Confirmed with Link: Patrik Laine and 2026 2nd round pick acquired from the Blue Jackets in exchange for Jordan Harris

[WatchfulElm]

Who is Gary Unicorn?

First round draft pick of the Atlantis Rainbow-Eaters.

 

[KevSkillz4]

I need to work, but damm, I have Laine in my mind since yesterday.

I never have girl in my mind more than 2 hours, now I have Laine much more than that.

 

[OnTheRun]

Not tampering. But unlike other teams, Habs had a peak at the other party’s cards.

Not really tho. Waddell and Vincent don't overlap. They had a in person meeting once which culminated in Vincent getting fired. So Vincent probably had no insider info to share.

 

[YukonCornelius 5thOA]

I need to work, but damm, I have Laine in my mind since yesterday.

I never have girl in my mind more than 2 hours, now I have Laine much more than that.

Now you’re lying Kev.

 

[Lshap]

If your team culture is so fragile that a single player can ruin it, it probably wasn’t strong enough to begin with.

I think a lot of people are over-thinking this (not saying you).

Laine is an extreme example of “buy low” and it just so happened that all of the factors that facilitated this “buy low” option, were in the Habs favour.

- He had/has a NTC and made his trade request public
- Big cap hit that the Blue Jackets didn’t want to eat
- Have a lot of young NHL players on cheap contracts

This deal was a too good to pass up kind of deal.

Totally agree. I was thrilled when I heard the news last night! At the same time, I feel obligated to turn this deal over to look for flaws. Only one seems to be the possibility Laine ends up on IR. Otherwise, the talent's still there and he's a married guy, which tends to stabilize people, so for now I'm happy to bask in the huge potential upside.

I need to work, but damm, I have Laine in my mind since yesterday.

I never have girl in my mind more than 2 hours, now I have Laine much more than that.

You haven't met the right girl.

 

[Saundies]

I need to work, but damm, I have Laine in my mind since yesterday.

I never have girl in my mind more than 2 hours, now I have Laine much more than that.

One of the only downsides to getting Laine is that he brings down our team's overall attractiveness/60.

 

[PavelBrendl]

We will officially never have to see any one of Dvorak, Gallagher, Anderson or Armia on the PP ever again. Praise the lord.

One of the only downsides to getting Laine is that he brings down our team's overall attractiveness/60.

You take that back.

 

[Saundies]

We will officially never have to see any one of Dvorak, Gallagher, Anderson or Armia on the PP ever again. Praise the lord.


View attachment 902143

You take that back.

Hey our style/60 has never been higher.

 

[PavelBrendl]

Hey our style/60 has never been higher.

Alright alright, I can appreciate that distinction.

 

[GrandBison]

Care to guess what Vincent did before those 18 games???
Vincent was also ass. coach with the CBJ in the previous two season and before that he was with the Jets NHL and AHL so he was with the Jets when he got drafted and also coach him in the last 3 seasons so he coach him for 129 games...

You're right. Totally forgot about those 2 years. Then why Hughes was so evasive about Vincent in the presser?

 

[donghabs98]

How can it turn out like Drouin?

We have not paid prime assets for him and haven't bet on a long term contract.

Worse case scenario is we are limited in cap for two years in which we are not contending.

Best case scenario we have a long term fixture in our top6.

At the point our team is at, the downside is negligible, unlike what it was (and happened) for Drouin.

There's like a 0.001% this is a significant loss for the Habs.

Unlike the Drouin trade too, Hughes didn't give up anything of value. When you think of the trades to get Dach, Laine and Newhook, the biggest piece Hughes gave up was Romanov who was pretty expendable due to our depth at defense. This is very different compared to the Drouin trade where Bergevin gave up a key piece at a position where we had little depth and then proceeded to put Drouin in a no win situation by moving him to center.

 

[Frenchy]

Pure gold on La Poche Bleue, a random said Harris had more value than Reinbacher.

Just needed to say it.

That's what they said ? Really ? Pas fort

 

[donghabs98]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1825675874496360471

Man, if only we had Price now with this core. He truly never had this type of offense in front of him.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Why?

Auston Matthews promotes the greater good, by undermining the Leafs. From a strictly utilitarian perspective, his morality is impeccable.

You need to change your name to John Stuart Mill.

 

[donghabs98]

I’m not buying this “Montreal pressure could get to him”. He essentially got traded as a cap dump and will have no expectation to lead the team. I think it’s extremely optimistic to think he can go back to his 40 goal ways, but 30-30 could be realistic if healthy.

It's also hard to judge him on his time in Winnipeg and Columbus in terms of whether he can withstand the Montreal pressure. In Winnipeg he did seem to feed off the energy of the crowd but that locker room doesn't seem like a great atmosphere to be in. In Columbus, they were a pure mess on and off the ice and if you are a player who feeds off of crowd energy like Laine, then Columbus was a bad fit.

I think with proper leadership, a good locker room and a coach who knows how to handle offensive players, Laine is in a great position to bounce back here. There is a lot of pressure and spotlight in Montreal and it's up to the organization to prepare players for it, from all accounts so far, this management team is doing a good job at it.

