We are in the dregs of summer, so we take a critical look at the Winnipeg Jets organizational cupboards and highlight who we feel are the Jets’ “Top 20 Prospects” when looking at a combination of potential and probability of positive impact for the franchise.

We continue our prospect profile to goal scorer extraordinaire, Patrik Laine.

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Patrik Laine

Age: 18 Position: LW/RW Height: 6’4″ Weight: 201 lbs Draft Year: 2016 Round: First

Patrik Laine had always been on the scouts’ radar, but it was not until the 2015-16 season that Laine really burst onto the scene. Even in 2014-15, when Laine put up 12 points in 36 games in the Finns’ second best men’s league, Laine did not carry the same hype he does now.

Then Laine became one of the most electric prospects over the past few years.

The 6’4 winger scored 3.03 points per sixty minutes in the Finnish Liiga, with 6.07 points per 60 minutes on the power play. He put up a tonne of shot volume, averaging 19.11 shots per sixty minutes with 10.12 shots on goal per sixty minutes. In two-way numbers, Laine carried a 53.3 Corsi percentage on a team that averaged a 48.2 Corsi percentage over the durration of the season.

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Read More: Nation Network Draft Preview: #2 Patrik Laine

Laine is a dream prospect for scouts. He has a huge frame at 6’4 and already has filled out enough to overpower fully grown men, as seen in both the Liiga and the World Championships. He uses his size to protect the puck in small spaces and wreak havoc on the opposing defenders.

His shot is elite, and is already likely one of the better shooters on the Jets, if not already the best. He has multiple release points and equally proficient with his heavy wrister and blast of a slap shot. He has above average vision and can set up players, rounding out his offensive toolkit, but his combination of size and shot is still what makes Laine stand above the competition.

The one weakness Laine carries is skating, which really is only a weakness relatively speaking to his other strengths. Laine has a decent top gear, and once he gets started he is nearly impossible to stop; however, his accelleration, especially with his first few steps, could use some more explosiveness.

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Read More: Jets hope they have their sniper in Patrik Laine

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Laine has only two cohorts, as only two in the Liiga have ever had comparable seasons. One is Jori Lehtera, who would have likely hit 200 games already if it were not for playing in the KHL over most of his prime years. The other is a Finnish veteran of over 1000 games well known to the Jets 2.0 edition, Olli Jokinen.

While these two comps may seem low, one should remember that Lehtera dominated the KHL and Jokinen twice scored over a point per game in the NHL. In addition, what makes Laine so intriguing is his natural goal scoring ability, something the Jets have long missed in their ranks. In addition, Laine’s best showings have been outside of regular season performance, in the Liiga’s playoffs and World Championships, which is not used in the pGPS model and where Laine really separates himself from Jokinen and Lehtera.

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