Rumor: The All Encompassing Patrik Laine Thread (it’s happening!!)

[le_sean]

[Habs fans when faced with the possibility of having to root for a player who sought treatment for mental health issues] Hmm, so what do we think, does he flagrantly abuse the demon rum, crack cocaine, black tar heroin, or prescription stimulants?

More like Habs fans realizing he’s already needed help in a market that doesn’t even know hockey exists so are questioning how he’d deal with being criticized every day of his life.

 

[waitin425]

A lot of hot takes on addiction and mental health on here. Par for the course when it comes to opinions on a topic.

None of us know how he will handle the pressure of Montreal. Getting the help he has needed may bring him back stronger than before. More appreciative of the gift he's been given. Determined to prove doubters wrong.

He has been paid millions. If his issues were so bad, he could walk away from the sport and never need a thing again in his life. Maybe if he comes back...it is actually because he loves the sport.

Is it something to consider.....absolutely.....but we could do our due diligence for that.

"Make a play for Laine"

 

[TesseractPrice]

Laine is an exciting target, that's for sure. He's also the player the most shrouded in mystery in a long, long time. This is what makes the fans and pundits completely unable to assess the situation

From his value in a trade, to his physical health, to his mental health, nobody who's not an insider really knows a thing

I can't say if I'd want the Habs to make a move or not without stating hypothetical situations about him and assessing from there if I'd want the Habs to get him and for how much. Basically a bunch of IF... THEN

This discussion is people projecting their assumptions on the unknown canvas of attributes that Laine is. It becomes a discussion on if the rebuild should be either conservative/methodical or proactive/opportunistic

 

[le_sean]

A lot of hot takes on addiction and mental health on here. Par for the course when it comes to opinions on a topic.

None of us know how he will handle the pressure of Montreal. Getting the help he has needed may bring him back stronger than before. More appreciative of the gift he's been given. Determined to prove doubters wrong.

He has been paid millions. If his issues were so bad, he could walk away from the sport and never need a thing again in his life. Maybe if he comes back...it is actually because he loves the sport.

Is it something to consider.....absolutely.....but we could do our due diligence for that.

"Make a play for Laine"

Or he could be like Price and Drouin, our own examples of players needing time off. Price never came back. Drouin had to be traded.

 

[Shutdown]

Or he could be like Price and Drouin, our own examples of players needing time off. Price never came back. Drouin had to be traded.

Price never came back because his knee has the structural integrity of a montreal road

 

[Aurinko]

Laine is an exciting target, that's for sure. He's also the player the most shrouded in mystery in a long, long time. This is what makes the fans and pundits completely unable to assess the situation

From his value in a trade, to his physical health, to his mental health, nobody who's not an insider really knows a thing

I can't say if I'd want the Habs to make a move or not without stating hypothetical situations about him and assessing from there if I'd want the Habs to get him and for how much. Basically a bunch of IF... THEN

This discussion is people projecting their assumptions on the unknown canvas of attributes that Laine is

Laine has been a good OVERALL player the last couple years. 50% retention should make any team interested in his return.

 

[le_sean]

Price never came back because his knee has the structural integrity of a montreal road

Both can be true. Don’t think the will to train hard to get back and overcome another surgery was really there. At least as a full-time player.

 

[Tyson]

Harder to land a guy midseason

Yep, these types of deals are done in the off season.

 

[ReHabs]

If only everyone was a saint like you

You don’t need to be a saint to know better than to use someone’s participation in mental health assistance as a cudgel against them.

What do you mean? Rehabs is the literal definition of fair and objective when it comes to our players.

If you find me making a single personal attack or character assassination of any player I’ll delete my account right here and now.

 

[CanadienShark]

So many people wanted to be rid of Lehkonen too, I don't really care.

My simplest rule of thumb is, if reputable beat writers from other markets mention a player as a trade target and not as a cap dump or waiver claim, then that player probably isn't the kind that every team has. Barron and Xhekaj fit that bill, Struble and Harris do not.

Xhekaj has been less effective than Barron in the NHL, and he still has value because he's a big, physical D with good tools. Barron has value because he's a RD with good size, speed and tools. Not every team has them. And while I don't think Barron is necessarily all that valuable, Considering Montreal has zero RD who have been very good in the NHL, I'm not all that interested in seeing them move one for a gamble that they may not even need. And I'm in favour of Montreal acquiring Laine.

That's fair that you'd rather keep Barron, but he (at this point) doesn't really add any positive value to the team. I hope he does.

Going back to Laine, this whole conversation started when I said we don't have pieces that would fit Columbus's needs.

