Canadiens Analyst Offers a Blunt Assessment of Patrik Laine's Future in Montreal
Marc-Olivier Beaudoin from BPM Sports shares his observations on the Montreal Canadiens, but it's his comment about Patrik Laine that stands out.
After only three games this season, analyst Marc-Olivier Beaudoin painted a fairly complete picture of the Montreal Canadiens this Sunday morning.
He spoke about Juraj Slafkovsky, Logan Mailloux, Noah Dobson, Mike Matheson, Oliver Kapanen, Kirby Dach, Brendan Gallagher, and Ivan Demidov.
For all of those players, he had only positive things to say (except Mailloux with the Blues, of course). But beyond the positive notes, it's his remark about Patrik Laine that really got people talking.
According to him, the Canadiens' management has already moved on from the Finnish forward's situation.
"Patrik Laine won't be signing a contract extension with the team, despite some rumors we've read about it. He's playing on the fourth line with a bit of time on the second power-play unit. Zero conditions to optimize his usage. The organization seems to have already moved on from this matter."
- Marc-Olivier Beaudoin
- Marc-Olivier Beaudoin
Patrik Laine already seems to be excluded from the Montreal Canadiens' plans
I like Beaudoin's honesty.
Laine, who arrived with high expectations more than a year ago, was supposed to bring offensive depth to the Canadiens, but everything suggests that his time in Montreal could be short-lived.
At 27 years old, the former elite scorer no longer seems to fit into the plans of Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis.
Since the start of the season, he has been limited to a secondary role, playing on the fourth line with reduced power play time.
Again, according to Beaudoin, the organization's patience with him is wearing thin rather quickly.
Honestly, I think he's right. You don't need to be an expert to see that Laine is simply too slow on the ice.
If Laine doesn't quickly rediscover his scoring instinct, his days will be numbered
In my opinion, he's clearly a liability at five-on-five, and if St-Louis doesn't want to use him on the first power play unit, I don't see how he can help the Canadiens this season.
TRENDING NOW
