Logan Laich Happy for Successful Season in Cologne

[Devise 4,475]

After only improving from 12 points to 20 in his sophomore season, the pressure was on for Logan Laich to prove he can be a franchise player for seasons to come for Cologne. It was no secret that Laich worked extra hard in training camp, re-tooling the areas that were concerns to try and balance his game to be more than just a quality physical presence on the ice with Cologne. 

 

As Season 39 comes to a close, Laich finishes with 39 goals and 69 points. A big leap from the 20 he had last season. On top of that his physical presence has only thickened as he finished with 350 hits, a career best. Laich also was able to help be tops in several other categories, including leading the league in shorthanded goals with 4, leading in fights won, with two, and making the top five in Game Winning Goals with 11 on the year. 

 

While these type of stats hardly make Laich a contender for most outstanding player, this type of season puts the player finally on track for what he was projected to be in the VHL. Laich was projected as a tough two way player who could score some goals. Thus far with Cologne he has established himself as exactly that. But now that Laich has gone from being a laughing stock in the VHL to nearly point per game solid two way forward, can he evolve his game one step further? Cologne traded a lot for Laich, and it is probably in hopes that one day Laich could win the two two way forward award, not just be somewhere in the top 10 two way players in the league. In order to do that Laich is going to have to continue to grow his offensive game. History has shown that a point per game player isn't going to cut it as a top two way player in this league.

 

Far too many players have won the award with quality defensive stats, if a little less than some of the top 3 players, but they also have put in 100+ point seasons. Laich could still be a way from hitting the 100 season mark, as the player right now is just focused on consistency on a mostly rebuilding Cologne squad looking to start competing in the very near future. But if Laich can get paired with a young quality center, he could shock some people and do a little better than some may think he could.