The upcoming return of Patrik Laine risks giving a boost to the Canadian’s anemic offensive, but it is not the only reinforcement that could provide the one who has already been a prolific scorer. At least, if we rely on his advanced statistics for the 2022-2023 season, during which his 55 games constitute a more representative sample than his meager 18 games last year.
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Sportlogiq’s robots demonstrate that the Finnish striker surprisingly excels in certain defensive categories. Which is far from bad news, since the CH defense also shows several deficiencies.
Well, Laine is not the solution to all problems either. Firstly, because he has played very little in the last year and a half, secondly, because he will have to adapt to a new playing system, and thirdly, because he has also been quite bad in certain statistics that we we will discuss further.
Photo Martin Alarie
But as you’ll see in our charts below, when he played for the Columbus Blue Jackets two years ago, Laine was eighth among NHL forwards in recovery. free pucks, with 18.91 per game.
The best in Montreal
If he had been able to start the season and maintained this average, Laine would be the most prolific Canadian forward in this regard. Only one forward shows similar numbers: Nick Suzuki, who in the first 21 games of the season (that is, as of Tuesday) has recovered an average of 17.33 loose pucks.
In fact, number 92 would be the fourth best CH player in this regard, all positions combined, among all those who have played 16 games or more.
He would only be trailed by Lane Hutson (24.95), Mike Matheson (21.75) and Kaiden Guhle (20).
The five best attackers of CH
Pucks recovered (average per game after 21 games)
| Player | Recovered washers | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Nick Suzuki | 17,33 |
| 2. | Christian Dvorak | 12,23 |
| 3. | Juraj Slafkovsky* | 12,16 |
| 4. | Cole Caufield | 12,09 |
| 5. | Joel Armia | 11,66 |
| Patrik Laine in 55 games, in 2022-2023 | 18,91 |
Data provided by Sportlogiq
*In 18 matches
Blocked passes too
Another aspect of the defensive game in which Laine stands out is in the area of blocked passes. Two years ago, he was 33rd among league forwards, with 3.02 per game.
At the end of the game against Utah on Tuesday, only two Canadian attackers had done better than him. They are Nick Suzuki (4.09 average) and Kirby Dach (3.42).
The five best attackers of CH
Blocked pucks (average per game after 21 games)
| Player | Locked washers | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Nick Suzuki | 4,09 |
| 2. | Kirby Dach | 3,42 |
| 3. | Christian Dvorak | 2,81 |
| 4. | Jake Evans | 2,52 |
| 5. | Joel Armia | 2,19 |
| Patrik Laine in 55 games, in 2022-2023 | 3,02 |
Data provided by Sportlogiq
The second overall pick in 2016 also stood out in terms of speared pucks, with 1.05 per game. A good average for the 51e rank among NHL forwards.
Far from being good at everything, though.
But we still shouldn’t push the envelope too much: Patrik Laine is neither Patrice Bergeron nor Anze Kopitar, and he is also one of the worst players on the circuit in certain columns of defensive statistics.
For example, in 2022-2023 it was 208e best forward in terms of battles won for the puck and the 395e for the average of blocked shots per game, with 0.25.
In short, Laine may not be the savior of the 2024-2025 edition of the Canadiens. But some evenings, his return could slow down the graying of Martin St-Louis’ hair.