 

[Andrei79]

A lot of hot takes on addiction and mental health on here. Par for the course when it comes to opinions on a topic.

None of us know how he will handle the pressure of Montreal. Getting the help he has needed may bring him back stronger than before. More appreciative of the gift he's been given. Determined to prove doubters wrong.

He has been paid millions. If his issues were so bad, he could walk away from the sport and never need a thing again in his life. Maybe if he comes back...it is actually because he loves the sport.

Is it something to consider.....absolutely.....but we could do our due diligence for that.

"Make a play for Laine"

Yes, facing adversity and stressful life situations can positively impact resiliency, but generally previous mental health issues are predictors of future mental health issues, not of resiliency. This isn't a general rule, but people who are worried about what playing in this market could do to a player who just lived through a very difficult period have legitimate concerns. This market has harmed players in the past. Just look at what happened to Drouin and Gomez. This is without mentioning there are aspects of Laines game that might not make him the right fit. I'm going to hedge my opinion with what I'll say, however I believe it to be true, if they do want to acquire Laine, they really need to thoroughly do their due diligence.

 

[Yoor]

More like Habs fans realizing he’s already needed help in a market that doesn’t even know hockey exists so are questioning how he’d deal with being criticized every day of his life.

So you are assuming that it has to do with the fans and media criticizing him in Columbus? As you said it isn't a great hockey market and I for one-aside from the fact that he lost his father not too long ago-think this may actually be a contributing factor to his mental health decline. Of course like you, I am speculating, but think about it for a second....Imagine playing hockey your entire life and for the most part being a dominant player-then ending up in Columbus of all places...then your dad dies...then you get depressed and there isn't even a thriving market to play in to try and motivate you to get back to it. Money isn't always the greatest motivator....

But I digress...time will tell as it always does.

 

[le_sean]

So you are assuming that it has to do with the fans and media criticizing him in Columbus? As you said it isn't a great hockey market and I for one-aside from the fact that he lost his father not too long ago-think this may actually be a contributing factor to his mental health decline. Of course like you, I am speculating, but think about it for a second....Imagine playing hockey your entire life and for the most part being a dominant player-then ending up in Columbus of all places...then your dad dies...then you get depressed and there isn't even a thriving market to play in to try and motivate you to get back to it. Money isn't always the greatest motivator....

But I digress...time will tell as it always does.

I’m not saying it’s because of that. I’m saying it’s happening despite playing in relative obscurity. Then he comes to a market that has microphones in his face and questions everytime he doesn’t score a goal.

I mean look at Michael Hage. Gets drafted and every second question is about his father. He’s not in a pressure situation, he’s just a prospect. Laine comes here making $9m per year with the expectation of getting 40 goals. It wouldn’t be easy.

 

[26Mats]

I’m not saying it’s because of that. I’m saying it’s happening despite playing in relative obscurity. Then he comes to a market that has microphones in his face and questions everytime he doesn’t score a goal.

I mean look at Michael Hage. Gets drafted and every second question is about his father. He’s not in a pressure situation, he’s just a prospect. Laine comes here making $9m per year with the expectation of getting 40 goals. It wouldn’t be easy.

I would suspect if Hughes did want to bring him in (which I'm not sure he does) he would bring him in with retention to bring his salary to 7.5M or less. That fits the salary structure of the team and also puts less pressure on Laine.

 

[Captain Mountain]

That's fair that you'd rather keep Barron, but he (at this point) doesn't really add any positive value to the team. I hope he does.

Going back to Laine, this whole conversation started when I said we don't have pieces that would fit Columbus's needs.

I'm not sure what you mean by positive value, but if Barron doesn't offer positive value, I'd also argue that Xhekaj, Newhook and Dach don't either (due to injury, usage or impact). Slafkovsky also didn't offer any positive value in 2022, but definitely did last season. Montreal's rebuilding, the hope is that he can in the future.

As for Laine, it depends on how realistic we are, but Montreal absolutely has pieces Columbus would want. They clearly want a more two-way LD with some size who can play higher in the lineup. Montreal has Guhle (who definitely is not available in any trade centered around Laine). They'd also be interested in Xhekaj (who Montreal probably doesn't want to move). They'd probably be intrigued by Struble, but not nearly enough to have the trade center around him.

But the real question in the event that Montreal is interested in Laine (beyond if Laine is ok with a Montreal), is how much of a market is there for him and what will Columbus be willing to do to make a trade?

