The NHL Trade Deadline is less than a week away, and the Montreal Canadiens are seemingly in a holding pattern before they can make any additions. The hold up at this point is Patrik Laine, as the Canadiens need to move him to create the needed cap space to add to the lineup.
The Canadiens are so determined to get a trade done that they have given Laine permission to seek out a trade, as mentioned by Elliotte Friedman in a recent episode of 32 Thoughts.
From Montreal's perspective, it makes a lot of sense to allow Laine to seek out a potential trade partner. He has played in only five games this season due to an injury but has appeared healthy enough to return even before the Olympic break.
However, the Canadiens don't appear to have a spot in the lineup for him and one of the reasons they will try to move him. The main reason though they want to get a trade done is to create cap space so they might be able to make additional moves.
Montreal Canadiens don't have the cap space to make any significant trades as it stands right now
According to Puckpedia, the Montreal Canadiens have around $1.3 million in available cap space. However, Laine this season has an AAV of $8.7 million, and moving him opens up a ton of possibilities.
While it might be tough to find teams to take the full AAV, the Canadiens have not used any of their salary retention slots and could offer to retain a portion of this salary. It would limit the cap space they would have available, but the Canadiens don't need the full amount to get a trade done, like the often-rumored Nazem Kadri.
It also doesn't seem like a difficult trade to sell, as they could retain some of the salary. Laine is in the final year of his contract, so the team acquiring him is not committing anything long-term, and he is a perfect example of a low-risk, high-reward type of move. Just last season, Laine had 20 goals in 52 games, so for any team looking for goal-scoring, this would make a lot of sense.
However, the fact that the Canadiens have allowed Laine to search for a trade means there might not be as much interest in the player around the league. In the end, it is hard to envision a path forward where the Canadiens can make moves without trading Laine first and this should be the first domino to fall ahead of the trade deadline.