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PHT Morning Skate: Laine on Tortorella; building the Kraken

laine

SUNRISE, FL - APRIL 3: Columbus Blue Jackets Head Coach monitors game progress from the bench along with Patrik Laine #29 against the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center on April 3, 2021 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from the NHL and around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit for the PHT Morning Skate? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.

• Patrik Laine on John Tortorella’s style: “I understand the need for a tight system, but all players are different. I do not even want to be like everyone else. I am who I am and do things my way. Everyone should be given the opportunity to be themselves. Then, of course, you have to play within the team’s system. I think it’s stupid not to use my potential. But then it’s another matter what the coaches think.” [Columbus Dispatch]

• Will the Kraken be able to draft a roster like the Golden Knights for success in their inaugural year? [Five Thirty Eight]

• There are lessons the Kraken can learn from the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Lightning. [Sound of Hockey]

• Comparing the Coyotes to the Lightning and wondering how long Arizona is away from icing a Cup contender. [Five for Howling]

• Wet weather was to blame for the dent in the Stanley Cup, says Pat Maroon. [Tampa Bay Times]

• Capitals GM Brian MacLellan has a decision to make as to whether to keep Vitek Vanecek or Ilya Samsonov. [NBC Sports Washington]

• Examining if the Canadiens’ Cup run was about the team being good or the beneficiary of some luck. [Spector’s Hockey]

• Blake Coleman and Phillip Danault are just a few free agents that could fit well with the Blue Jackets. [1st Ohio Battery]

• How Brent Sopel is helping other former hockey players after their careers end. [ESPN]

• This was a season to forget for both the Flyers and Stars. [NBC Sports Edge]

• A touching Pekka Rinne memory from a Predators fan. [On the Forecheck]

• Vancouver’s AHL affiliate will be known as the Abbotsford Canucks and will use the Johnny Canuck logo. [The Daily Hive]

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy