This year has been a rough one for Patrik Laine. He was traded to the Canadiens during the offseason and things got worse quickly.
He missed the beginning of the season after he suffered a sprained knee during a preseason match against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
As a result, Laine has appeared in just 24 games this season, registering 12 goals and 18 points in the process.
Scoring goals certainly has not been a problem for him this year but the rest of his game remains problematic for NHL head coaches.
As such, when the sniper goes through an inevitable cold streak, there is bound to be tension between him and the coaching staff.
That appears to be exactly what is happening between Laine and Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis right now.
St. Louis elected to bench the Finish forward during the entire 3rd period tonight even after the team fell behind the Anaheim Ducks, eventually dropping the game 3-2.
Laine ended up recording a season-low 10:33 of ice time in the game. Making matters even worse is that 4:24 of that came on the man advantage, indicating that St. Louis does not trust him at even strength at all.
The 26-year-old former 2nd overall pick has not scored a goal in his last six games and has just three assists in that span.
He is also a -5 over his last six games and has just a single shot on goal in each of his last three matches.
Needless to say, this is not good enough for a player the Canadiens are relying on to score.
It is no coincidence that Laine's cold streak has coincided with the team's current five-game losing skid.
It will be interesting to see how the Canadiens move forward with Laine as he has just one year left on his contract after this one.
Will he become trade bait over the next season and a half or will he simply sign with a new club in free agency?
POLL | ||
FEVRIER 2 | 219 ANSWERS Patrik Laine Benched as Martin St-Louis Delivers a Bold Wake up Call Do you think Patrik Laine deserved to be benched as the Canadiens lost to the Anaheim Ducks? | ||
Yes | 160 | 73.1 % |
No | 59 | 26.9 % |
List of polls |