Patrik Laine may play injured

” He’s not as dangerous as he used to be with his shot and I think there’s something that’s affecting his ability to shoot on the catch.” – Arpon Basu

That would explain a lot about him.

Of course, his lack of intensity has always been known.

However, as soon as he returned from his knee injury, he proved his worth on the power play, scoring in abundance in that situation.

For some time now, it’s been much harder for the Finn.

He’s taking a lot out of the team, especially in the current playoffs, where he’s just a big burden on the team. He can’t get to the net, and when he does, his shot just doesn’t go in as quickly and accurately as it used to.

Lately, we’ve seen him draw several times and miss the target by a wide margin.

His strength (and probably his only strength) is his devastating shot. If he can’t shoot like he’s really capable of, you have to question his usefulness in the line-up.

What’s the point of keeping a big guy who doesn’t play physical, isn’t a speed merchant, is atrocious defensively, never forces himself and could be injured?

In the same column on TSN 690, Jon Still talked about ESPN’s Steve Levy, who reportedly briefly mentioned that Laine would try to play with a wrist injury.

If this possible injury is to his wrist, it explains even more his atrocious performances of late.

Should Martin St-Louis give Laine a rest? Clearly, all he does is slow down the group and create turnovers, so this idea shouldn’t be ruled out.

In bursts

– If Laine were to remain in the press gallery for a game, would Kapanen be the best choice to replace him?

– Senators fans are loud tonight.

– Good news for young Canadian players.

– Now that’s good.

– Interesting.