Calder nomination caps tremendous rookie season

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/06/2017 (2501 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Patrik Laine is making a habit of keeping heady company.

The Winnipeg Jets right-winger is in Las Vegas for the 2017 NHL Awards Show. He’s up against heavily favoured centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Zach Werenski for the Calder Trophy, given to the league’s best rookie.

The award winners will be announced tonight at 7 p.m. (Sportsnet).

The NHL will also announce the roster of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights during the show. George McPhee, general manager of the NHL’s 31st club, has until 9 a.m. (CT) today to finalize his roster following the expansion draft.

Five months ago, Laine was rubbing shoulders with the NHL’s very best in Los Angeles during the NHL All-Star Weekend. Now, the Finnish-born forward is playing golf in the sweltering desert heat, dining out and experiencing Las Vegas with a similar starry cast of characters.

“We had a good time at the golf course. It was a bit hot, but it was really nice. And now there’s media and stuff like that,” Laine said in a telephone interview late Tuesday. “I was playing with some guys from the NHLPA (players union).

“I’m having a good time here. I’m honoured that I was nominated for the rookie of the year, so I’m very happy with that.”

A year ago this week, Laine, 19, was the second pick of the 2016 draft behind Matthews, ultimately finishing second to the Leafs’ prized phenom in goals and points by a rookie. Laine scored 36 goals — to lead all Winnipeg shooters — and added 28 assists in 73 games during the 2016-17 campaign.

His 36-goal output was the seventh most in league history by an 18-year-old player and the most since Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins had 39 in 2005-06. He also had three hat tricks during his inaugural season.

Not too shabby, indeed.

“I’m not going to be disappointed if I’m not getting (the award),” he said. “I know that I played a great season and I’m proud of myself. But I would be super happy if I would get the award.”

Matthews, also 19, went first overall in the draft and had an unforgettable debut with the Leafs, scoring four times against the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 11.

He finished the season with 40 goals and led rookies in goals, points (69) and shots on goal (279).

Werenski, who turns 20 in July, led all rookie defencemen in goals (11), assists (36) and points (47) and all rookies with a plus-17 rating. The eighth-overall pick in the 2015 draft averaged 20:54 of ice time per game in 78 games.

Laine said it’s a privilege to be included in the conversation with two emerging superstars.

“They played very well. Auston scored 40 goals and Werenski was very good for his team and he was scoring a lot of points.

“There were a lot of great rookies this year, so I’m happy to be in the top three with those guys,” he said.

Back in training camp, Laine steered clear of projecting how many times he might light the lamp for the Central Division squad. His goal was simply to make head coach Paul Maurice’s opening-night roster.

Everything that came after was a bonus, he said Tuesday.

“I wanted to play the whole season in the NHL,” Laine said. “It was so much fun, fun to play and be in the all-star game and score so many goals (during the season). It was awesome.

“Everything was new in the league, so I was kind of learning every day, every day something new. But even though next October I’m starting my second season, I still believe I’m learning something new every day. So, I just have to be happy and excited, so I can do my best on the ice every day.”

It’s been more than 10 weeks since the Jets posted a 2-1 home-ice victory over the Stanley Cup runner-up Nashville Predators in the last game of the regular season. The Jets won their final seven games to finish 40-35-7, missing the post-season by seven points.

Laine said he returned home to Finland a few days later and had remained there until his trip to Vegas. He watched some of the NHL playoffs on television and that definitely lit a fire inside him.

“It’s the middle of the night, so it’s hard to watch all those games. It’s exciting to see all the best teams are still playing in June. It gives you extra motivation to work out during the summer and, hopefully, each one of my teammates are feeling the same thing — all of us working hard to be better players next season, so we can be a better team.

“We finished the season with the seven-game winning streak, so that tells something about our team that we have a strong team. I think next year we are going to be even stronger,” he said. “Hopefully, we can make it to the playoffs. Time goes fast and hopefully it’s October soon and we can play again.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPJasonBell