Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament may be over, following Finland’s elimination at Team Canada’s hands. However, it potentially represents a new beginning for him in a Habs jersey, much to the benefit of the team itself.
The irony is, Laine shouldn’t need a new beginning, seeing as his first is technically mere months old. As has been well-documented, Laine only debuted in early December following his acquisition last summer due to a knee injury sustained in the preseason. What followed was a tremendous run for the team as a whole. They climbed up the standings from last place in the Eastern Conference to find themselves in a wild-card spot on several occasions, albeit temporarily, on the strength of a 16-6-1 stretch that literally started with Laine’s first game with the Canadiens on Dec. 3.
Laine an Easy Scapegoat
In that span, Laine scored 12 goals and 17 points in 23 games, contributing largely to the team’s success, albeit in a largely one-dimensional offensive role. Then the wins stopped coming and the vultures intent on picking apart his deficiencies started circling, as if to make him the sole scapegoat for the Canadiens’ current 1-7-1 stretch of sadness.
There’s no disputing the fact Laine hasn’t looked good. However, two things:
In their defense, Laine is just that, with a cap hit of $8.7 million, the highest on the team (with exception to Carey Price, who’s done very little himself to turn things around). Ultimately, Laine is paid to provide offense, and, going pointless in his last eight games, he’s failing. However, leading-scorer Nick Suzuki has just one point in his last six contests. Cole Caufield, the team’s leading goal scorer, has just one marker in that span.
So, it’s fair to say nothing is going right, right now… and piling on, on a player that cost virtually nothing to acquire, kind of seems like a waste of energy. The Columbus Blue Jackets didn’t just give him away because they were feeling charitable. They had their reasons and Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes took a calculated risk it would work out, which can still happen, even if a playoff spot in 2025 is unlikely now to be kind.
The focus should shift to 2025-26, which is probably when the Canadiens will make it their mandate to actually make the postseason after looking to simply be “in the mix” by the end of 2024-25. That’s the logical next step, after all. What’s also logical, though? While any calls to trade Laine are understandable based on his perceived recent lack of in-game effort, the Habs aren’t going to find a trade at this juncture, when they effectively got Laine for free, if you consider the second-round pick that came back from the Jackets as being just for defenseman Jordan Harris.
Laine Staying Put with Canadiens for Now
Hockey is cyclical. So, Laine, who was embraced with open arms when the team was successful, will most likely be again, with the aforementioned 16-6-1 stretch serving as a glimpse of this team’s ability to find sustained success when it’s completely healthy. If the Canadiens stay healthy next season, it stands to reason it will find success then too, with Laine actively contributing just like he did up until recently.
It’s not like Laine’s incapable of making a difference. Not only did he just prove it over an extended period of time in a Canadiens jersey. He also proved it playing for Finland at the 4 Nations tournament when he notched two assists in his team’s critical 4-3 overtime win over Sweden, including one when he opted to pass to goal-scorer Mikko Rantanen, instead of shoot from his usual spot in the face-off circle on the power play. That win, in which Laine co-starred, kept the nation’s final hopes alive. Laine similarly passed the puck instead of shot against Canada, with Finland down 4-1 in the dying minutes. While Mikael Granlund was the one who scored that goal and the 4-3 marker soon thereafter to really make a game of it, without Laine’s assist, that doesn’t happen.
All that to say, rumours of Laine’s demise as an offensive talent have been greatly exaggerated. He still has the tools and he still has the mental acuity to put them to good use. Any suggestions that he should do so consistently should be met with at least a slight guffaw, because, while there’s a chance he will, that’s never been his modus operandi. And, if it hasn’t been his MO up to now, it isn’t why Hughes took a chance on him last summer, especially with so many question marks surrounding his sheer ability to contribute, taking into account his time spent in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and injury history.
To Laine’s credit, he’s put those concerns to bed. Or at least he should have when he stormed out of the gate to start his Canadiens tenure. Any holes in his game that have surfaced since have always been there. So, they shouldn’t be a surprise. With that, it’s time for the critics to give it a rest themselves. They’re obviously entitled to their opinions and to express themselves, much like this writer is here. However, there’s little good that can come of trying to run a proven goal scorer out of town, especially when it’s widely established he’s not going anywhere in the immediate future.
Hughes won’t move Laine, because he realistically can’t, not at his cap hit, with one more season after this one to which any hypothetical trade partner would have to commit. That means, the likeliest point at which Laine gets dealt if at all is two trade deadlines from now, when he’ll be a pending unrestricted free agent. However, based on how the Canadiens played from early December to late January with Laine putting his best foot forward and how it looks like 2025-26 is shaping up like the year the Habs play for a spot in the postseason, it’s more likely than not Laine will be front and centre for any such playoff push.
Laine Still Has Skill to Become Habs Fan Favourite
Could Laine be playing better right now? Sure. Loads of other Canadiens can too. If you believe that next year they as a whole will be, why not extend that same courtesy to Laine? Simply put, they’re not better off without him, because they were at their best with him. That’s up for as much debate as how the mere fantastical notion of acquiring Laine initially sent a frenzy through this city. It’s well-documented to have been the case.
Even before then, it seemed like a pipe dream that a player in his prime with Laine’s skills had even a snowball’s chance in hell of coming to town. Looking at it through that lens, the likelihood that he rediscovers his game should seem much more tangible in comparison. He’s actually here to begin with… and now (some) people want to get rid of him?
Anyone who doubts his worth probably needs glasses more than Laine traded, based on an inherent inability to believe what their eyes have been telling them for most of the last few months, up to and including last week at the 4 Nations Face-Off. It’s not that he has a tendency to show up sporadically that fans should be harping on, but rather his tendency to show up when it matters most.
That’s the Laine Hughes acquired. That’s the Laine the Canadiens are for better or worse stuck with until 2026. And that’s the Laine a large swath of Habs fans will inevitably hope opts against pursuing another new beginning once his deal ends that summer. Whether those aforementioned critics like it or not, Laine has his share of fans himself right now, and justifiably so. Hopefully he’s able to convert a few non-believers over the next 1.5 years, because he’s certainly not going anywhere until then, at the very least. Hopefully he won’t until a lot later still.
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