Montreal Canadiens Should Be Checking In On Patrik Laine’s Availability
The Montreal Canadiens head into Columbus tonight to take on the Blue Jackets and wrap up a five game road trip.
They will be looking to come away with a victory over a struggling club, but should also be checking in to see if they can leave Columbus with a star goal scorer as well.
With the Canadiens firmly in a rebuilding position, it is not the usual route to become a buyer at that time, but teams need to strike when the iron is hot to fill needs in their organization. And, the iron isn’t much hotter anywhere else in the hockey world than Columbus right now.
The team retooled their defense in the offseason and thought they had put themselves into a position where they could battle for a playoff spot. Instead, they are among the very worst teams in the league and things are just a mess around the team.
They fired their head coach before he ever coached the team, sent Kent Johnson to the minors even though he was one of the team’s top scorers last season as a rookie, benched high priced free agent signing (maybe the only one in franchise history) Johnny Gaudreau and recently made Patrik Laine a healthy scratch.
Laine is admittedly struggling this season. Part of that is due to the fact they tried to turn the elite goal scoring winger into a center for some reason and it has gone rather poorly. He has just five points in 13 games this season. The 25 year old is signed for two more seasons at a cap hit of $8.7 million.
With the Blue Jackets in freefall, and Laine publicly stating he was never more embarrassed than when the team scratched him, it really seems doubtful he sticks in Columbus forever. The Canadiens have been seeking more goals seemingly forever, and Laine scored 22 goals and 52 points in 55 games just last season.
If the Blue Jackets are looking to move on from the winger, the Canadiens should be looking to become a rebuild buyer. With Laine struggling this season and having a high cap hit, his value couldn’t be lower. His offensive instincts and ability to fire a puck past a goaltender are things the Canadiens could use.
The timing of his contract isn’t ideal, as the Habs are not likely to be fantastic for the next two seasons, but if he found great chemistry with Kirby Dach in that time and started scoring at a 40 goal pace again, like he did early in his career, he might be convinced to stay.
Elite goal scorers don’t grow on trees, and the Canadiens would be wise to try and scoop this one up when they may have the chance.
Predicting Habs Future Defense Pairings. dark. Next
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