Laine looks to return to '40, 50'-goal form, help Habs win
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Patrik Laine is set for a fresh start this season after being traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.
Laine, who was traded along with a second-round pick in exchange for defenceman Jordan Harris, is looking to rediscover the form that saw him score 44 goals in his second NHL season, back with the Winnipeg Jets in 2017-18.
“I don’t want to come back as a 30-goal-scorer. I want to come back as a 40, 50- (goal-scorer). I’ve done that previously and it's not by accident,” Laine said. “But it’s not just all about that. I want to come in and do whatever it takes to contribute to the team and help the team win, whether it’s me scoring 50 or scoring 20, as long as the team wins.
"I’m getting to that age, I’m not 19 years old anymore. I just want to win.”
Laine topped the 20-goal mark in 2021-22 and 2022-23 with the Blue Jackets despite playing less than 60 games in both years. He finished last season with six goals and nine points in 18 games after entering the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in January while he was still recovering from a clavicle fracture suffered a month earlier.
Hughes: 'Your success here is not going to be defined strictly by goals'
Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes isn't setting targets for Laine's production and instead hopes the 26-year-old winger will help the rebuilding franchise take a step forward this season.
"To me, this isn’t a transaction that either he scores 40 or 50 (goals) or it’s a bust, far from it,” Hughes said, per NHL.com. “My relay to him was: If you come here ready to contribute to this team, to do everything in your power to help us get to a place, and if that’s the opportunity that you’re looking for, then say no more. That’s what I want to hear from you.
“Whether you score 20 goals or 40 goals, your success here is not going to be defined strictly by goals. It’s going to be defined by your ability to help contribute to this team and help us.”
Signed for two more seasons at a cap hit of $8.7 million, Laine and the Blue Jackets had mutually agreed to look for a trade this off-season.
The 2016 second overall pick has now been traded twice in his career after being moved to Columbus by the Jets in 2020 as part of a deal that saw Pierre-Luc Dubois head the other way.