The Canadiens announced the acquisition of scoring winger Patrik Laine and a 2026 second-round pick from the Blue Jackets in exchange for defenseman Jordan Harris. No salary is retained in the swap.
Montreal has been on the lookout for top-six scoring help for quite some time. They’ve slowly added to their rebuilding group over the past few summers, taking on younger projects via trade like Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. This is the biggest swing that general manager Kent Hughes has taken, though, picking up a more established yet expensive sniper.
They’re taking on an extremely high-ceiling talent in Laine and buying low while doing it, taking on a second-round pick for their troubles and only parting with Harris, an intriguing defender that was buried among their litany of other blue-line prospects. Laine’s lack of availability the past few seasons tanked his trade value, with various injuries and a lengthy stint in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program capping his 2023-24 campaign at just 18 appearances. He hasn’t played more than 60 games in a season since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
But when he’s on, he’s on. Even while battling through both upper and lower body injuries, Laine was close to a point-per-game player over his first two full seasons in Columbus. His best offensive season came in a Blue Jackets uniform in 2021-22, when he notched 26 goals and 56 points in 56 games. That prompted then-Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen to award Laine a four-year, $34.8MM deal, the same one that his successor, Don Waddell, has now had to surrender a draft pick to shed.
In the first year of the deal, Laine largely kept up the pace, churning out 22 goals and 52 points in 55 games even while shooting 12%, a conservative figure compared to his 14.7% career average. But last season, Laine was injured from the start and clashed with new head coach Pascal Vincent, who deployed him for a career-low 15:13 per game. As such, he was limited to six goals and nine points before his campaign ended in December.
It’s an expensive gamble for Montreal, who’s on the hook for an $8.7MM cap hit through 2025-26. But after taking months away to mentally reset and rehab his various injuries, Laine seems primed to return to form – if he can avoid re-injury. The 2016 second-overall pick hit 30-plus goals in the first three seasons of his NHL career with the Jets, and he had 28 goals in 68 games in 2019-20 before the pandemic ended the regular season. It was the shortened 2020-21 campaign, during which Laine was dealt to Columbus following a trade request, that first showed a chink in the armor of his goal-scoring ability. He was limited to just 12 goals and 24 points in 46 games on the year, managing just 82 shots on goal.
But he was on pace for well over 30 goals in each of the following two seasons with the Jackets, and that’s the player Montreal hopes can revitalize an offense that’s placed bottom-10 in the league for three years in a row. He, along with Cole Caufield and 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, give the Habs three top-six wingers who can all likely be penciled in for more than 60 points next year. Slafkovsky, entering his third NHL season, broke out for 20 goals and 50 points with Montreal last year after being moved to top-line usage alongside Caufield and captain Nick Suzuki.
Laine likely won’t bump Caufield out of first-line minutes, but the right-winger will be tasked with anchoring their second line, potentially alongside the aforementioned Dach and Newhook. The 26-year-old would be the oldest member of that trio, a reversal from his time in Columbus, which was spent mostly on a line anchored by veteran Boone Jenner.
Salary-wise, PuckPedia notes that the Habs are now over the cap by a projected $1.1MM with a 23-man roster, including LTIR-bound netminder Carey Price. Montreal will likely submit a bare-bones season-opening roster with a couple of waiver-exempt players papered down to the AHL to remain cap-compliant before placing Price and his $10.5MM cap hit on LTIR after the season starts, opening up a large chunk of in-season maneuverability.
As for the Blue Jackets’ end of things, they free up a decent amount of spending money for the next two seasons and recoup an NHL-caliber defender. Harris, 24, was a third-round pick by the Canadiens in 2018 and has since developed into a serviceable third-pairing option. His possession quality numbers have been poor, as to be expected for a young player on a basement team, but his shot attempt share at even strength has been above team average over the last two years. He’s posted eight goals, 24 assists and 32 points in 131 games, including 14 points in 56 games last year.
Harris gives the Blue Jackets another option to compete for left-shot third-pairing duties out of the gate behind Zach Werenski and Ivan Provorov. He’ll need to ward off challenges from UFA signing Jack Johnson and two-time AHL All-Star Jake Christiansen for the job, though. Even if he’s not in the opening night lineup, it’s hard to envision him starting any lower than No. 7 on the depth chart. He’s no longer waiver-exempt and carries a $1.4MM cap hit, more than the maximum that’s buriable in the minors.
Columbus can start contract discussions with Harris whenever they wish, as he’s already extension-eligible. If he reaches restricted free agency next summer, he’ll be eligible to file for arbitration.
The Blue Jackets now have north of $18MM in cap space after the swap, PuckPedia projects. That’s enough to add whoever they want at the trade deadline if their young core breaks out this season, but it’s also more than enough flexibility to take on money to relieve contenders if they’re still in seller mode by the trade deadline.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report that Laine had been traded to Montreal. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
