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

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

Just realized Vincent went to Habs AHL, so they had basically witness information of what happened in that room

 

[HabsAddict]

Harris is a solid defenseman. He is good at everything but doesn't excel at anything. He's a lock on top 6 and potential to be top 4.

His future was finished in Montreal. We have Hutson, Guhle and X on the left. Plus Struble in reserve.

Good luck.

 

[HabsAddict]

I think you’re all forgetting the funniest part of this: Dubois has to watch Laine pull on a Habs sweater before he does.

That was funny!

Interesting that Dubois used our name to get a deal, but we landed up with the guy he was traded for. We missed a bullet with Dubois and 50/50 Laine works out. At best we just added another major weapon on our top 6, at worst, he's lost money for two seasons. Another upside is that if he works out, he's in our contending timeliness.

Let's see...

 

[Colezuki]

I see other Habs fans have commented on his play style and there spot on 3rd pair D with potential to be a steady 4 long term. But I’d comment that I hope you all treat Harris well, he’s one of the highest quality humans I’ve ever seen pull the jersey on. As a person he’s always active in the community was supporting causes and really you could see why he was captain of his NCAA team. Really will help with the character of any dressing room

 

[Jovavic]

Harris sounds like he plays similar to Blanks?

This trade reminds me of Leclaire+2nd for Vermette, where we needed to add the pick to mitigate the risk the other team is taking (Leclaire had injuries, Laine for obvious reasons)

 

[Fred Glover]

Harris is a solid defenseman. He is good at everything but doesn't excel at anything. He's a lock on top 6 and potential to be top 4.

His future was finished in Montreal. We have Hutson, Guhle and X on the left. Plus Struble in reserve.

Good luck.

It would be nice to have a player good at everything

 

[Dr Quincy]

Harris sounds like he plays similar to Blanks?

This trade reminds me of Leclaire+2nd for Vermette, where we needed to add the pick to mitigate the risk the other team is taking (Leclaire had injuries, Laine for obvious reasons)

Not as offensive as Blankenburg. Good in transition and gets good results but he doesn't have the shot or the shooting temperment of Blankenburg.

He's from Haverhill, MA, where I've lived for the last 20 years. He's a really good kid and leader. Easy to root for. His problem is that in today's NHL teams want either "Big and tough" or "Uber skilled and creative". He's neither, so it's hard to find a role for him.

 

[LetsGOJackets!!]

always leary of “your going to really like him, he is a great guy, a prince of a small in stature man”

 

[squashmaple]

always leary of “your going to really like him, he is a great guy, a prince of a small in stature man”

The irony of this from someone with a Denton Mateychuk avatar.

 

[stevo61]

Not as offensive as Blankenburg. Good in transition and gets good results but he doesn't have the shot or the shooting temperment of Blankenburg.

He's from Haverhill, MA, where I've lived for the last 20 years. He's a really good kid and leader. Easy to root for. His problem is that in today's NHL teams want either "Big and tough" or "Uber skilled and creative". He's neither, so it's hard to find a role for him.

There is a role for steady. I dunno if he has a long term role here but short term there is a clear spot for him

 

[Viqsi]

Harris sounds like he plays similar to Blanks?

Do not invoke the name of bae lightly.

 

[Dr Quincy]

There is a role for steady. I dunno if he has a long term role here but short term there is a clear spot for him

That's the thing. He can play on a lot of team's bottom pairings. He's a capable NHL player, but at some point that team will have someone in their system they think is better. Still, lots of guys have carved out careers doing 2 or 3 years on a bunch of team's bottom pairings.

I've probably been his biggest fan on this site, and I think he'll do well. But his upside is bottom pairing regular, not top 4.

 

[MoeBartoli]

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.

Really? You know who is probably happier than “cheap ownership” about no retention? Waddell - he has more latitude on shaping the roster without being saddled by a retention. It was an excellent move by him.

 

[JacketsDavid]

Unfortunately the return/cost is about what I expected.
Laine is well paid and a malcontent. Granted he tried for awhile (when he wanted to play C) but was oft injured, then going into players assistance and then finally demanding a trade just killed whatever potential value he may have had.
Would I be shocked if he has 30 goals this year - no. He will be in a sistuation with smaller pressure (2nd line) where he could excel.
My guess he will show flashes but his prima donna attitude will not allow him to reach his peak. But good luck to him and his potential. Frankly I'm glad he's out of the room.

 

[alphafox]

Really? You know who is probably happier than “cheap ownership” about no retention? Waddell - he has more latitude on shaping the roster without being saddled by a retention. It was an excellent move by him.

