August 19, 2024
There it is, right when you least expected it. On a sleepy Monday afternoon in the third week of August, the casual tweet from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Minutes later, the full deal was confirmed. The Montreal Canadiens sent Jordan Harris to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Patrik Laine and a second round pick in 2026. If anyone tells you this deal is anything less than brilliant work by GM Kent Hughes, that’s a voice you don’t need in your ear.
Hughes does some fine work in August.
This is the third year in a row for the August hijinks from Kent Hughes. On August 18, 2022 he acquired Sean Monahan and a first round pick from Calgary for future considerations. In 2023 he made two August trades. The first came on August 6th when he offloaded Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlik to Pittsburgh for Jeff Petry, Casey DeSmith, Nathan Legare and a second round pick. Then on August 15th, Petry was flipped for Gustav Lindstrom and a fourth round pick.
Each year so far, when teams have been clamouring for talent early in free agency, Hughes has stood pat. Then when rosters were nearly formed, cap space was eaten up, and GM colleagues were limited in options to make their deal, Hughes pounced.
Of all the risks to take, this is the perfect kind for the Habs.
This deal does come with some risks, but not the level some pundits will advertise in the days ahead.
The price to acquire Laine is practically zero. One could argue that Jordan Harris, a player of exceptional character who will have a long NHL career, was worth the second round pick. But the Habs were dealing from a position of strength on the left side of their defense, and Harris will be replaced without much grief in Montreal. Recall the Habs received a fourth round pick for Johnathan Kovacevic earlier this summer. Leave Laine out of the deal, and fans should have been content for the player-pick swap. Adding Laine in makes this a no brainer deal for the Habs.
Laine comes with a considerable cap hit. He was acquired for basically nothing because at this stage of the game, the Habs were the only suitor who would take him with his entire hit. In his presser, Hughes said they expected to be able to get under the cap before the season starts without placing Carey Price on summer waivers. With just two years left, there is no worry that Laine interferes with signing the kids as they need new deals. It’s also interesting that Laine’s $8.7M hit expires at the same time as Price’s contract. There is space now, and if the Habs want to resign him when the time comes, there will be space.
If Laine’s performance leaves something to be desired, in two years he’s off the books, and the creative Hughes could likely make it happen long before then if he deemed it necessary.
One of the big concerns about signing Laine was potential character issues – yes, he’s an elite scorer heading to his third team, and he’s fresh out of the player assistance program. Gorton, Hughes and St. Louis met with Laine before making the deal – I’m sure they wanted to assess this issue in particular. The Habs have a strong leadership group, including an influential coach, a high-character captain, and a veteran or two who can manage Laine while also absorbing some of the attention of the Montreal media. If he becomes a distraction, they will dispense of him. They didn’t pay enough for him to sweat it.
Right now Laine is essentially a placeholder, and that’s the level of risk we should attribute to him. If it works, they have landed an elite scorer for nothing, and if it doesn’t they move on.
If it works out, this is a major Hughes coup.
Patrik Laine is the 2016 second overall pick who has scored 44 goals in one season. He has not forgotten how to play hockey. He was asked by one reporter in his post-trade presser whether he thought he could return to his 30-goal form. I loved Laine’s response. He said his goal was for 40 or 50 goals, and nothing about the answer came off as cocky or dismissive of what he has just been through. You’ve got to love that answer.
The Habs are desperate for goal scoring, and before they drafted Ivan Demidov, the goal-scoring game-changer was believed to be the thing missing from the rebuild. What if Laine returns to form? He’s going into this season as a 26-year-old. He’s just over a year older than Nick Suzuki. If Laine can recover his game, he is a perfect fit for this Habs window. And he was acquired for nothing.
There is also the possibility that Laine is treated like a true placeholder, and eventually dealt for a return regardless. If so, Hughes would have filled the need for a goal scorer in the short term, while also fetching a return for the future. It’s a coup, whichever way you look at it.
In fixing one crowded area, Hughes may have created another.
The Habs moved out a left shot defender, creating some breathing room for the kids in development, and added a right shot forward, of which they have many.
Of course, three of those guys are centreman, but all eight are practically guaranteed to make the roster on opening night barring a trade. Two of those guys will see their contract expire at the end of this coming season, but I’m not convinced Hughes will wait that long.
Is it possible Hughes is still not done?
He may not pull off two August trades like he did last summer, but I wonder if adding Laine will free him up to move another right shot winger. Perhaps having paid so little to acquire Laine will clear his conscience to move on from another player for minimal return. Going into this off-season I questioned whether Hughes would make serious efforts to move Josh Anderson. Now I’m wondering if this helps.
Perhaps nothing happens until training camp, but all eight right shot forwards better come to camp ready to play hockey.
The encore pick on this lottery ticket is the newest Toronto rivalry plot.
As mentioned earlier, Laine was pick number two in 2016. He went right after Auston Matthews was selected with the first overall pick. All eyes were already going to be on Matthews with his fresh and new C-stitched jersey. Wouldn’t it be something if Laine found his game in Montreal, and joined the goal-scoring race?
Welcome to Montreal, Patrik! Bonne chance!
Hab At Her 
WoohooDavidSent from my iPad
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absolutely love the article…everything about this trade spells win! Well done Lori.
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