Scout's Analysis: Patrik Laine's scratch and how Columbus should use him

The Columbus Blue Jackets have drawn attention to themselves for all the wrong reasons this season.

First out of the gate was the Mike Babcock hiring and then the parting of ways.

Then came an excruciatingly poor start to their season, with the Blue Jackets winning just five of their first 20 games. The Jackets find themselves last in the Metro Division and last in the Eastern Conference. As of Friday, they are already seven points out of a wild card position.

This week the noise out of Columbus was about the benching and then healthy scratching of Patrik Laine. There’s no question Laine can be a polarizing player. But was scratching him the right message to send to him and, by extension, the rest of the group? It’s debatable on many levels, but this is the NHL and a results-oriented business. Teams are paying their star players (Laine’s making $8.7M per year) with the expectation they play to their identity and contribute to the team’s success.

I’ve taken on the task of identifying why the Blue Jackets made the choice to bench Laine and what they can do to put him in a position to succeed again.

How did they get to this point only 20 games into the season?

DETAIL? EFFORT?

To play centre in the NHL a forward has to have the determination to track up and down the ice the full 200 feet. The position is one of the most gruelling for any skater.

Teams have made adjustments over the years to eliminate the expectation that a centre has to be on the play down low in the offensive and defensive zone. But a full ice effort is still required and any skater playing the middle has to read and react more than any other forward on the ice. Centres can’t afford to stop moving their feet.

I’ve broken down a ton of tape on Laine’s effort playing both the middle and on the wing in his 10 games played so far this season. More often than not this is the kind of effort I’ve witnessed:

Laine was playing the wing in this sequence with Boone Jenner in the middle. Laine’s responsibility in the clip was to take away the middle seam, then jump to defend his lane and front the shooter. Standing tall, waving your stick back and forth doesn’t cut it. The end result speaks for itself.

He looks stuck in the sequence. It’s hard to determine if it’s a read/react issue, a pure lack of effort, or a misunderstanding of his responsibility. Maybe it’s all of the above.

There’s no substitute for being engaged and competing.

I can accept that Laine isn’t going to provide exceptional detail defensively. He's not that player and not everyone is. I understand the high-end element he provides is offence, so I only need him to be average on the defensive side.

But what about the moments where Laine hasn’t been working hard enough offensively?

Here’s a clip that speaks for itself and it doesn't even matter what position Laine was playing. The Jackets have the goalie out trying to come back in their game versus Pittsburgh. Take a look at how stationary and disengaged Laine is in this sequence with the game on the line:

STARTING WITH THE PUCK

Every NHL team runs set plays off face-offs in all three zones. Starting with the puck is crucial to defensive zone exits and directing pucks on net in the offensive zone.

Taking draws as a centre, or winger, is an important role. Laine is capable of digging in and winning face-offs, especially on his strong side.

But he's won just 39.7 per cent of his overall draws this season, so considering the range of success he has had in the face-off circle, I’m a bit surprised the Blue Jackets kept rolling him out as a centreman. Nonetheless, whether he’s playing the middle or the wing his winning percentage certainly has room for improvement:

LAINE THE SHOOTER

Before I forget what Laine’s most dangerous asset is -- his shot -- I wanted to take a look at his volume of shots on goal and the areas on the ice where he is directing pucks on net.

It takes motion, the ability to read and react, and effort to find “quiet” ice in the NHL. Laine is lethal when he gets a chance to rip a puck on goal from high danger areas.

Here’s an example of what Laine can still accomplish when he’s engaged, reading the play, and jumping to a puck. He can get to space quickly and use his long reach to keep a play alive before ripping the puck on net.

The issue is that he hasn’t been doing it enough to start the season. Take a look at his shot distribution, and more importantly his heat map. Generally speaking, most pure shooters have a heat map that covers the entire bottom of the circles and crease area. Otherwise, they aren’t moving to extreme high danger areas. They are, instead, electing to shoot from the flank or distance.

Here is a look at his shot maps over the past 10 games:

BODY OF WORK

Laine has dealt with some injury setbacks the past couple of seasons. He was limited to 55 games last season and, outside of being scratched for one game this season, he has played only 10 games.

In those 65 games Laine has been between 16:40 and 19:07 in ice time, all of which comes at even strength and the power play. He’s directed an average of 3.2 shots on goal per game and has scored 25 goals and 31 assists in this span of action.

He’s generally contributed offensively, but his defensive effort has ranged wildly. Laines is a minus-17 in the games I’m analyzing. Having said that, I have to be fair and point out that the Blue Jackets haven’t exactly been a defensive juggernaut as a team.

Despite his 6-foot-5, 209-pound stature Laine has never been a punishing player. He uses his large frame and long reach to shield pucks and get in the way, but he’s not imposing. He’s been credited with 28 hits and 40 shot blocks in the 65-game segment.

SO HOW CAN THE BLUE JACKETS GET THE MOST OUT OF LAINE?

When scouting players, the first thing that has to stand out is someone's overall effort. Players who don't compete between whistles can't hide in the NHL. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It doesn’t matter how elite a talent you are, if you don’t compete relentlessly, you won’t contribute positive results.

I see why Columbus made the decision to bench Laine for a game. They’re paying him big dollars and expect big results.

Having said that, it also feels to me like he has been “lost in translation” to start the season. If playing him at centre wasn’t working early on, why did the team ping pong him back and forth in recent games instead of simply returning him to his natural position on the wing for good? It feels like everyone involved was stubborn with their process and expectation.

Laine remains an elite shooter who is capable of scoring over 30 goals, but he will never be a completely reliable three zone player. That’s why skating him on the wing makes more sense than the giving him the responsibility of playing the middle.

I’m not sure which line combination complements Laine the most in Columbus, but I do feel he needs to remain on the wing to be effective.

Effort is a choice, however, and Laine needs to provide much more compete overall.