Habs' Laine explains opting against surgery for injured knee
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Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine told reporters Thursday that he opted against having surgery on his sprained left knee and explained his line of thinking.
“It was one of those you could go either way. I don’t think there’s ever any guarantees whether you do surgery or not…they did a good job of explaining the whole process and reassuring the chances are very high, that made me feel better about it," he said, adding he met with multiple doctors before making his decision.
Laine is expected to miss between two and three months after being hurt early in Saturday’s 2-1 preseason loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs following a knee-on-knee collision with Leafs forward Cedric Pare.
The 26-year-old feels he got lucky when his diagnosis was revealed earlier this week.
“Ya dodged a bullet with the knee, could have been much worse…. [Paré] texted me afterwards, I give him respect for that.”
Laine was dealt to Montreal this past summer with second-round pick in the 2026 draft in exchange for defenceman Jordan Harris.
In 18 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season, Laine had six goals and three assists. He has 184 goals and 388 points in 480 career NHL games.