After a rather rough season for Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine, it has been reported by TSN Insider Pierre LeBrun on Insider Trading that Patrik Laine is looking for a fresh start and it’s a mutual feeling with the team.
This isn’t shocking news after Laine hasn’t been able to find his elite game from the earlier parts of his career since joining Columbus, but he’s had enough to sign a four-year contract worth $8,700,000 annually.
Laine entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on January 28th, 2024 for personal matters.
His career-career high for goals game in the 2017-18 season when he found the back of the net 44 times totalling 70 points, also a career high. Laine found 35 assists in the 2019-20 season which was shortened due to the COVID-19 outbreak in March of 2020.
Laine hasn’t played a full season with Columbus since being traded with Jack Roslovic for Pierre-Luc Dubois and a draft pick. He hasn’t recorded a plus-minus above a plus-eight since being traded out of Winnipeg, a trend which you have to wonder if it is due to Columbus being consistently in the basement of the NHL.
In Laine’s 2021-22 season, he was limited to just 56 games, but he recorded 56 points (26G, 30A) with the Blue Jackets, both of which were his highest point totals with the team. His 39-goal pace across 82 games marks an impressive ‘what if’, but unfortunately, the former second-overall pick hasn’t reached the 30-goal mark since 2018-19.
Acquiring Laine won’t be terribly expensive, but it certainly won’t be cheap. With the possibility of Laine finding the magic that he once had, teams would be eager to add a lethal goalscorer to the mix who is hungry to prove many people wrong.
The Tampere, Finland product turned 26 in April and has a 10-team modified no-trade clause. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season. A cap hit of $8,700,000 shouldn’t be terribly hard to fit under the salary cap if another contract goes back to Columbus.
