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Patrik Laine Gets His Wings

Patrik Laine Gets His Wings

By Tyler Hetherington

Patrik Laine is now a Detroit Red Wing!


The blockbuster deal between Detroit and Pittsburgh went down about a week ago. The deal saw Detroit send Samuel Girard, Yakov Trenin, Julien Gauthier, OTT 2025 Rnd 1, SJS 2025 Rnd 1 to Pittsburgh for the former 2nd overall pick in 2022.

The deal came with a bit of controversy and question marks. First, the Red Wings in a full tear it down rebuild traded away five assets for him. Two high first-round picks, a budding dman in Girard and two good prospects in Trenin and Gauthier. All for a player who's best season so far was 53 points, and he's on track for his worse season since being a rookie.

"We thought we could give Patrik a fresh start here in Detroit. He's probably had too many fresh starts already in his career. But we feel he'll be a long term piece here in Detroit alongside Petan and Fiala for the next 5/6 years minimum." Stated GM Hetherington when asked about bringing in Laine.

His skill and his age are a rare combination in the FNHL. Probably only three or four more assets in the entire league that come close or surpass his numbers and age.

"Sometimes you have to go out and get the big fish. Turn a handful of smaller pieces into a bigger one. GM Hetherington did that today. I'm excited to play beside him." stated Nicolas Petan.

Petan and Kevin Fiala are two players that might benefit the most from this transaction. The two have been staples to the top line so far this year in Detroit. But the spot alongside them at on right-wing has been a rotation of Cory Conacher and Michael St Croix. Both good players, but neither as skilled as Patrik Laine. Petan is 24 years old, Fiala 23 and Laine still only 21. As GM Hetherington said earlier. They could be a line that stays together for years and years to come. This continues the Red Wings rebuild model. Despite some fans questioning the move.

"It's not like we traded those assets for a 34-year-old player. Patrik has 14 or 15 years of pro-level play in him at least. Laine is the type of player you hope assets turn into one day. It wasn't easy trading those picks and those young guys. But we have a very healthy prospects pool and we feel we dealt from a position of strength." stated GM Hetherington.

So far in 5 games played with Detroit; Laine has scored one goal and added three assists. But the team has gone 1-4 and is in a huge slump, even before the deal. But we know the team will turn it around here soon and hopefully Laine breaks out in a big way very soon.

5/3/2020 - 457 words


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