Confirmed Trade: [MTL/CBJ] Patrik Laine, '26 2nd for Jordan Harris

[LOFIN]

MTL took on an overpaid player for some assets and because he fills a hole. They paid a ton of money to do it. This is not some genius move

It is because they can do it. Did the Canadians become a better team yesterday? Most likely, yes. Did they pay a price (in assets) for it? No, one could say they were paid to become a better team. Is that 9ish million dollars going to be missed somewhere else during the next two years? Most likely not. So, what exactly is the issue here.

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

"It doesn't matter how much money we waste because we suck anyway!" is a WILD rebuild strategy.

 

[LOFIN]

"It doesn't matter how much money we waste because we suck anyway!" is a WILD rebuild strategy.

If that money wasn't going to be used on other players to improve the team (which it wasn't), then it's not a waste to take a chance on Laine. I really don't understand why this is hard for you to comprehend. In that case, it's just money out of the owners pocket, and who the f*** gives a flying f*** what that costs?

 

[Andy]

"It doesn't matter how much money we waste because we suck anyway!" is a WILD rebuild strategy.

1. This post presumes that it will be a waste of money. Which is still to be determined
2. The cap committed to Laine will not affect the habs ability to add additional assets as of next year, as they have several big salaries coming off the books and no one of note to sign. They could literally sign Draisaitl if he was available and wanted to come to Montreal.
3. There is currently no better option on the market. The habs have cap space, better to use it than to leave it sitting. It's not like they are losing out on some other option right now.
4. There are 2 years left on Laine's deal. They can absord the gamble for each of the two years without it preventing them from improving in year 2.
5. The habs finished the last two seasons in the bottom 5. Expectations are low, and if doesn't work out, you cant really get worse than bottom 5, and at that point, they get another lottery pick - yay!
6. The habs are likely to get a high second rounder for Harris, a player they probably had to move anyway because their depth at D.
7. This gamble is literally a no brainer for a team that needs top 6 help, has the cap sapce to asborb the player, will not be affected long-term, still has a boatload of assets to make additional moves.
8. If they really need the cap space this season, they have players like Savard, Armia, and Dvorak who can get traded. They can even move Matheson if they want. They have a ton of assets to pay people to take other salaries if they really need the space for an opportunity.

Maybe it sucks that your team can;t take these gambles, but thats not our problem. Everyone in habs land, from the team to the fans are okay with the gamble. At worse, we stay status quo, at best, we get paid a 2nd to take a player that produces at a 30+g clip. That's up there with getting a 1st to take Monahan and other 1st after building up his value. You can even add trading Petry twice that gave the habs Matheson, 2nd, 3rd, 4th round pick.

I think the GM knows what hes doing

 

[JianYang]

If that money wasn't going to be used on other players to improve the team (which it wasn't), then it's not a waste to take a chance on Laine. I really don't understand why this is hard for you to comprehend. In that case, it's just money out of the owners pocket, and who the f*** gives a flying f*** what that costs?

Why are you wasting time on someone who uses 5 laughing emojis in a row to try and get his point across?

You are being trolled.

 

[Galaxydoggystyle]

There is a very significant risk.

If laine doesn't contribute to winning and then leaves as a UFA, you have burned 17 million dollars for a 2nd round pick. That is a very significant risk.

The upside is... Laine plays up to his contract? Even in your most optimistic scenarios you yourself are still suggesting he's worth about the same amount as his salary.

Even resigning Laine you're still paying about the same as you would without trading for him.

The upside, is that either MTLs window comes through next year pretty significantly ahead of schedule, or Laine decides to take a large discount out as a UFA out of the kindness of his heart.

I respect teams that are willing to eat massive amounts of money while not contending, but it's not some genius move.

No one gives a shit about 17m dollars you know why???? cause it isnt our damn money sheesh!!!

 

[Bruce Granville]

A bold move from two bald men…
Laine lost 2 millions because of taxes. He really wanted to go to Montréal…or leave Columbus behind.

