The Montreal Canadiens made headlines on Monday, acquiring Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
For most of the off-season, reports and NHLRumors.com documented the Canadiens interest in Laine. Montreal was near the bottom of the NHL in goal scoring, averaging 2.83 goals per game.
The Columbus Blue Jackets Trade Patrik Laine to the Montreal Canadiens
By adding a pure-goal scorer, that number should rise, especially since Patrik Laine, as he told the media in his introductory press conference, feels he can be a 40-50 goal scorer again.
“I don’t want to come back as a 30-goal scorer, I want to come back with 40-50,” Patrik Laine said.
The question is, can Laine get back to being that player for the Montreal Canadiens again? TSN Hockey Analyst Frankie Corrado joined Laura Diakun on SportsCentre and was asked that exact question regarding Patrik Laine’s goal-scoring ability.
** NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Laura Diakun: and he came into the gate firing, right? He started his career with three straight 30-goal seasons, 36 in his rookie campaign, followed up with 44 the next year, and then 30 in his third year in the NHL. Do you see him regaining that form as a goal scorer? Predominantly? Do you think?
Frankie Corrado: “I can see it for sure. The number one thing is he has to stay healthy. That’s been the biggest thing that has held him back. And so for Patrik Laine, like the goal-scoring ability is there, and there’s X-factor that the Montreal Canadiens have, and that’s Marty St Louis, and this is going to be his calling card as a coach, is, how can you get a reclamation project?
NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens, and the Toronto Maple Leafs
I don’t even want to call him that because he’s been hurt, but it is a little bit of a reclamation project in Patrik Laine. How can you put your fingerprints on this player and get the most out of him, like we’ve seen him with Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky Cole Caufield, all those young defensemen? Marty St Louis has his fingerprints all over those players.
If he can do the same thing to Patrick Laine and get him back to where he can be, that’ll be a great achievement for Marty St Louis to show that what his calling card really is as a player development and coach.”
As Corrado said just look what St. Louis did with the above players. If he can do that with Laine, the Montreal Canadiens can take giant steps this season in their rebuild process.