Dolzhenkov Is Coming
Joined: Mar. 2022
Posts: 3,637
Likes: 5,263
It's really weird to me how much people are speculating about a Laine trade. He has been very happy in Columbus, he has taken an active mentorship role with Fantilli, he just found a new gf in town, he spent the majority of his summer in Columbus this year, he has been very productive in the games he has played over the last 2 years. It's like a rough 15 games that include recovering from a concussion suddenly has reset all of the work he has put in over his time in Columbus to develop his game and there was never anything positive about him being with the team.
Same goes for Kent Johnson to a degree. He was struggling due to his size and instincts so they put him in a position where he could work on those parts of his game while also getting reps as a 1C to get used to that position in a professional situation. How that is being construed as an ongoing negative is baffling to me. Like the team has constantly been given **** for rushing their prospects and now that they're giving a high profile one extra time to work on parts of his game that badly need to develop they're still getting **** for it. What gives?
In what world do the Jackets even remotely consider a Gudbranson buyout? He has absolutely been earning his contract after settling into a more suitable role, but again people want to pretend like they've been watching him play and that there has been no improvement to how he has played with them.