Patrik Laine has turned in the most productive seasons of his NHL career the past two years with Columbus, as he’s combined for 48 goals and 108 points in 111 games in that span.
Unfortunately for Laine, it hasn’t resulted in team success, with the Blue Jackets failing to make the playoffs each of the past two seasons. But change is afoot, with Laine’s long-time mentor Pascal Vincent taking over as head coach, and the big Finnish star could be moving to center to start the season.
With a new outlook for the squad, the hope is such veterans as Laine – who has taken No. 1 draft pick Adam Fantilli under his wing – can help a young, talented squad take the next step.
Laine met with BlueJackets.com on Sunday to discuss the upcoming season. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
You’ve talked a couple of times this summer about how much you enjoy Columbus and how you wanted to be here in the summer. Why is that? What have you found out about the city you’ve taken to?
“I don’t know. It feels like a good place to be. It feels like home for me. I like to be here as much as possible. All my friends are here, and people can come over and visit. I like it here. That’s why I came here so early in the first place. You get to work out here and don’t have a million people around you and so many things you need to do. It’s a little more relaxed and focused over here.”
Did you expect that when you first came here? Did you know anything about Columbus?
“Yeah, I knew quite a bit just being with Jack (Roslovic in Winnipeg). That’s all he talked about pretty much – Columbus and Muirfield. Those are the only two topics he ever talked about, so I knew quite a bit. And I always liked playing here and coming here as a visitor. But obviously I didn’t know much. I never really explored other than coming from the hotel to the rink. But so far so good. I’ve loved it here so far.”
You mentioned Muirfield. You’ve become a pretty big golfer, haven’t you?
“This summer I haven’t played too much. I’ve been more focused on this and working out and all this stuff, but in the summer usually I am a pretty big golfer. I’ve been fortunate enough to play there with Rosie. Yeah, if you like golf and you like hockey, it’s a pretty good place to be.”
A very basic question, but how excited are you for the season? There seems to be a sense around you that you’re in a pretty good place right now and ready to get rolling.
“I worked physically and mentally really hard this summer to kind of get a little reset and start off on the right foot. I feel like it’s the same for everyone – a lot of excitement for this year. After the last couple of years we’ve had, that’s not where we want to be. We know we’re way better than that, so it’s exciting times. New faces are coming in, and we have a lot of the same guys as last year, and getting to work with them every day, it’s exciting. Just happy to get it going.”
We’ve made your mentorship of Adam (Fantilli) into a storyline at this point, and we’ve also seen you leading drills, leading skates during camp. Do you feel a little ownership now that you’ve been here for a couple of years?
“Yeah. I’m starting my eighth year. I'm 25. It feels like I've been here forever, so it’s about time that I take some leadership. I’m not much of a talker, but I prefer to lead by example in games and practices, and that’s what I've been trying to focus on, especially with all of the young guys we have. I’m just trying to make sure they are doing the right things and working hard and try to take ownership in that.”
Johnny (Gaudreau) said you’re at your best when you’re chirping guys in the room, funny stuff like that.
“Yeah, I like to be involved in that. I like to think I’m not the most boring guy. I’ve made the guys laugh a few times.”
You do have a pretty good sense of humor.
“I like to think so, but I’m not sure everybody agrees with that. But you can’t please everybody. As long as most of the guys are happy, then that’s good for me.”
You’ve been asked a lot about the potential move to center, and obviously there’s an interest from you in wanting to do that. Is that something you’ve thought about for a long time? It seems like you could be a pretty good player there.
“We actually had those talks sometimes when I was in Winnipeg. It’s been on my mind every now and then and never took off, and I kind of forgot about it. And then obviously last year when we were missing a lot of guys, I was talking to Pazzy quite a bit about it. We were watching a lot of video and working on that, and then the opportunity presented itself. And now it happens that Pazzy is the head coach and he can make those calls. I’m happy he’s willing to try it out.
“It’s preseason. We have nothing to lose. Worse-case scenario, I feel like I’m learning the game from a different perspective, and you can always go back to the wing. But I like it. And I wouldn’t even be trying it if I thought I could just survive and be average. I really think that I can be a really good center. I have to work on faceoffs and all that kind of stuff, but that’s what I’ve been doing and that’s what I’ll keep doing even if I’m not playing center.”
