Laine trade talks on hold until he exits NHL/NHLPA player assistance program
Published
It appears a Patrik Laine trade will not take place until the forward exits the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program.
Laine is eligible to be traded while in the program, but Columbus Blue Jackets president and general Don Waddell told The Athletic that interested parties want to speak with the player before making a move to acquire him. No team, including the Blue Jackets, is allowed to contact Laine while he remains in the program.
"Teams keep checking in to see if there’s anything new,” Waddell said. “I tell them, ‘You guys have to be comfortable with [Laine], and I can’t help you.’ I don’t know the player personally. I’m not one to try and trick people either, so [we] made him available to chat [when he’s cleared].”
Laine finished the season with six goals and nine points in 18 games, having entered the player assistance program in January while he was still recovering from a clavicle fracture suffered a month earlier.
Signed for two more seasons at a cap hit of $8.7 million, the 26-year-old winger is third-highest paid player on the Blue Jackets, with only Johnny Gaudreau ($9.75 million) and Zach Werenski ($9.58 million) carrying higher cap hits on the team.
Waddell added that he's not worried about interested teams spending their money elsewhere now that the bulk of free agents have signed deals.
“There really aren’t a lot of free agents out there,” he said. “If [teams] have the [salary] cap [space] today, they’ll probably still have it tomorrow. I know there are teams that are still interested.”
Waddell said in June he was hopeful to make a hockey trade to move Laine as both sides looked to part ways.
Selected second overall in 2016 by the Winnipeg Jets, Laine has been unable to replicate the success he had early in his career since being traded to Columbus in 2020. After scoring 28 or more goals - including a career-high 44 goals in 2017-18 - in each of his first four seasons, Laine has failed to top 26 with the Blue Jackets while dealing with various injuries.
He had 22 goals and 52 points in 55 games in 2022-23 with the Blue Jackets, who have missed the playoffs in each of the past four seasons.