A former Habs recruiter slammed the criticism of Patrik Laine

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Carl Vaillancourt
August 25, 2024 (5:11 PM)

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If the deal Kent Hughes put together to acquire Finnish forward Patrik Laine is met with mixed feelings in the hockey community, a former Canadiens employee wanted to set the record straight.

Former Canadiens recruiter Grant McCagg, known on the platform X for his opinions and insider role in the Bettman circuit, didn't mince words when criticizing Patrik Laine's detractors.

But is it really true? Grant McCagg of the website Recrutes disagrees.

In a recent post on the social network X, the former Canadiens recruiter reminded everyone that many labeled Cole Caufield in the same way before last season. However, Caufield finished the last campaign with no less than 37 assists, in addition to significantly improving his play without the puck, particularly in his own zone. It's not perfect, but the improvement is noticeable.

Grant McCagg is fed up with those who believe Patrik Laine is one-dimensional

Regarding Patrik Laine, McCagg pulled out statistics to prove that, like Caufield has become, the Finn is not just a goal scorer.

Over the past five seasons, the Canadiens' new addition has averaged 37 assists per 82 games. If this were over a full season, this statistic would be comparable to Auston Matthews' last campaign, in which he had 38 assists in 2023-2024.

That was for his offensive contribution, which isn't as one-dimensional as some might think.

You can even look at the Finn's defensive stats.

Once again, McCagg used statistics to demonstrate that the forward contributes more than just goals to a team. In his last 80 games with the Blue Jackets, Laine was on the ice for 3.36 goals per 60 minutes. During the same period, the entire team allowed 293 goals, or an average of 3.66 goals per 60 minutes. So, in the end, the team was better defensively with him on the ice than without him. It goes without saying that the forward holds onto the puck in the offensive zone, which means the Jackets are less often in their own zone.

With a fresh start and a new opportunity, Patrik Laine will have the chance to show that he can do more than just score goals in a one-dimensional elite scorer role. During his press conference, he repeatedly mentioned that he was eager to contribute to the team's success, no matter how that would be.

It will be interesting to see his offensive contribution, but especially how he performs in all three zones and his level of intensity every night...