Patrik Laine is not the answer for the Winnipeg Jets.

It appears that, in the “Tinderesque” world of NHL news cycles, pundits have swiped right on Patrik Laine.

Nostalgia is fun, and harkening back to translucent memories of the past is normally a harmless activity, unless it involves running a business, which is what True North Sports & Entertainment is tasked with doing.

Talk of the Winnipeg Jets signing Patrik Laine is just talk, but there is an underlying line of thinking that is dangerous and, quite frankly, ill-conceived.

Let’s start with the player himself. Nobody can diminish or marginalize the meteoric rise of Laine’s early career. Laine currently ranks 29th all-time in rookie goal scoring, with 36 goals in his inaugural 2016-17 season. For context, Sidney Crosby had 39 goals in his rookie season and, in fact, of all active players, only Alex Ovechkin (52), Auston Matthews (40), and Crosby scored more goals in their rookie seasons.

Laine followed that up with his best season to date, when he netted 44 goals along with 26 assists for 70 points in his sophomore campaign. At the time, there was legitimate debate over who would emerge as the better goal scorer in the NHL: Matthews or Laine.

Anecdotally, two former Winnipeg Jets captivated fans in a near-mythical way: Dustin Byfuglien and Patrik Laine. When players possess a skill set that seems unmatched in the league, it makes fans feel as though they are part of something special. For a time, Laine occupied that rarefied air.

But then, grumblings of locker-room discord and an outward perception of nonchalance led the Jets to trade Laine for former third overall pick Pierre-Luc Dubois. Many were puzzled as to why Kevin Cheveldayoff chose to trade away what appeared to be a generational goal scorer. In hindsight, he made the right move.

It is no secret that Laine’s post-Jets career has been a major disappointment. He has been hit hard by injuries, and reports have not been flattering about his work ethic or commitment. Now 28, Laine is nearing the end of what was once a promising career.

Which is why the “let’s take a shot on him” narrative is so puzzling. What was the primary reason the Jets faltered this year? They were old and slow. Bringing in an often-injured, post-prime winger after an extended layoff seems like the opposite of a remedy for a team that is old and slow. Also, didn’t we do this last year? The Jonathan Toews signing was a sentimental favorite, but it was an experiment that even the biggest fanboys would call a failure.

Here is Laine’s career Goals Above Replacement trajectory:

In short, the last three years have been difficult at best:

Since the start of the 2020-21 season, Laine has missed 211 regular-season games out of a total of 442 possible games his teams have played. That means he has missed 47.7% of all available regular-season games. “Injury-prone” is a label I believe is overused, but in this case, it is warranted.

Presumably, signing Laine to a short-term “prove it” deal would be a boon to the Winnipeg Jets power play. In Laine’s last quasi-full season with the Montreal Canadiens, he scored 20 goals in 52 games, 15 of which (75%) came on the power play. Superficially, that suggests two things: first, Laine can still score with the man advantage; second, he was not generating much five-on-five offense.

However, if you look at his advanced stats isolated to power-play usage, the numbers do not work in his favor. Laine’s overall impact on the power play is muted by the fact that, unless he is uncorking his shot from the dots, he is not generating many scoring chances.

Signing a player with one discernible skill invites further comparisons to Toews, who can still win faceoffs even as the rest of his game has declined. The fact that Laine’s shot is still electric does not mean the Winnipeg Jets should ignore the static that comes with it.

Look, I get it: summer is hope season. Laine was a big part of the Winnipeg Jets’ run in the 2018-19 playoffs, and he evokes good memories. The Jets, however, do not need a project, because they do not have a large enough window of relevance to indulge sentimentality. Patrik Laine was a shooting star for the Jets, but the 2026 version is not what the Jets need. Swipe left, True North. Swipe left.

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