Laine eager to be difference-maker for Jets in Cup Qualifier

WINNIPEG -- Patrik Laine said he believes he's ready to become a difference-maker for the Winnipeg Jets in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.

"I think I've been able to show everybody that I'm capable of playing top minutes and against top players," the forward said last week. "Hopefully I'm going to get more responsibilities in the future and just try to be worth it."

Laine scored 63 points (28 goals, 35 assists) in 68 games before the NHL season was paused due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. The average of 0.93 points per game was the highest of his four NHL seasons, as was his 19:25 of ice time per game.

"Yeah, it's been a pretty good season," Laine said. "All the stats and ice times have been up. But always looking for more responsibilities and try to be worth it."

The Jets (37-28-6, .563 points percentage) are the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference and will play the No. 8 seed Calgary Flames (36-27-7, .564) in Edmonton, the hub city for West teams. The winner of the best-of-5 series, which begins Aug. 1, will advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the loser will have a chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery on Aug. 10.

Before signing a two-year, $13.5 million contract with the Jets on Sept. 27, 2019, the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft publicly asked for more ice time and a bigger role, certain he was ready for each after scoring 110 goals in 237 games in his first three NHL seasons.

"You always want to get better at everything you're doing, but I think just try to add some consistency," he said. "I think the difference between a bad night and a good night -- that gap -- just try to get that a little bit smaller and just try to get the better overall game in a better shape. Those were those were the things I was looking for."

Coach Paul Maurice said the most important improvements have been Laine's understanding of why play without the puck matters and that teammates' faith in each other to be in the correct position within their system cannot be understated. Laine's 200-foot game has been better, including more determination defensively and being more reliable at getting pucks out along the wall of the defensive zone.

He also said Laine's potential to be a difference-maker in the playoffs is rooted in that growth and his desire for more.

"I wonder a lot of times if it's not requisite to greatness, like, these guys want more," Maurice said. "They want to play more. And what is true is also true of the guy that you are playing more minutes, so at the time in terms of an offensive role, you've got Blake Wheeler banging in 91 points (Wheeler's team-leading total in 2018-19), he'd like to play too.

"I'm not offended by that. It is standard and I don't know that I've ever met a player that says, 'Hey, I'm happy not playing more.' It's the right thing to say, 'I want to play more.' And even to feel that you deserve to play more because what happens is two years later, then they get it. I think the great players have to have that belief in themselves that they deserve to be on the ice all the time."

Defenseman Josh Morrissey said that he expects Laine's progress will continue, all part of a natural maturation.

"His speed is there, he's a powerful guy, he's grown into his body," Morrissey said. "It's the same thing ... when guys are young and they come in and have success, it takes time. In the next number of years, with Patty, you're going to see him get better and better and better. Obviously, that's all over the ice, as you saw last year."

Laine would like to improve his body of work against the Flames. In nine games against them, he has four points (three goals, one assist). In the qualifier series, he'll be going against a strong group of Flames defensemen that includes Mark Giordano, the Norris Trophy winner as the best defenseman in the NHL last season.

"What they can do as a line is probably more important," Maurice said. "When [Nikolaj] Ehlers skates, he just opens up ice. Nikky's got to have a piece of that. Cody [Eakin] is just real smart, real strong and had a good set of hands, so he's in on every battle.

"What Patrik will need to do is find that hole, be involved in the offense and be involved in the grind because there's going to be an awful lot of that in this series. A better and simpler answer is: I don't think he has to change against this defensive corps because we face some pretty solid ones over here in the Central on a nightly basis."

Improving on mixed playoff results so far would also be an important step. Laine scored 12 points (five goals, 17 assists) in 17 games in 2018, when the Jets lost in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. He scored four points (three goals, one assist) when the Jets lost in six games to the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference First Round last season.

"Still kind of far away," Laine said about his game. "It's kind of hard to see myself playing playoff hockey in two weeks, but just try to make the most out of it and try to be as well-prepared as I and as we can, and just try to work hard these next couple of weeks so we'll be ready when the puck drops."