Odd.

Laine probably a smidgen better than Brock, but that's it. They're more-or-less on par with each other, and Brock obviously plays for a worse team. We get a D that can actually move the puck and Brock and Petey are able to stay healthy, who knows?

all we really know is what they have done to this point

laine has upside as well

he is actually having an off season and will get 40 goals

brock has yet to score 30

potential needs to be realized before it has any value

i am a huge brock fan

but he had injures last season which ended his bright season

and really has not put it together in the same way season

He took a horrific injury to end last season, so he never really got an offseason to train in any significant way. And again, Brock plays for a far worse team. Winnipeg already had the majority of their young core in place by the time Laine was drafted, so he walked into a situation where he was poised to succeed straight away. Other than Bo, our team was pretty much a patchwork of vets, low/mid end young-ish players, scrubs and rentals. Add a horrific injury into the mix and one can see how the playing field wasn't exactly even. Give Brock an offseason to train properly, a full time top level center in Pettersson, and a mobile back end, and I guarantee his numbers would be just as good as Laine's.