Patrik Laine tells @reporterchris that he’s confident he'll playing "somewhere" next season. He just doesn’t know if that somewhere will be Winnipeg. sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/pat…
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Relax, Laine’s Not Going Anywhere
Photo credit: © Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
There was a bit of controversy in Winnipeg recently with the news that Patrik Laine has no idea what is going on with his contract extension. Laine spoke to some media back home to give his thoughts on the summer and his current contract status.
Now, there’s two ways to look at these comments. The first option is to be extremely worried that Laine wants out of Winnipeg or that he might not be in a Jets sweater for long. Laine’s comments certainly point in that direction as he mentions that no deal has been talked about and he only mentions that he will play “somewhere” next season.
These comments are definitely worrisome because it doesn’t sound as though Laine is fully committed to the organization or to sticking around long-term.
However…
This is Patrik Laine we are talking about. This is the kid who always speaks his mind and says something every interview that leaves reporters baffled. To be perfectly honest, Laine’s a comical person and likes to make tongue in cheek comments.
The most likely scenario is that Laine just wanted to have some fun with the media and he deadpanned another interview.
One of the other important things to note is the language barrier from Finnish to English. Laine is often misunderstood because of the difference between the languages and how things are translated.
Patrik Laine: "There's nothing new to tell...but I'm not in a hurry yet. Autumn is a beautiful time in Finland. I don't think it has even started yet because I might have heard something about it. It may indeed be that there is no contract when camp begins." #NHLJets
Patrik Laine latasi suorat sanat ”Tampereen yksiön” arvostelijoille: ”Jokainen voi ottaa mailan käteen ja yrittää tehdä 30 maalia” iltalehti.fi/nhl/a/ae3e5b93…
Reading these comments show even less of a concern as Laine seems to be leaving it up to his agent to get a deal done. It doesn’t feel like Laine is actually worried about anything going wrong.
As far as the fans were concerned, it caused some interesting thoughts and comments on social media. It seems most hockey fans that aren’t hardcore followers of Winnipeg think there might be a rift between Laine and the team. Most of the actual Jets supporters and media saw this as a kid who was speaking his mind and will have no problem signing a long-term deal to stay with the club.
Kyle Connor said he wants to sign long-term in Winnipeg. Patrik Laine says he's not sure what is going on. RFAs around the league have taken similar stances to both. It's all posturing. You can only read into it so far. #NHLJets
I'm just figuring it's a case of his agent is handling it and he doesn't know what is going on. Or so I hope.