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NHL rumors: Patrik Laine reportedly open to signing offer sheet

By Dave Stevenson

WINNIPEG, MB - MARCH 28: Patrik Laine #29 of the Winnipeg Jets looks on during the pre-game warm up prior to NHL action against the New York Islanders at the Bell MTS Place on March 28, 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MB - MARCH 28: Patrik Laine #29 of the Winnipeg Jets looks on during the pre-game warm up prior to NHL action against the New York Islanders at the Bell MTS Place on March 28, 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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According to the latest NHL rumors, Winnipeg Jets star forward Patrik Laine will consider all options as a restricted free agent, including signing an offer sheet.

This offseason should be an exciting one for the NHL. The restricted free agency class is especially impressive, with many young players searching long-term, expensive deals. According to the latest NHL rumors, Winnipeg Jets star forward Patrik Laine, who is one of those players, will explore all of his options as an RFA.

The Fourth Period is the source of this report. Laine is seeking a huge deal after scoring 110 goals in his first three NHL seasons. He’s just the fourth player in the salary cap era to have three seasons with at least 30 goals in his first three seasons. The other three are Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, and Auston Matthews.

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According to The Fourth Period, the two sides are expected to start in-depth discussions regarding a new deal this week. But those talks could be a bit difficult because Laine’s value is very hard to define.

On one hand, his ability to score goals is matched by very few players. Here’s a full list of every player who has scored more goals than Laine over the past three seasons.

But on the other hand, there are some issues with him. First of all, most of Laine’s value is tied to him scoring goals. He doesn’t bring much value defensively and, though his passing is underrated, in each of his first three seasons, he’s had more goals than assists.

Also, Laine’s 30 goal season in 2018-19 requires some context. He tied for 39th in the league in goals, which isn’t terrible. Though goal scorers tend to be streaky, Laine was even streakier than most goal scorers last season.

Of his 30 goals, 18 of them came in the month of November. Over 15% of his total goals for the season came in one game against the St. Louis Blues. Let me rephrase that – he scored more goals against the Blues in that game than he did in any other month during the 2018-19 season. Laine played in 12 games last November and scored in eight of them.

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So what are his options? Laine’s first option is to sign a contract. That’s probably the most likely option. The second option is he could request a trade. However, Laine would have minimal leverage and the Jets proved with Jacob Trouba that they aren’t afraid to play hardball.

This brings us to the third option – the infamous offer sheet. For all the talk of offer sheets, no player has signed one since Ryan O’Reilly in 2013. Teams are free to offer them, but the player has to be willing to sign one. An offer sheet could help set the parameters for a long-term deal. It wouldn’t be the first time an offer sheet has helped the Jets sign a goal scorer from Finland.

Signing an offer sheet would be risky for Laine. First of all, if you sign an offer sheet, at the very least, it suggests you wouldn’t mind leaving your team. So if Laine signs an offer sheet, he’d better be prepared if the Jets decide to let him walk.

Secondly, let’s address the pink elephant in the room – nobody signs anyone to offer sheets. It simply does not happen. Why would anyone sign Laine to an offer sheet, knowing Winnipeg will have plenty of cap space to match any offer?

It would probably take the four first rounders tier of compensation for the Jets to even consider letting him leave. How many teams have the cap space to sign Laine to a deal worth over $10.6 million annually? Now, how many of those teams would be willing to give up four first-round picks for someone who scored a total of 12 goals in non-November months last season? The answer to that question is probably zero.

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Laine’s bad season might have been the best case scenario for the Jets future. Now he has a lot less leverage. I’d wager Laine stays in Winnipeg, if only because that’s what just about every player in his situation does. But this situation is one to keep an eye on because it could get very ugly very fast.

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