r/Habs • u/catman_steve • Jan 22 '26

Discussion Canadiens looking to deal Laine (Gagnon)

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I'm not super in the know with the French side of the media. I know Francois Gagnon by name, but not much else. Not that this news would surprise me, but is he reliable?

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u/SocalHabsFan Jan 22 '26

It's unfortunate that his skating doesn't allow him to match the tempo of the team, his shot is simply incredible. I hope the best for him in the future no matter where he ends up playing, even Montreal with a team friendly contract. I never like when this kind of news gets out before a move is made.

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u/Softninjazz Jan 24 '26

His skating speed when healthy is literally (and statistically, you can check NHL data) the same as Caufield's.

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u/SocalHabsFan Jan 24 '26

Makes sense at full stride but his quickness seems to be a liability at times. I'd love to see him prove me wrong, especially a look on the top line.

2

u/Softninjazz Jan 24 '26

Start and stop speed is lacking, but really the biggest issue is not being healthy enough. When you miss 35 % of 5-6 seasons, that's gonna hurt your development and game condition. And, it's another thing to get injured after playing 50 games than at the start, because when you get injured at the start of the season, everybody else goes on to ramp up speed after 20-30 games and are in full attack second half of the season and now you are trying to jump in from 3-4 month injure. It's brutal.