Btw, Forsling was a waiver pick up…don‘t expect all GMs to be smart.

I hope it works out for Laine, although I already dread the combination of toxic Habs fans and Laine fanboys on the mainboards…

 

[Gurglesons]

Actually quite the opposite, he talked about it and so did Hughes when he talked to him. His head space is a lot better and he wants the spotlight. He doesn't have to be the focal point.

Caufield ---Suzuki---Slafkovsky
Liane--- Dach---Newhook
(Next year Demidov and 2 1st round pics, Hague knocking on the door soon)

The Habs are starting to look like a dangerous team!

Yeah, Drouin playing center was also amazing so why would I not believe what a player says.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

This has to be one of the most lopsided dumbass trades I've seen since the Erat for Forsberg trade. They dumped a guy who was PPG for them for two of the last three seasons minus injury and ADDED a second round pick? Is Jordan Harris even projected to be an NHL defenseman/play 100 games?

Maybe they have more information/insight into why he was in the PAP? And happy to move on from that?

 

[Rob Sense]

No one gives a shit about 17m dollars you know why???? cause it isnt our damn money sheesh!!!

and Montreal is one of the richest franchises in the NHL. They will probably sell 17 million worth of Laine jerseys so WTF cares...like you said!

 

[Runner77]

I think this will work out great for the

You’ve just made @the ’s day.

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

He seems way happier, healthier, and confident. I can see a big bounce back year under MSL.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

Resigning Laine after the deal wouldn't add value to the deal, since it would be at a market value rate.

Unless you're expecting him to take a discount.

But eating 17 mill now in hopes Laine will maybe take a discount (he has no obligation to stay or take a discount) in 2 years seems questionable to me.

MTL took on an overpaid player for some assets and because he fills a hole. They paid a ton of money to do it. This is not some genius move

Oh no poor Molson so much money he will have to pay….

 

[Rob Sense]

A bold move from two bald men…
Laine lost 2 millions because of taxes. He really wanted to go to Montréal…or leave Columbus behind.

Btw, Forsling was a waiver pick up…don‘t expect all GMs to be smart.

I hope it works out for Laine, although I already dread the combination of toxic Habs fans and Laine fanboys on the mainboards…

You dread the best fans in hockey...tissue?

 

[BJCOLLINS]

man o man, Laine’s Dad dies and he goes through a shit show of coaches……gets moved to Montreal with “the” players coach Martin St. Louis. Gotta feel like Xmass for the big Finn going into his prime or whatever you think 26 is.

 

[Viqsi]

And then the second you call them back up, they go back on your cap, your total amount becomes over 88 mill, and you stop accruing cap space.

You seem to not understand how cap space accrual works, or LTIR.

You accrue cap space daily, based on the amount, that you are under 88 million on that day.

Every player on the NHL roster, IR, LTIR, buried (if above the limit), and retained salary counts towards that 88 million.

Now, LTIR allows you to exceed that 88 mill on any given day, (emergency call ups do as well but that's something different). But, if you are using LTIR to be above 88 million, then you do not accrue any cap space throughout the season.

Now, if you are not accruing cap space, at the end of the season, any bonuses earned throughout the season (Hutson, Slaf, Guhle), will carry over to the next season

...at which point the cap hits of Dvorak and Armia vanish into thin air right at the time when three of their kids are showing they're doing great ahead of schedule. This hardly strikes me as a dire portent for the Habs.

 

[Viqsi]

"It doesn't matter how much money we waste because we suck anyway!" is a WILD rebuild strategy.

No, we're talking about Montreal here, not Minnesota. There's an important difference.

 

[Frank Drebin]

There is a very significant risk.

If laine doesn't contribute to winning and then leaves as a UFA, you have burned 17 million dollars for a 2nd round pick. That is a very significant risk.

The upside is... Laine plays up to his contract? Even in your most optimistic scenarios you yourself are still suggesting he's worth about the same amount as his salary.

