It appears Patrik Laine is set to move on from the Blue Jackets. Despite some obvious upside, it's unlikely the Finnish snipe would be a good fit in Detroit
After a turbulent 2023-24 season that included an extended stint in the NHLPA's Player Assistance Program, it appears Finnish sniper Patrik Laine will soon be moving on from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
According to a report from Pierre LeBrun that aired on TSN's "Insider Trading" segment, "We know that Patrik Laine entered the player assistance program, had the courage to seek help, and he’s still in the program right now. So, we have to consider that factor, but he would like to move on. His agent has had conversations with the Blue Jackets about it, and both sides are going to work together to try and get that done. He wants a fresh start; it hasn’t been a good time in Columbus."
Laine is 26 years old, with two years remaining at $8.7 million against the cap, and he's coming off a season in which he played just 18 games, scoring six goals and providing three assists. For a trade to make sense, the Blue Jackets will almost certainly have to retain on that salary, but that shouldn't be too big an obstacle to a deal as Columbus has all three retention slots available and no serious contention aspirations during that window.
With all that as context, could Laine—once upon a time the second overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft out of Tappara in the Finnish Liiga—make sense for the Red Wings?
Oct 12, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Patrik Laine (29) skates with the puck against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first period at Nationwide Arena
© Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
The first and most important thing to say is, like everyone else, my biggest hope would be that Laine finds the fresh start he's seeking somewhere and that he's able to return to the form that made him appear the NHL's next great scorer when he arrived on the scene in the 2016-17 season.
Here's a look at Laine's goal production across his career. Laine is unique in that his very best production came almost immediately. His best goal scoring season wasn't somewhere in his mid-20s; it came at the ripe age of 19, when he put up 44 goals in just his second year in the league.
