Laine wants a bridge?

[ericdaoust]

The wording of the thread title made me laugh a bit. What type of bridge does Laine want?

[SeaDawg]

I disagree. The long-term deals for 30+ year-old players are where teams get into trouble. Laine's a guy they want to keep around. I don't care if he's one-dimensional. His one dimension is the dimension every team wants and he's one of the best at it. He's 21 and cares, he will improve.

We'll see. I stand by my Mike Hoffman comparison (though even then Hoffman is a better skater). I predict that Laine will be dead weight in three years and not worth his contract. I watched him play so much this past season and I think he is a really bad hockey player.

[ShawneePanthers]

We'll see. I stand by my Mike Hoffman comparison (though even then Hoffman is a better skater). I predict that Laine will be dead weight in three years and not worth his contract. I watched him play so much this past season and I think he is a really bad hockey player.

Why, exactly?

[SeaDawg]

Why, exactly?

Let's see...poor skater, poor passer, poor IQ, poor stickhandler, can't play defense, looks lost on the ice...about the only thing he is good at is shooting the puck (which, I admit, he is very good at doing). I've said this many times in other threads, but it seemed to me watching at least 15 Winnipeg games this past season that teams figured out how to play against Laine. They can overplay him to shoot the puck, knowing he likely won't make a good pass or be able to stickhandle around them, or even do something as simple as get into a better shooting position/delaying his shot momentarily, etc. He really just shoots the puck as soon as he gets it.

Right now the optimistic view is that he suffered from an injury all year. Fine. But I will be shocked if he improves on last season's numbers. My prediction is 30-35 goals, 25-30 assists most years. He might get a bit over 70 pts once in a while, but he will never be a point-per-game player.

Timo Meier, for example, is also a 30 goal scorer, but a much better player than Laine. Meier just signed for $6 million a year. That is a terrific contract, imo, and Laine should come in below that, but he won't.

Evander Kane, Hoffman, JvR, Anders Lee...soon to be Laine. All overpaid for what they bring to the game.

I know, I know, I know...that is what 30+ goal scorers get paid...fine, but it doesn't they should get that much. GMs keep giving out these stupid contracts and that's why the league is in trouble.

[mounD]

Let's see...poor skater, poor passer, poor IQ, poor stickhandler, can't play defense, looks lost on the ice...about the only thing he is good at is shooting the puck (which, I admit, he is very good at doing). I've said this many times in other threads, but it seemed to me watching at least 15 Winnipeg games this past season that teams figured out how to play against Laine. They can overplay him to shoot the puck, knowing he likely won't make a good pass or be able to stickhandle around them, or even do something as simple as get into a better shooting position/delaying his shot momentarily, etc. He really just shoots the puck as soon as he gets it.

Right now the optimistic view is that he suffered from an injury all year. Fine. But I will be shocked if he improves on last season's numbers. My prediction is 30-35 goals, 25-30 assists most years. He might get a bit over 70 pts once in a while, but he will never be a point-per-game player.

Timo Meier, for example, is also a 30 goal scorer, but a much better player than Laine. Meier just signed for $6 million a year. That is a terrific contract, imo, and Laine should come in below that, but he won't.

Evander Kane, Hoffman, JvR, Anders Lee...soon to be Laine. All overpaid for what they bring to the game.

I know, I know, I know...that is what 30+ goal scorers get paid...fine, but it doesn't they should get that much. GMs keep giving out these stupid contracts and that's why the league is in trouble.

Sure makes the Guentzel contract look like a steal in comparison to what some of these guys (and likely Laine too) are getting paid.

Also, for the record Meier has a ridiculously good contract but there is a small wrinkle. His salary in the fourth year is $10 million, so as an RFA coming off of that deal his Qualifying Offer would have to be $10 million. So it's essentially a 5-year $34 million contract - which comes out to $6.8m per year.

[Eskimo Brother]

The wording of the thread title made me laugh a bit. What type of bridge does Laine want?

As a civil engineer this was one of my favourite posts on here in a while.

[lucafen4]

Let's see...poor skater, poor passer, poor IQ, poor stickhandler, can't play defense, looks lost on the ice...about the only thing he is good at is shooting the puck (which, I admit, he is very good at doing). I've said this many times in other threads, but it seemed to me watching at least 15 Winnipeg games this past season that teams figured out how to play against Laine. They can overplay him to shoot the puck, knowing he likely won't make a good pass or be able to stickhandle around them, or even do something as simple as get into a better shooting position/delaying his shot momentarily, etc. He really just shoots the puck as soon as he gets it.

Right now the optimistic view is that he suffered from an injury all year. Fine. But I will be shocked if he improves on last season's numbers. My prediction is 30-35 goals, 25-30 assists most years. He might get a bit over 70 pts once in a while, but he will never be a point-per-game player.

Timo Meier, for example, is also a 30 goal scorer, but a much better player than Laine. Meier just signed for $6 million a year. That is a terrific contract, imo, and Laine should come in below that, but he won't.

Evander Kane, Hoffman, JvR, Anders Lee...soon to be Laine. All overpaid for what they bring to the game.

I know, I know, I know...that is what 30+ goal scorers get paid...fine, but it doesn't they should get that much. GMs keep giving out these stupid contracts and that's why the league is in trouble.

Jeff Skinner sees your 6m and raises you a Buffalo