Patrik Laine is ready to get back to doing what he does best: score goals.
After inking a two-year contract with the Jets over the weekend that carries an average annual value of $6,750,000, Laine spoke with the Winnipeg media for the first time this season and fully expects he's going to bounce back after a disappointing campaign that saw him score a career-low 30 goals in 82 games.
"I know I'll be good for the next two years. I'm gonna score a lot of goals, that's for sure," he said in response to his teammates Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey to inking long-term deal.
"I'm going to be betting on myself."
Laine could've signed a long-term contract but opted for a shorter deal in hopes of cashing in a heftier contract down the line.
"It doesn't matter if it's a two-year deal, eight-year deal, I still gotta be better," Laine said, adding, "I'll be real good this year."
The second-overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft created headlines earlier in September when he was interviewed by a Finnish publication and explained that he was unhappy on where he slotted in on the team's depth chart and not having a top-end centre to play with.
Laine, whose first language was Finnish, said there were wrong conclusions drawn from the interview that things may've been lost in translation.
"Were things misinterpreted?" Laine was asked.
"Yeah. I'm not going to try to explain it here," he said."It's something that happened and there was wrong conclusions."
The 21-year-old reached out to his centre, Bryan Little to apologize for the comments.
"I'm happy to be here and I think everybody seems to be happy that I'm here. It's awesome to see my teammates, coaches, staff, everybody, [even] you guys."
"No, but I'm super excited and happy to be here. My summer was way too long."
Laine started hot last season, scoring 21 goals during the first two months of the season -- including 18 in November alone -- but saw the goals dry up with only nine in his final 58 games.
