With Patrik Laine requesting a trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets, is it possible the Rangers go after the 26-year-old forward?
Patrik Laine and his camp have told the Columbus Blue Jackets that he would like a fresh start, and wants to get traded out of Columbus according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.
With Laine available, should the New York Rangers go after him?
The Rangers are in need of size and more of a physical edge and Laine can provide that in a way as he plays a power forward type role.
At his peak, Laine scored 44 goals, but that was all the way back during the 2017-18 season. Maybe he just needs a fresh start to finally get his game back on track.
There are a lot of factors though that would most likely prevent New York from pursuing Laine via trade.
The 26-year-old forward hasn’t reached the 30-goal plateau since the 2018-19 campaign and at certain points, he’s seemed to have regressed a bit.
Not to mention that Laine still has two years left on his contract with an $8.7 million dollar cap hit.
For a team that already has multiple players locked up on long term deals and contracts for Igor Shesterkin and Alexis Lafrenière coming in the near future, the Rangers simply can’t afford to make this sort of financial gamble for a player of Laine’s caliber.
Another thing to note is that Laine entered the player assistance program in January and he can’t be traded until he comes out of the program.
Most likely the Rangers won’t attempt to trade for Laine, but it’s still something interesting to look into.
