Yeah, things haven’t gone as planned for Patrik Laine with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The 22-year-old has just one goal and three assists in his last 17 games and has averaged just over 14 minutes of ice over his last three contests. Not to mention he’s also been benched more than once by head coach John Tortorella. We’ve seen Patty hit slumps before, but none quite like this one and no one is more confused about the whole thing than the Finn himself.

Touching on his struggles, Laine had the following to say:

The following is an excerpt from The Athletic:

“I’ve always told everybody, I’m not worried as long as I’m getting chances,” Laine said. “So I feel like this is kind of new. I’m not even getting chances. That’s something I’ve never had before. I guess that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

“(I) still have to play the same way, play just as hard and hopefully find a way to do your best and hopefully score every now and then.”

Let’s digest this for a moment shall we? Not getting chances… didn’t exactly have that problem in Winnipeg while play in arguably the best top six in the league. Second- “hopefully score every now and then.” What?! This isn’t the type of comment we’re used to hearing from Patty. This is a flippin’ former 40-goal-scorer we’re talking about here. Every now and then? Sick just hearing that.

Back to Torts. The guy is trying to transform Patty into something he’s not; a 200 foot player. Just feed the guy the biscuit and let him score, isn’t that why Columbus traded for him in the first place? Tortorella clearly has the support of his general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen:

“Every player in this league has to be a 200-foot player if you want to be on a winning team,” Kekäläinen said. “I don’t think that’s too much to ask of anybody. You see some of the most talented guys in this league, and they haven’t won a championship yet. It comes down to understanding that everybody has to buy into the team concept and be a 200-foot player in order to win a Stanley Cup.

Laine has just 7 goals and 7 assists through 27 games with his new squad. It hasn’t been working and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him leave in the offseason… or maybe even before the trade deadline.

(H/T The Athletic)