Even resigning Laine you're still paying about the same as you would without trading for him.

The upside, is that either MTLs window comes through next year pretty significantly ahead of schedule, or Laine decides to take a large discount out as a UFA out of the kindness of his heart.

I respect teams that are willing to eat massive amounts of money while not contending, but it's not some genius move.

Lol

I don’t use this word often but this post is pure cope

molson has spent close to a quarter BILLION in player salaries over the past 3 seasons for a bottom 5 team

And you’re talking about the “risk” of an individual making 8.5m per year?

Please

 

[CHaracter79]

MTL is literally eating 1 million dollars in bonus overages this year because they in fact were not able to accrue cap space last year

What’s their cap space next season when savard Dvorak armia come off and the 4.2 in retention. Salaries for Allen and Petry come off.

 

[Siludin]

Good trade for Montreal imo.
Suzuki and Caufield will have someone to play with.
They won't be a good team this year, but very enticing fantasy selections.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Good trade for Montreal imo.
Suzuki and Caufield will have someone to play with.
They won't be a good team this year, but very enticing fantasy selections.

Kirby Dach has someone to play with now.

Laine-Dach-Newhook

 

[Siludin]

Kirby Dach has someone to play with now.

Laine-Dach-Newhook

I feel if anything Laine will mean Dach or Newhook will be relegated to PP2.
Could be both if Hutson makes the team and/or they run two defensemen on the PP.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

And then the second you call them back up, they go back on your cap, your total amount becomes over 88 mill, and you stop accruing cap space.

You seem to not understand how cap space accrual works, or LTIR.

You accrue cap space daily, based on the amount, that you are under 88 million on that day.

Every player on the NHL roster, IR, LTIR, buried (if above the limit), and retained salary counts towards that 88 million.

Now, LTIR allows you to exceed that 88 mill on any given day, (emergency call ups do as well but that's something different). But, if you are using LTIR to be above 88 million, then you do not accrue any cap space throughout the season.

Now, if you are not accruing cap space, at the end of the season, any bonuses earned throughout the season (Hutson, Slaf, Guhle), will carry over to the next season

Habs will have a ton of capspace next season with 15+ million coming off. Bonuses won't have any impact on the Habs plans.

This trade was absolute genius by Hughes. All it cost was money, which is chump change for Molson. I realize this is hard to understand being a Devils fan with limited capital. Meanwhile, Habs will have tons of capspace next season and able to do a similar move for more assets if they choose.

 

[Voight]

I could be wrong but I don't think I am. Fans think Montreal was a bad option but I think it's a great fit for both Laine and the Habs. He's not coming here to be on an island by himself (like Drouin).

Laine knows what is expected coming to Montreal and he wanted to come. That means a lot and I agree, he seems very focused on what he has to do as a player to produce and also how to fit within the Habs core.

Well, he wanted to come because it was either that or stay in Columbus, where he didn't want to be.

 

[T REX]

No one is saying it is not an imaginary number. It's an indication of rate of expected goals in a time frame.

No one in the nhl is guaranteed to play 82 games in a given year. But GMs, players, and fans can expect certain rates of production based on previous performance. It allows teams to plan and build rosters.

You know this, but you are conveniently ignoring it because to concede to the concept of expected rate means you can't crap on this. You're obviously not participating in this discussion in good faith.

Regardless of the actual games Laine ends up playing, his goal scoring rate is his goal scoring rate. If he plays 20 games I have a sense of how many goals he will score, same with 40, 60, or 82. That doesn't change.

In 7 of 8 seasons, his rate has been over .365.

I have been saying the same thing in any thread where someone uses pace to prop up any player.

Feel free to do a search history. I've been consistent in my POV. It's okay to disagree. It's not okay to accuse me of not participating in the discussion in good faith.

In fact, the Habs had the money to burn...gave up very little. Low risk, high reward.

IMHO, I do not think he magically becomes what you guys are looking for...and he seems like a head case that won't hold up to the local press in MTL...IMHO. Good luck!