To call it an all-out epiphany might only be a slight exaggeration.

Patrik Laine came to a stark realization this past summer and his ability to rectify the situation is paying early dividends for the Winnipeg Jets.

“Maybe last year I thought I was working hard, and now I feel like maybe it wasn’t as hard as I thought,” Laine said before putting up two goals and four points on Thursday in a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild. “I’m still 21. Hopefully, going to have a lot of games in this league and time to learn. The quicker the better.”

During that visit with members of the media following the morning skate, Laine also revealed for the first time that something else was weighing on his mind during what ultimately became his least productive NHL season.

“Last year I was just stressed about contracts and all of that kind of stuff,” said Laine, whose subpar season still included 30 goals and 50 points. “Now, I have it in my pocket so now I can just play hockey and not worry about that.”

But wouldn’t betting on himself on a bridge deal be something that could cause Laine some additional stress, since cashing in on his next contract is predicated on him delivering big offensive numbers?

Not necessarily.

The fact Laine has acknowledged the pressure, at least publicly, suggests to me that he’s not going to let it bother him the next time he gets closer to a contract negotiation.

Although the season is only five games old, Laine woke up Friday morning tied with Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid for top spot in the race for the Art Ross Trophy.

Those are the kind of numbers that lead to a massive payday down the road.

With three goals and seven assists, Laine has been a dominant force — and not just on the score sheet, though it’s worth noting that nine of his points have come at even strength (with only one recorded on the power play).

The physical side of the game is something Laine has shown flashes of in the past, but he’s throwing his body around with a bit more regularity so far this season.

That’s definitely by design.

“It gets me going,” said Laine. “The hit that I received, that only got me going. I’m not going to back off. Doesn’t matter who it is. I’m still going to be physical.

“That was the big thing I wanted to add to this year, to get engaged, try to create loose pucks, win my own battles. I think I had eight hits. That’s good for me.”

What’s also been good for Laine to date is finding a way to mesh with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler on the Jets top line.

Since the trio was put together during the second period of Sunday’s game against the New York Islanders, they’ve been nearly impossible to contain, combining for three goals and 16 points over eight periods.

Why is it working better this time around with Laine?

“The biggest thing with me and (Wheeler) in general is that we have a way we play and to a certain degree, you’ve got to buy into what we do. That’s the biggest thing that he’s done,” said Scheifele. “He’s bought into what we do best and that’s play with the puck, play simple and wait for things to come to us, as opposed to always chasing it. That’s always the No. 1 thought process for us.

“He sees those moments when he has a guy that’s vulnerable and he makes a play. Other than that, just knowing when it’s time to make a play and when it’s time to make a simple one.”

Speaking of seemingly simple plays, the pass Scheifele made for Laine’s one-timer goal in the second period was a classic example of making an exquisite play look routine.

Scheifele entered the Wild zone through the middle of the ice on what was basically a one-on-two rush.

Instead of hastily dumping the puck in or trying to beat Wild defenceman Ryan Suter with an individual effort, Scheifele created both time and space by delaying slightly and cutting toward the boards.

Not only did that allow Scheifele to create a passing lane for a cross-seam pass, Laine had time to find a shooting lane, since Wild defenceman Matt Dumba backed off a bit.

The timing end result was a wicked one-timer that beat Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk and put the Jets up 2-1 at the time.

“I had no idea he was going to pass that. I think he was probably the only one who knew he was going to pass to me,” said Laine. “He didn’t look at me once. I was pretty sure he was just going to dump it in and we were going to change.”

The play looked a lot different through the eyes of Scheifele, whose elite vision and passing ability was on full display.

“He was wide open. He was wide open,” said Scheifele. “I just pulled it out and saw he had no one close to him and there’s no stick in the lane. And it was late in our shift, too. I’d only pass it if it was 100 percent. And he was wide open. Dubnyk was far over if he hits it good enough.”

Safe to say Laine hit it good enough.

(Terrence Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Whether or not Laine should be given more of an opportunity with the top line has been a source of serious debate around these parts for quite some time.

The premise was simple: Given his shooting ability, playing Laine with the two best passers on the team should provide a natural fit — not to mention give the Finnish sniper ample opportunity to fill the net.

The problem is that the responsibilities of the Jets top line run deeper than just scoring and providing offence.

On many nights, Jets head coach Paul Maurice plays the Scheifele line against the opposition’s top offensive line.

Laine saw a stretch at the end of last season on the top line and played some of his best hockey, though it didn’t lead to an explosion of offence.

Getting a taste allowed Laine to see what was going to be necessary for him to see more time with that grouping.

“Yeah, all the things that come from spending another year in the NHL. You get bigger, stronger, faster, you learn the game, you become more confident and you have an appreciation when you play on that line for the other things that you’ve got to do,” said Maurice. “So it’s noticeable, Patrik’s game is considerably different than last year, but so is Mark Scheifele’s game. Patrik’s just maturing as a player.

“It’s an awareness. He’s got lots of years until he hits his prime, but these guys have an awareness of what they’re good at. He can be a power forward, he can be a strong man where you’ll start to see him driving people to the net with him, with the puck, controlling it in the offensive zone. He can finish checks.”

Laine, who can also shoot the puck like few others in the NHL, came back this season determined to earn a longer look and to show he is better equipped to handle all facets of the job.

“Obviously, they’re better players this year than they were last year. And I think for me, maybe it wasn’t clicking before because I think this year I’ve been working my bag off every single shift,” said Laine. “They’re always working together. It’s not them. It’s been me before that hasn’t been working and now I feel I’m always working hard every shift and that’s been the key for me and that line’s success.”

On the night he hit and later surpassed 700 career NHL points, Wheeler provided a telling comment on the type of player he believes Laine can grow into.

And for the record, Wheeler isn’t one to heap praise or toss out hyperbole, just for the sake of patting a teammate on the back.

“My goal with him is by the time I’m out of here, he’s one of the best forwards in the league, in that conversation,” said Wheeler, who is in the first year of the five-year extension he signed in the summer of 2018. “He’s a guy that has a ton of success at a young age. He’s been a huge part of our team success and when it doesn’t go well and you’re a young player, you’ve got to fight through it. Sometimes your emotions get the better of you and it’s hard to realize what you need to do.

“I talked to him this summer and I think he realized some of those things, and he realized that ultimately the onus is on him to take those next steps, and his determination so far this year has been outstanding. He’s just battling on pucks, and typically when you have a guy with his size and his skillset battling that hard, the puck’s going to find him and we all see what he can do in open space.”

Can Laine keep up this feverish pace?

It’s impossible to know.

But the signs he’s showing in his all-around game suggest he’ll get plenty of opportunities to prove he can.

Imagine what his offensive numbers might actually look like when the Jets vaunted power play starts clicking.

(Top photo: Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images)