SAN JOSE, Calf. – When Patrik Laine isn’t playing hockey, he’s a sniper of a different kind.

Laine is a member of an eight-player “Call of Duty” team from Finland that competes online. “We’re playing everyone else in the world,” said Laine, the 18-year-old scoring machine from Tampere.

“And, of course, dominating.”

Well, of course. Why wouldn’t a team with Patrik Laine dominate? He had eight goals in seven U-18 world junior games. He had seven goals in seven U-20 world junior games. Then, in the IIHF world championships, he had seven goals and five assists in 10 games, leading Finland to the silver medal earlier this year.

And why wouldn’t Patrik Laine share the fact that his team dominates? Confidence is his calling card as the NHL Draft approaches, even if that confidence has some observers deleteriously referring to it as swagger.

“People can think what they want to think. I don’t care,” said Laine.

“People who know me know I’m a good guy, have lots of confidence, I play the right way. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but people can think what they want to think.”

Laine met potential NHL teams at the recent NHL Draft Combine, and then met with reporters before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final in San Jose. In both situations, he securely sold his talents, as the Toronto Maple Leafs contemplate their top pick.

"I think I have the ability to someday become the best player in the NHL, Maybe other guys are good at many different things, but not really good at one thing. I think I am,” Laine said at the NHL Scouting Combine on Saturday. "Toronto has a tough decision to make.”

On Monday, Laine doubled-down on that, when asked about the competition between himself and U.S. phenom Auston Matthews, who is expected to be the Leafs’ pick at No. 1 overall.

“We’re quite even. I’m better than him in some stuff, he’s better than me in some of the things. I wouldn’t say one is better than the other. I think we’re quite even right now,” said Laine.

He’ll say the honor of going first overall, like his idol Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, isn’t paramount. But it’s clear Laine believes he’s earned it.

“I want to be No. 1 because I want to show people that I want to be the best player in this draft, and that’s the thing that I wanna be. The first one,” he said. “I would be lying if I said I couldn’t go first. That’s always been my goal. After this season, I think it’s really possible to go first.”

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Laine looks up to Ovechkin as well as to Teemu Selanne, as is the obligation of every Finnish player born after 1992.

He famously declared he wouldn’t wash his jersey after Ovechkin checked him at worlds. As for Selanne, Laine said he only met him once during the U-20 tournament, but didn’t grab his autograph.

Now, Laine’s the one being asked for autographs, from fans in Finland but also from the aggressive hounds that patrol the exits of NHL events like the draft combine, looking to sell them on eBay or at merchandise events.

“Going outside and having to sign those autographs” was his least favorite part of the combine, he said.

But it’s part of the gig when you’re a star. Just like talking with the media which, Laine says, he enjoys exponentially more.

Like, for example, when Laine gave an instant classic interview with Sportsnet at the draft lottery, offering loopy answers to questions while FaceTiming.

“I just wanted to be me in the interview. I didn’t have to pretend I was someone else,” he said. “I want to be like this. In an English interview or a Finnish interview. I have good confidence on the ice and off the ice.

While it might seem like Laine lacks a filter at times, he’s aware that his words carry weight and make headlines, here and back home.

“I just want to come here and give good interviews. I don’t have to be nervous giving them. I know what I can and can’t say. That’s good to keep in your head during these interviews.”

So what can’t you say?

“I not gonna say those things,” said Laine.

View photos SAN JOSE, CA - JUNE 06: Top Prospect Patrik Laine speaks during media availability for the 2016 NHL Draft Top Prospects prior to Game Four of the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Final at SAP Center on June 6, 2016 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) More

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