Patrik Laine Not Traveling With The Team

Patrik Laine has “flu-like” symptoms so he’s not traveling with the team. Couple that with other things this year and so far, he’s only played in 13 games this season. The best ability is availability. Having his name on the roster is great but unless he’s in the lineup, it does make this team’s power play less potent.

Related: Patrik Laine Likes His New Team

Laine has eight goals on the season, all of them on the power play. That’s massive and getting him healthy and playing the majority left in this half season is going to be critical if the Montreal Canadiens expect to stay in the playoff hunt.

Laine last played on New Year’s Eve. He hasn’t played in the new year. He last got an assist on December 29th and last got a goal on December 21st. For now, he won’t play against Washington and that’s all we know for now.

In the Canadiens last five games, they are running at 25% efficiency. December 21st was his last one. The team is still winning without him but is that going to last? Nobody stays red-hot forever. Every season has ebbs and flows.

My expectations for Laine is 25-30 goals for the season. Maybe 40 points. Potentially he could play in 40 more games which means I am asking him to score 17 or more goals and 13 more assists.

To me, that’s not a lot to ask and if they want to keep pace I think it will be necessary. The Bruins won’t stay on this losing streak as an example.