Top 3 potential trade destinations for Patrik Laine.

Laine's likely destination.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Top 3 potential trade destinations for Patrik Laine.
Mike Wulf/CSM/Zuma

There have been rumblings regarding the future of Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine for some time now but the tone of the rumors that have been out there since the Jets were eliminated from playoff contention seems considerably more serious than it has ever been before. There is a belief that the Jets will be willing to dangle a big piece like Laine on the trade market in the hopes of bolstering their defense after losing players like Jacob Trouba, Ben Chiarot and Dustin Byfuglien on the blue line in a short period of time. 

Now to be perfectly blunt I would not be the least bit surprised to see Laine begin next season as a member of the Winnipeg Jets, but I also do believe these rumors are legitimate and I do expect Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to pull the  trigger on a trade this summer if he can get what he believes is a fair return for Laine. That may be difficult given that Laine, who's current cap hit is $6.75 million, will likely be headed for a big raise after just 1 season which means that any team acquiring him will need cap space to make this work. 

Keeping that in mind here are 3 teams that could realistically acquire Laine this summer:

#1 Montreal Canadiens.

Call me crazy but after seeing Marc Bergevin swing for the fences when he made an offer sheet to Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho I fully expect the Habs general manager intends to make some noise in the offseason. Bergevin is coming off a playoff run that showed the team they have two promising young centers in Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi and that would make the addition of a trigger man like Laine all the more appealing for the Habs GM. The Habs even have the benefit of having a ton of cap space given the salary cap crunch that has been imposed by the COVID-19 shutdown, checking many of the boxes needed for a team looking to acquire Laine. 

There is one major weakness when it comes to the Canadiens however and that is the limited number of quality defensemen they have on their roster, and more importantly the limited number of quality defensemen they would be willing to part with. They do have top prospect Alexander Romanov who is expected to make a big impact at the NHL level but I would be stunned if Montreal would be willing to part with him, even if it meant the acquisition of a player like Laine.

#2 Calgary Flames

The Flames are coming off another disappointing run in the playoffs and making things even worse for that organization is that the lack of playoff success comes off the heels of another solid regular season showing. There are many who believe that forward Johnny Gaudreau has played his last game in Calgary and should the Flames move on from Gaudreau that would create a need for another offensive talent to fill the vacancy left by his departure. The Flames would need to create space in order to fit Laine in under the cap but moving Gaudreau in a trade deal could in theory fill that need and would create the shake up the Flames clearly need in that locker room. 

The Flames however will run into the same problem as the Montreal Canadiens, assuming that they don't sign some of their soon-to-be unrestricted free agent defensemen to new contracts. The Flames have good depth on defense with players like Travis Hamonic and T.J. Brodie. both names that have regularly come up in the rumor mill, but both those players were playing out the final year of their contract this season which means they can't be bargaining chips for the Flames, at least not unless they re-sign them first.

#3 Carolina Hurricanes.

Every time we are discussing a team in need of help on the blue line the Hurricanes are bound to be mentioned in some capacity as a potential trade candidate. The Hurricanes have a ton of talent on the blue line and there is an expectation that they will look to use some of that depth to bolster their line up, most notably in net and at the forward position. The name of defenseman Brett Pesce has routinely been mentioned in trade rumors involving other forwards, notably William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it makes sense given his level of play and his very team-friendly contract. 

The Hurricanes however have thus far decided to hold on to Pesce but the opportunity to acquire a proven goalscorer like Laine could be what finally tips the scales the other way. The Hurricanes do have some other needs to address in the offseason however, most notably their weakness in goal, so I suspect that this will be their top priority over acquiring a forward like Laine. 

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