Montreal Canadiens reportedly considering trade offer for Patrik Laine

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Graham Montgomery
June 20, 2024 (0:07)

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Patrik Laine appears to be on his way out of Columbus, and the Montreal Canadiens have emerged as a possible landing spot for the 26-year-old sniper.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported today that the Blue Jackets are actively working on a trade that includes Laine. The Finnish forward got into just 18 games last season and recorded just 9 points. He spent time on LTIR as well as in the player's assistance program, where he ended the season. However, he was a point-per-game player in each of the two previous seasons and he already has nearly 400 career points in the NHL. As such, he should be a valuable asset.

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Unsurprisingly, many teams around the league will be interested in Laine's services. As he revealed the news today, Friedman specifically noted that the Seattle Kraken are one of the teams that have expressed interest in him.

As per @FriedgeHNIC, the Seattle Kraken are interested in a potential trade for forward Patrik Laine. #SeaKraken

Athletic writer Arpon Basu has also touched on the Laine situation, pondering a possible trade between the Blue Jackets and Canadiens. In his eyes, Laine has basically no value on the trade market at all though.

"[They could] instead ask the Blue Jackets to swap the fourth and fifth picks in the draft. A situation that, according to Arpon Basu, would be a very reasonable price for Columbus, who would only move back one spot to get rid of Patrik Laine's $8.7 million contract." - Via Marqueur

This lead to the following proposed trade. The Canadiens would receive Patrik Laine and the 4th overall pick in the 2024 draft while the Blue Jackets would get the 5th overall pick.

TRADE PROPOSAL
To Montreal:
- Patrik Laine + the 4th overall pick in 2024
To Columbus:
- The 5th overall pick in 2024

Laine's injury history is certainly something that teams will have to consider when trading for him. Furthermore, his stint with the NHL Player's assistance program might not give teams a lot of confidence either. Still though, Laine is nearly a point-per-game player just entering his prime so it is hard to imagine the Blue Jackets would let him go for free, especially considering the team does not need the cap space. We will just have to wait and see what happens for ourselves.

Source: HockeyPatrol
A new offer has reportedly been made for Patrick Laine