Before discussing the topic 'du jour' which is Laine outrage a quick summary of Saturday night is warranted. For the most part the Jets played a good game and given a 2-0 lead to enter the third period most fans thought it was a lock given that the third period has bene the one the Jets play best in... or so we thought.
There were mistakes but there were also some bounces and luck that happened and none of it going the Jets way. That's going to happen sometimes and what more can you say about that game other than "Auston Matthews is out for a month!"
In all seriousness those are the kinds of games that are going to happened and one old adage is that when a team breaks a slump they will lose a game but still play better. Perhaps with the Jets and shaking off the doldrums of play, this was that game before a huge road trip to Finland that helps shake off the doldrums. Perhaps not.
Laine Outrage
It's everywhere right now across social media with Winnipeggers. There is a lot of venom that is being masked as criticism but it's there. Is it simply because he's not on pace for 44 goals right now that there's something wrong? Is it because he's not doing what fans expect him too, therefore the long knives have come out?
It's a strange situation but it's a situation nonetheless. One debate that is happening is whether 4th line time is better than a benching/press box session or worse. The other angle to this discussion is the reasons for his assignment to the fourth line are relatively unknown, at least in the lesson to be learned.
Patrik Laine is a unique talent and he's not playing his best hockey. There is a long list of criticisms.
1. Poor skating 2. Poor passing 3. Poor stickhandle 4. Non existent checking 5. Bad transition play 6. Doing circles 7. Poor defensive play
It can go on and on. Apologists can rationalize all of the above separately but as a whole there's nothing that can rationalize Laine's struggles. The debate comes on how to fix him or at least the situation he finds himself.
It appears there are two distinct camps with a smaller third group having a different view on the solutions.
Camp one.
Feels a fourth line demotion is silly. Wants to have the roster adjusted so Laine has players that work better with him Believes the over all roster needs optimizing based on combinations Struggles with Paul Maurice's decisions and tactics as they relate to this situation Other players are struggling and should face similar action
Camp two.
Believes the demotion should be motivating The player has to work in his game and get to where coach wants him Feels that this is all part of paying dues along the NHL career path Kid needs support but can't upset entire team to get it for him alone
Camp three.
They are a hybrid of the two above and feel that some of both views are valid.
Last night yours truly was part of an exchange with Scott Campbell on this issue. Scott answered the tweet below:
So why exactly are people hating on Laine?
— Pete Tessier (@Teddier) October 28, 2018
To paraphrase Scott's responses the answer is as follows:
Some are so blind they can't appreciate the little improvements. My timeline has been extremely critical of him and while serving criticism putting him in the press box is hating on him. These thoughts come from people who give 26 a pass too. others chimed in Putting him in the press box just embassies him, he can work his way up from the 4th line. If he was on the press box how does Maurice find him options. You've got to find chemistry and moving him around is the only way to do it- you can't find chemistry in the press box.
You can follow that thread from the tweet should you choose to see everything.
Herein lies the challenge for Laine and the Jets. There are combination that work and Maurice is loathe to change them up. Copy, Lowry Tanev is one, the pairing of Wheeler and Scheifele is another as well as Morrissey and Trouba. There's good reason not to change them but consider that Laine is not the only one struggling, Wheeler and Ehlers are right there too and while Laine is the hot button topic he's not alone.
What might be overlooked by fans is that Wheeler and Laine's mistakes are often very similar. Poor skating, suspect passes, and weak positional play affect them both. One is on the fourth line while the other plays with Scheifele. That probably has more to do with pedigree and experience and Laine will lose out to Wheeler 11 times out of 10 right now. What's the excuse of Ehlers?
If Maurice is concerned about Laine what's Laine's concerns? He's often said to be the hardest person on himself so how does he hold himself accountable? Laine came up in the third period against the Leafs and played a grinding shift or two where he made smart body checks and some forechecking. Some would say that's 'engagement' and so it was.
Is that what's missing from his play, a higher level of engagement?
Some, probably the third camp, might say that. Teams know to focus on him, they set out tactics to minimize his impact and so far they have been successful this season and it is probably fair to say that Laine has to 'work through' this period. To do so he needs to be engaged in the other parts of the game that matter too. Actions like checking, forechecking, skating, hitting, and positioning are all part of the game. They are also rather absent from what Laine is doing when on the ice.
Certainly no one believes that Laine should be chasing the play all game looking to make hits but he can make his presence felt when he doesn't have the puck and not trying to maim goalies with his shot. In fact improving other areas can help make him a far more difficult player to play against. He can create more space, use better positioning, and be less reliant on figuring his way out of problems with stick handling.
He could also have line mates that complicate his game better but is this simply a chicken and egg argument? If Laine engages in the game better will he make his line mates better or will the right line mates help his game?
Probably a bit of both are needed but at some point players have to figure out challenges on their own. Laine didn't forget how to score, skate or pass, but he's had some traits of his game be absent and that's either by choice or reaction and it's probably not the former. He does have to do something to improve his game because if he's not engaged in the right way why risk exposing the team as a whole to weakness to sort out Laine?
The point here is that two things need to happen. Laine's got to see that he has to be better and change his approach to how he engages in the plays and the coaches need to see how he can be used more closely to his skills. So far it appears they have tried the latter and there's only been glimpses of the former and given the specifics of his struggles the rotating line mates are only having mixed results.
Is Patrik Laine broken? Not a chance, he's still an elite scorer who is simply not scoring at the moment as is the entire team. That will change as the Jets tread water and work through challenges but the key word is 'work'. There's only so much line juggling that can happen and the sooner the individual players take it upon themselves to make changes the better this gets for everyone, Laine, Ehlers, and Wheeler.