Tortorella goes off on Laine again, but this time he throws Roslovic under the bus too!

Despite putting up 7 points in 9 games and 10 points in 12 games respectively, it's safe to say that it hasn't exactly been a smooth transition for newly acquired forwards Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic under head coach John Tortorella.

Of course, we all know that Tortorella benched Laine in just his third game with the Columbus Blue Jackets following a blockbuster trade from the Winnipeg Jets. Tortorella explained the situation in saying that the Blue Jackets have a culture around the way that they play and that Laine has to fit into that. Laine accepted responsibility and everyone moved on. No big deal, right?

Well... Torts is at it again.

In describing Laine's, Roslovic's and linemate Cam Atkinson's play from Saturday's loss to the Nashville Predators, Torts put things rather succinctly:

  Well... you can't say that Torts pulls his punches.

But honestly, I kind of get what Torts is doing here. When he says that there's a standard that his team is trying to reach and there's a culture around the type of way that they play, I believe that to be 100% true. The Blue Jackets' identity is that of a working man's team. I mean, this is a team that lost its two biggest superstars two years ago and was actually a better team as a result. The Blue Jackets go to work every game and if Laine isn't going to fit in with that strategy, he'll likely sit. 

Now on the other hand, for better or worse Patrik Laine is NEVER going to be a defensive beast. Ditto for Roslovic. Neither guy is EVER going to be an in your face type player and truthfully they're probably never going to play the way that Torts would like them to. Is this another case of Torts forcing a square peg into a round hole? And if so, he knows that Laine is a pending free agent right? Does he care?

Again, for better or worse Tortorella sure doesn't handle these types of situations with much nuance or care for outcome. He's a "let's hash this out right here, right now" kind of guy, but I feel like it would serve him better if he realized that not everyone else deals with conflict the same way. Frankly, I see trouble brewing for Laine in Columbus and, even more frankly, I saw it coming from a mile away. Stay tuned.