Because from Waddell's comments, it doesn't sound like Columbus wants to retain a ton and it doesn't sound like there's significant interest in him from other teams. Montreal's interest should be based on being able leverage their ability to absorb the cap hit (8.7 mil for 2 seasons) and real salary (2 mil in bonuses which may have been paid and 7.1 mil in salary this season, 2 mil in bonuses and 7.1 mil in salary next). We've seen Montreal leverage their cap space AND ability to spend in each of the last two offseasons even when other teams have theoritcally been able to make the same kind of moves (without going into LTIR). Its not the flat cap era anymore, but that doesn't mean every team with cap space wants to spend real money to the degree Montreal has been willing to.

 

[habbubba]

Laine with retention is more interesting than taking the full hit, but it would still be a sizable hit and so many questions surrounding him. Would have preferred just getting Sprong for a million and he'll get you 20 playing limited TOI. He would have looked good with Dach.

 

[Fenris]

I’m surprised no one mentioned that if we want to do due diligence on Laine, we have someone who should be able to provide us with a pretty good (if not impartial) insight into him: His last coach. If Vincent were to see him as recoverable, after all that went on last year, that could incite Hughes to act.

 

[CanadienShark]

I'm not sure what you mean by positive value, but if Barron doesn't offer positive value, I'd also argue that Xhekaj, Newhook and Dach don't either (due to injury, usage or impact). Slafkovsky also didn't offer any positive value in 2022, but definitely did last season. Montreal's rebuilding, the hope is that he can in the future.

As for Laine, it depends on how realistic we are, but Montreal absolutely has pieces Columbus would want. They clearly want a more two-way LD with some size who can play higher in the lineup. Montreal has Guhle (who definitely is not available in any trade centered around Laine). They'd also be interested in Xhekaj (who Montreal probably doesn't want to move). They'd probably be intrigued by Struble, but not nearly enough to have the trade center around him.

But the real question in the event that Montreal is interested in Laine (beyond if Laine is ok with a Montreal), is how much of a market is there for him and what will Columbus be willing to do to make a trade?

Because from Waddell's comments, it doesn't sound like Columbus wants to retain a ton and it doesn't sound like there's significant interest in him from other teams. Montreal's interest should be based on being able leverage their ability to absorb the cap hit (8.7 mil for 2 seasons) and real salary (2 mil in bonuses which may have been paid and 7.1 mil in salary this season, 2 mil in bonuses and 7.1 mil in salary next). We've seen Montreal leverage their cap space AND ability to spend in each of the last two offseasons even when other teams have theoritcally been able to make the same kind of moves (without going into LTIR). Its not the flat cap era anymore, but that doesn't mean every team with cap space wants to spend real money to the degree Montreal has been willing to.

Xhekaj, sure. Newhook absolutely has value. Dach, when healthy, obviously does too. I'm not sure why you brought those two into it. Xhekaj wouldn't be who Columbus wants either, because he doesn't fit their actual need. You keep bringing up points that aren't relevant to the point I made. Guhle is the only guy we have that fits their need and for obvious reasons there's no chance we'd trade him in a deal for Laine. We simply aren't good trade partners.

 

[Beer and Chips]

And maybe he has no interest in Montreal so it doesn't matter anyway, lol.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

And maybe he has no interest in Montreal so it doesn't matter anyway, lol.

I'm surprised we've heard pretty much nothing about who is interested/where he'd be willing to go.

 

[salbutera]

There are only so many tradable assets.

I don’t see Jets willing to trade McGroarty for any of the assets it will take to acquire Laine

McGroarty will cost a higher end ELC prospect vs Laine the likes of Barron / Harris as part of the package

 

[Deus ex machina]

I'm surprised we've heard pretty much nothing about who is interested/where he'd be willing to go.

Waddell told The Colombus dispatch that the market is slow and only one team has reached out so far to express an interest in Laine.

Someone else already posted this but it seems everyone missed it, or chose to ignore it...lol

That's why we haven't heard anything besides made up rumors and speculations.

 

[ReHabs]

I’m surprised no one mentioned that if we want to do due diligence on Laine, we have someone who should be able to provide us with a pretty good (if not impartial) insight into him: His last coach. If Vincent were to see him as recoverable, after all that went on last year, that could incite Hughes to act.

Wow excellent point

If they don’t pay for Laine it’ll probably be for the right reasons. In fact whatever play they make on Laine will be as informed as possible.

 

[CHwest]

Pezzeta and Anderson, get it done.

 

[dinodebino]

Love this. Laine is the multiverse MCU version of the Sundin and PLD threads. I need to find the 50’s universe.