Confirmed with Link: Laine, 2nd 2026 to Montreal for Jordan Harris

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

Or this could be read as "I wasn't a big enough superstar in Columbus."

Wouldnt take it personally. It's basically written on every trade deal that the player going to Habs/Canada has to say someting like this Heard it a hundred times



Cant help to think that Don should've retained some more since it would have only been 2 years, but we'll see how he uses that money

 

[NotTooWideArena]

There are a lot of angles to this.

Getting it done before training camp is, I think, Good.
Getting it done with no retention is Very Good!
Giving up a second for Harris is probably a bit of an overpayment, but Acceptable. (Hopefully the Jackets will be drafting much further down the board next year.)
Sending Laine to a team in our division really Sucks! (I wanted him out west, so I could root for him a bit.)

Overall, I feel like GMDW was given a pig and a tube of lipstick to work with. He didn’t end up with a beauty queen, but he got the job done so now we can get on with moving forward.

I wish Laine well against everybody but the CBJ; I hope Harris surprises us all in good way!

 

[KJ Dangler]

Unless I’m mistaken , we owe Philadelphia our 2nd next year as we took the pick this year . So I’m guessing this trade is the following year , or maybe you can trade picks as long as you have it by the draft ?

 

[NotWendell]

Overall, I feel like GMDW was given a pig and a tube of lipstick to work with.

He was given a pig and made pork chops. That'll do Babe, that'll do.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Unless I’m mistaken , we owe Philadelphia our 2nd next year as we took the pick this year . So I’m guessing this trade is the following year , or maybe you can trade picks as long as you have it by the draft ?

It was the '26 2nd round pick.

 

[OldGoaltender]

I like Laine, hate to see him go but I don’t see elite except for his shot. The contract is an absolute albatross that was e sticking point to any trade. Montreal is hoping as we were that he lives up to the hype. Good trade for us just to dump the salary and getting a young player who so far has lived up to his expectations is nice.

 

[CBJx614]

There are a lot of angles to this.

Getting it done before training camp is, I think, Good.
Getting it done with no retention is Very Good!
Giving up a second for Harris is probably a bit of an overpayment, but Acceptable. (Hopefully the Jackets will be drafting much further down the board next year.)
Sending Laine to a team in our division really Sucks! (I wanted him out west, so I could root for him a bit.)

Overall, I feel like GMDW was given a pig and a tube of lipstick to work with. He didn’t end up with a beauty queen, but he got the job done so now we can get on with moving forward.

I wish Laine well against everybody but the CBJ; I hope Harris surprises us all in good way!

Conference, not division. Still, would rather seem him out west as well.

 

[alphafox]

My only real gripe is that we should have used retention to get a better piece than Harris. He's sounds like a solid upgrade to the bottom four defensive pairings but there is no reason I can see for us not to leverage the cap space to improve the return. We have almost 19 million in cap space and almost no one who will make more than 4 million to sign in the next two years. This screams cheap ownership mandating that the finances come before the on ice product. We have no use for that cap space so it should be used to acquire assets. IMO.

 

[Fred Glover]

Hey blue jackets fans. Habs fan here. Just wanted to drop this here in case any of you were curious of the type of player Harris is.

First of all I just want to say Harris was probably the better of the bunch of young D the Habs have on their roster not named Guhle. Xhekaj adds different elements to the game but Harris has proven that right now, his game is much more steady.

Harris is a jack of all trades. Good skating. Good gap control. Very smart all around. When given the opportunity with bigger minutes, he's proven to be pretty good. He's very self aware of what he can and can't do and never tried to over extend himself where he's incapable. His transition game is perfectly acceptable but his offensive zone ability is lacking. He doesn't do anything risky but defers a lot and doesn't really create. Great supporting cast type of D man that will anchor a bottom pair in the future.

PS. You can go look back on your board, I called the Lindstrom to Columbus pick during last season, so give me my flowers lol

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

My only real gripe is that we should have used retention to get a better piece than Harris. He's sounds like a solid upgrade to the bottom four defensive pairings but there is no reason I can see for us not to leverage the cap space to improve the return. We have almost 19 million in cap space and almost no one who will make more than 4 million to sign in the next two years. This screams cheap ownership mandating that the finances come before the on ice product. We have no use for that cap space so it should be used to acquire assets. IMO.

It's really easy to spend someone else's money.

 

[nhlfan9191]

My only real gripe is that we should have used retention to get a better piece than Harris. He's sounds like a solid upgrade to the bottom four defensive pairings but there is no reason I can see for us not to leverage the cap space to improve the return. We have almost 19 million in cap space and almost no one who will make more than 4 million to sign in the next two years. This screams cheap ownership mandating that the finances come before the on ice product. We have no use for that cap space so it should be used to acquire assets. IMO.

As a Habs fan, I think you guys will like Harris. He’s not a household name and he was the odd man out in Montreal due to all the left handed D we have but there could be something there. At worst, he’s a good depth piece to have on the blueline.

 

[Seedtype]

Hey if I was the owner I would retain.

 

[NotWendell]

Hey if I was the owner I would retain.

Especially if I still had two old coaches and an old GM to pay this year.

 

[Seedtype]

Especially if I still had two old coaches and an old GM to pay this year.

Yeah, I (and I'm sure ownership!) really hope Evason is going to work out heh.

