rookie goalie Carter Hart (10-5-1), who is on a seven-game winning streak, gets the Flyers into the playoffs, he’s going to get a lot of votes.
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH
It could be a weird year when it comes to individual awards. The best players are not necessarily on the best teams. Connor McDavid and Patrick Kane, who are tied for second in league scoring with 78 points each, could both be Hart Trophy finalists in a year when neither team is expected to make the playoffs. The same goes for Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson, who is up for the Calder Trophy as the top rookie, and Vezina Trophy candidate John Gibson of Anaheim.