 

[Frenchy]

I have feeling that's this trade will be Kovalev trade 2.0 !!

True , but my expectations are higher for yesterday's trade . I'm expecting better result from Laine that we got with Kovalev. I dont take anything away from the Kovy trade as it was highway robbery from us , i just expect even more from Laine

Hopefully it doesn't turn out like Drouin.

come on man , we got Laine for free

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

It's also hard to judge him on his time in Winnipeg and Columbus in terms of whether he can withstand the Montreal pressure. In Winnipeg he did seem to feed off the energy of the crowd but that locker room doesn't seem like a great atmosphere to be in. In Columbus, they were a pure mess on and off the ice and if you are a player who feeds off of crowd energy like Laine, then Columbus was a bad fit.

I think with proper leadership, a good locker room and a coach who knows how to handle offensive players, Laine is in a great position to bounce back here. There is a lot of pressure and spotlight in Montreal and it's up to the organization to prepare players for it, from all accounts so far, this management team is doing a good job at it.

He should be viewed as nothing more than a depth player right now. I expect 20 goals. Anything more is gravy. That's not to say the potential for star numbers doesn't exist - it absolutely does - but he's coming off injury and expectations should be low for this guy. The paycheck is going to put a target on his back and there's no doubt that some will get on him if he doesn't produce.

But... he's only got two years on his deal. We were paid to take him. The team will (hopefully) lower epxectations before the season starts. Hopefully that reduces some of the pressure. It's a much different situation than when we dealt McDonnaugh and Higgins for Gomez and took on his long expensive contract. That was absolutely brutal.

Low risk, high reward trade. Hugo was smart not to give up anything significant and we got paid to take him. Exactly as it should be. Now we just have to hope that he rediscovers his touch. If he can get to 30+ it's a huge win for us. Worst case scenario, he becomes another Monahan and we trade him for a first.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Why?

Auston Matthews promotes the greater good, by undermining the Leafs. From a strictly utilitarian perspective, his morality is impeccable.

Haha I actually thought this after I typed it. Like I hope he stays a leaf forever but man

 

[Pacciosoftie]

And the award for GM of the year goes to…

 

[LaP]

True , but my expectations are higher for yesterday's trade . I'm expecting better result from Laine that we got with Kovalev. I dont take anything away from the Kovy trade as it was highway robbery from us , i just expect even more from Laine

Expecting more than 25-35 goals and 65-85 points from Laine is kind of unfair expectation imo. The main difference between Laine and Kovalev is Laine is younger and could be able to sustain such production for more than 3 years if it works.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

True , but my expectations are higher for yesterday's trade . I'm expecting better result from Laine that we got with Kovalev. I dont take anything away from the Kovy trade as it was highway robbery from us , i just expect even more from Laine


come on man , we got Laine for free

Yeah Kovy was awesome but he was still hair pulling most of the time here. Funny how people seem to forget how frustrating he was. But it does show you how skill starved we’ve been for 30+ years

 

[calder candidate]

You're right. Totally forgot about those 2 years. Then why Hughes was so evasive about Vincent in the presser?

Not sure but MTL french Media will always try to inclus the french angle in any story, KH probably want to stop that in it track in this situation since Vincent there to coach the AHL team not having to answer question about Laine for the next 2 years +, KH made the trade he taking the responsibility, they did there homework so it is easy to assume that Vincent was consulted but there might actually be some legal issues to actually publically admitting getting insider info even if there isn't it is probably not a good look...

 

[Frenchy]

Expecting more than 25-35 goals and 65-85 points from Laine is kind of unfair expectation imo. The main difference between Laine and Kovalev is Laine is younger and could be able to sustain such production for more than 3 years if it works.

i'm sorry i dont agree . I think MSL will put him in a position to succeed and those numbers ^ are realistic . Better Coach , way better environment for laine to play hockey , i think he can do it .
I had my doubts a few weeks ago about The pressure he would have to play for the Habs , but i think St-Louis will make it work .

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

i'm sorry i dont agree . I think MSL will put him in a position to succeed and those numbers ^ are realistic . Better Coach , way better environment for laine to play hockey , i think he can do it .
I had my doubts a few weeks ago about The pressure he would have to play for the Habs , but i think St-Louis will make it work .

The injury makes things less predictable. We saw what happened last year with CC's production - his goals fell off a cliff from previous percentages.

There's a reason people were gunshy about trading for him. I really hope the team lowers expectations going into this season. Better to underpromise and overdeliver than the other way around.

He could absolutely be a 30-40 goal guy. He has the talent to do it and he'll be on a top six that's talented enough to help him. That's the upside. But I worry about high expectations and a hindered performance.

 

[Frenchy]

Haven’t checked out the mains… guessing Laine is washed and Montreal are idiots for taking a chance?

The main can say what they want , but we got it for free and we had room under the cap.
And even if it doesnt work he'll be gone in two years .