I would agree if we were going to actually use that cap for something valuable but I highly doubt that we make moves in taking cap cast offs we actually needed to open up that much room. I doubt that the Rangers, Flyers or Caps trade with us to solve their cap problems, the Blues and Canucks might do some smaller deals but nothing that requires that much cap. Vegas will pull something out of their hat plus the LTIR Mark Stone announcement is coming any day now, I'm sure. I just don't see what you need that much Cap space for. I'm happy to be proven wrong if that cap get's used wisely but until that point it looks more to me like the team just wanted the money off the books rather than trying to maximize the return.

 

[stevo61]

I would agree if we were going to actually use that cap for something valuable but I highly doubt that we make moves in taking cap cast offs we actually needed to open up that much room. I doubt that the Rangers, Flyers or Caps trade with us to solve their cap problems, the Blues and Canucks might do some smaller deals but nothing that requires that much cap. Vegas will pull something out of their hat plus the LTIR Mark Stone announcement is coming any day now, I'm sure. I just don't see what you need that much Cap space for. I'm happy to be proven wrong if that cap get's used wisely but until that point it looks more to me like the team just wanted the money off the books rather than trying to maximize the return.

I think we could see some big moves in a years time. Waddell will know the team, have trade chips to work with and all the cap in the world

 

[CanadienShark]

I hope you enjoy Harris! He's an NHLer no doubt. Great person too, which will help team culture. His top end is a "do it all" decently well top 4 guy, in my view. He's got room to grow, but Montreal has a logjam of LHD and he wouldn't get the opportunity needed there. Only knock is that he's not great at anything, but also doesn't have any real warts. Worst case, you've locked down your bottom pair LHD for a long time. He could be a future captain.

 

[NotWendell]

I hope you enjoy Harris! He's an NHLer no doubt. Great person too, which will help team culture. His top end is a "do it all" decently well top 4 guy, in my view. He's got room to grow, but Montreal has a logjam of LHD and he wouldn't get the opportunity needed there. Only knock is that he's not great at anything, but also doesn't have any real warts. Worst case, you've locked down your bottom pair LHD for a long time. He could be a future captain.

Not great at anything? He'll fit right in!

 

[JacketsDavid]

Let that sink in

We just traded a 26 year old forward who was a PPG player for us 2 seasons out of 4 for a no name defensemen AND we added a 2nd round pick

He asked to be traded and checked himself into NHLPA players assistance last season and just came out. How valuable is a guy like that that has a yearly salary of $8.7M?
You're rarely going to get fair value for a guy that has demanded a trade and usually the only way to get fair value is trading one problem for another (like PLD for Laine).
THen throw in the fact of the players assistance check in and his salary (2 years left) and there wasn't much there to trade.
It's simply a financial decision if you retain salary maybe you get more back but the CBJ didn't want that. As others have said I have no idea if the CBJ will use that cap space (especially in 2024-25) but probably a better change it's used in 2025-26.

 

[VT]

"I'm hearing that when Pascal Vincent benched Laine last season, he actually gave his player the night off because he wasn't feeling well, all while taking the heat himself.

Now, we have Laine, but we also have an interesting coach in Laval. - Max Truman"

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825630576369340637

The reason Pascal Vincent benched Patrik Laine back in Columbus is now revealed

We have just learned some important information involving Pascal Vincent following the Patrik Laine trade

www.habsfanatics.com

If this is true, it can explain Laine's play last season.

 

[AndBoomGoesTheCannon]

"I'm hearing that when Pascal Vincent benched Laine last season, he actually gave his player the night off because he wasn't feeling well, all while taking the heat himself.

Now, we have Laine, but we also have an interesting coach in Laval. - Max Truman"

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825630576369340637

The reason Pascal Vincent benched Patrik Laine back in Columbus is now revealed

We have just learned some important information involving Pascal Vincent following the Patrik Laine trade

www.habsfanatics.com

If this is true, it can explain Laine's play last season.

Weird report. Why not just say ‘out tonight with illness’?

 

[NotCommitted]

Weird report. Why not just say ‘out tonight with illness’?

Yeah tbh sounds like Canadian hockey media with new toy syndrome. Just wait for the stories if they ever do a 180

 

[VT]

Weird report. Why not just say ‘out tonight with illness’?

This is exactly what I thought of as well. We'll see what we learn as time goes on.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

but Laine said being scratched was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him in hockey.

Somebody’s story doesn’t compute.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

but Laine said being scratched was the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him in hockey.

Somebody’s story doesn’t compute.

Yeah that report is bullshit. Laine was healthy scratched