A single game, much less a single goal, doesn’t make a career. With that in mind, Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine earned his selection to Finland’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster long before his season debut earlier this week against the New York Islanders.
Laine an Undeniable Game-Breaking Talent for Finland
Scoring a goal against the Islanders in the Canadiens’ 2-1 overtime win on Dec. 3, Laine debuted with an undeniable bang for the Habs. However, having sustained a serious injured in the preseason, Laine’s impact on his new team has been minimal, which may be about as significant an understatement as you can find. The 9-13-3 Habs are languishing at the bottom of the standings with little to no hope of making the playoffs just under two months into the regular season.
However, none of that matters due to what Laine can bring to the table as a one-time 44-goal scorer who’s just 26. Were this your typical NHL all-star game/event, it would be a different story. He’d effectively be disqualified from selection, barring his inclusion via fan vote. However, the stakes are clearly much higher than that, when more often than not star players compete to come up with the best excuse to no-show the weekend of. When international bragging rights are on the line instead of a car though, countries have a responsibility to forego what’s fair, like ex-Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi perhaps deserving more respect (only to get snubbed, likely to the delight of many Habs fans).
Related: Canadiens Get Short-Term Upgrade on Kotkaniemi in Dvorak
Finland needs its best chance at success, and Laine, as a game-breaking talent on paper, gives them that. Needless to say, after last playing a year ago with the Columbus Blue Jackets, before a separate injury, time spent in the NHL/NHL Players’ Association Player Assistance Program and a trade request that triggered his eventual acquisition by the Canadiens, Laine has a lot to prove.
It’s possible Laine doesn’t, which, truth be told, wouldn’t just be Finland’s problem. If he fails to build off the success of his debut, it also becomes the Canadiens’, especially at an $8.7 million cap hit up until 2026. However, based on the knowledge Finland general manager Jere Lehtinen and his team had at their disposal, they had no choice but to roll the dice.
As odd as it may sound, going with a two-goal man in fellow-Hab Joel Armia probably represented a smaller risk. Based on the lesser role Armia will presumably play, which is representative of his modest offensive output over a full season to this point (unlike Laine), the 16th-ranked 14:44 per game he plays this season on the Habs and the stacked nature of Finland’s forward ranks, expectations regarding what he offers are simply lower. That’s just logical.
Armia’s No International Slouch
Even so, Armia is technically still producing at a similar pace as he did last season, when he was named the Canadiens’ candidate to win the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. After having gotten demoted to start the campaign, he made the most of his chance to stick in the NHL when injuries opened up a spot to the point of setting a new career high in goals (17).
Armia may have just two goals in 25 games so far this season. However, his eight assists put him on pace for a career-high 33 points. In contrast, his 25 total points through 66 games last season only put him on pace for 31 over the course of an entire 82-game schedule, playing a slightly higher 15:33 per game to boot.
Armia’s story may be less inspirational this time around without the sex appeal that a high goal total provides, but he’s earned his spot, albeit as the lowest-scoring forward of the bunch. However, with a couple Ice Hockey World Championship appearances to his name, including on the 2022 gold-medal-winning squad, he has more international experience representing his country than someone like Florida Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen (who also made the team).
Ultimately, that’s what both Armia and Laine contribute: experience. Despite being significantly younger, having burst on the NHL scene at Age 18 upon having gotten drafted second overall in 2016, Laine obviously has significant experience himself, including internationally. All things taken into account, boasting incredibly mediocre stats, Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault making the Canadian team is much more of a (pleasant) surprise, with his gold-medal at the 2023 World Championship probably tilting the odds in his favour. So, international experience clearly played a role. Armia and Laine have it in spades.
Based on Laine’s recent history, excluding him wouldn’t have been a shock, but it would have been a probable mistake. There’s no telling for sure, just like there are no guarantees Laine’s Canadiens debut is a sign of things to come with him in a Habs jersey. However, things, including him in that jersey, indisputably look good so far.