 

[DEF]

So lets spend to the the cap for a bottom 5 team.

 

[VaporTrail]

As a Sabres fan, I'm just curious....Does Laine get booed or cheered when he returns to Columbus?

 

[CBJWerenski8]

As a Sabres fan, I'm just curious....Does Laine get booed or cheered when he returns to Columbus?

My guess is boo’s but cheers during his video tribute. That seems to be the par for the course for most ex players. Except PLD, who got boo’s even during his tribute.

 

[Indy18]

A couple jumbled thoughts:

• Harris seems like a great kid from what I'm reading about him. I am a huge fan of bringing in high-character guys like this. Also another American-born NCAA product, too.
• Harris feels like an ideal Gudbranson partner
• Also love that in such an overwhelmingly white sport, we now have three biracial/black young men in the org who all seem like such great kids. Harris, Lindstrom, and Greaves. Hockey is for everyone and we should be working for greater diversity. Especially in a city and state with such a large minority population.
• Today is Don Waddell's birthday. I hope he gets the exact flavor of cake he loves. Also how annoying to have to execute a massive trade on your birthday
• The more I think about it, the more I like the trade itself. Saves a lot of real dollars over two years for a player who didn't want to be here who just cannot seem to avoid injured reserve. If Harris's value in a vacuum is a third, then whatever the difference in value is between a second and a third feels fair for two years of risk of Laine's full contract. I don't see fleecing on either side

Looking at his advanced stats he's going to be an AMAZING partner with Gudbranson. Yeah he's kinda vanilla where he's just average Joe but he's looking like a good puck mover/passer that can actually play defense. He's undersized and gets pushed around but Gudbranson can help cover that weakness. Its not the idea LHD3 we all wanted this summer but as a fellow Gudbranson apologist I feel MUCH MUCH MUCH better with a Harris/Gudbranson line than a SCJJ/Gudbranson or a Christiansen/Gudbranson line. Still I think its his head I like most about him. He's well spoken and should be another calming voice in the locker room (especially if Laine was maybe an issue). My only slight concern is...another defenseman on the team since they had some...er...political disagreements in the past but I am 100% sure they are both going to be professionals about this just like any other workplace.

The real loser here is Christiansen as between Harris and our boys in Cleveland he's pretty much got slammed out now.

 

[Viqsi]

Looking at his advanced stats he's going to be an AMAZING parter with Gudbranson. Yeah he's kinda vanilla but he's looking like a good puck mover/passer that can actually play defense. He's undersized and gets pushed around but Gudbranson can help cover that weakness. Its not the idea LHD3 but as a fellow Gudbranson apologist is feel MUCH MUCH MUCH better with a Harris/Gudbranson line than a SCJJ/Gudbranson or a Christiansen/Gudbranson line. Still I think its his head I like most about him. He's well spoken and should be another calming voice in the locker room (especially if Laine was maybe an issue). My only slight concern is...another defenseman on the team since they had some...er...political disagreements in the past but I am 100% sure they are both going to be professionals about this just like any other workplace.

The real loser here is Christiansen as between Harris and our boys in Cleveland he's pretty much got slammed out now.

That other defenseman is also expected to be gone by the deadline this season so I see no reason for concern unless he decides to go above and beyond.

 

[CannonFire1]

I mean we shouldn't use it just to use it.

Use it for the right people. Jarmo was terrible about this.

Exactly. Money in the bank isn't worthless just because you don't know what you will spend it on yet. It creates lots of options.

 

[KCbus]

You ARE the Weakest Link. Goodbye.

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

Quoting from Waddell regarding Laine in Portzline's latest article: "I don't know how it would have gone if he had to come [back]. You hope for the best. But how things were last year, I'm not sure that would have been the case."

Sleeping on it and reading this quote, the simple feeling of relief that it's over heavily outweighs any initial disappointment regarding the return. Now Waddell has a lot more flexibility to construct a new team in the years to come and Evason gets to properly coach the team without any distractions. Let's hope for better days ahead.

 

[Habs10Habs]

Thank god it's over. Good luck, Patty. Hope they treat you better than Drouin.

Now I just wonder: who's the default guy Habs fans are going to offer in every single trade proposal now?

Actually Drouin wasn't treated as badly as it's been betrayed. Drouin is the type of person, who is his own biggest critic. So a lot of the pressure, came from within. It actually started, while he was in Tampa. He's obsessed with watching and re-watching video of his play. I've heard he's toned it down now that he's with the Av's.

A large group of posters here on HFHabs were hard on him. As for our media, the majority of them treated him with kid gloves.

As for Patty, he's coming in with a lower level of expectations. So I can't see the pressure on him being too bad. The bonus for Patty is, we have English and French media. So he'd only understand half the crap that is being spewed out.

I think you all are going to like Harris. As others have said, he's nothing flashy. He's a solid D, who plays within his means. He's the type of D that does all the little things right. Most games, I barely notice him. For his style of play, that's a good thing.

We'll be doing a poll in a few days. We'll let you know

 

[CBJx614]

Nvm.

 

[majormajor]

I have a sense of relief, not just that this summer's saga is over, but the whole last four years with Laine is over.

He was sometimes a very good player for us, but I've felt since the beginning that acquiring Laine marked the end of the high accountability team-focused club that we had. Hopefully we can build it again, with a lot more talent this time.