The Montreal Canadiens made headlines on Monday, acquiring Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
For much of the off-season, reports and NHLRumors.com documented the Canadiens' interest in Laine. Montreal was near the bottom of the NHL in scoring, averaging 2.83 goals per game.
Columbus Blue Jackets Trade Patrik Laine to Montreal Canadiens
By adding a pure scorer, that number should increase, especially since Patrik Laine, as he told the media in his press conference, feels he could be a 40-50 scorer again.
“I don't want to come back with 30 goals, I want to come back with 40-50,” said Patrik Laine.
The question is, can Laine go back to being that Montreal Canadiens player again? TSN Hockey analyst Frankie Corrado joined Laura Diakun on SportsCentre and was asked the same question about Patrik Laine's scoring ability.
** NHLRumors.com transcript
Laura Diakun: and he entered the gate shooting, right? He began his career with three straight 30-goal seasons, 36 in his rookie campaign, followed with 44 the following year, and 30 in his third year in the NHL. Do you see him regaining that form as a goalscorer? Mainly? Do you think?
Frankie Corrado: “I can definitely see it. The first thing is that he has to stay healthy. That was a big thing that delayed him. And so for Patrik Laine, like the ability to score goals is there, and there is an X-factor that the Montreal Canadiens have, and that is Marty St Louis, and this is going to be his calling card as a coach, that, how can you do it. Got a restoration project?
NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens, and Toronto Maple Leafs
I don't even want to call him that because he's injured, but it's a little rehab project in Patrik Laine. How can you put your fingerprints on this player and get the most out of him, like we've seen with Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, all those young defenders? Marty St Louis has his fingers on all those players.
If he can do the same thing for Patrick Laine and get him back to where he can be, that will be a huge achievement for Marty St Louis to show what his calling card really is as a player development and coach.”
As Corrado said, just look at St. What does Louis do with the above players. If he can do that with Laine, the Montreal Canadiens could take major steps this season in their rebuilding process.
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