Patrik Laine was cleared to return by doctors from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Friday after receiving help for the last five months and 28 days. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the news.
Laine, who is still recovering from shoulder surgery, first entered the program on January 28.
Good news on Patrik Laine: he is cleared to return from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Glad to see he is feeling better.
Laine is still recovering from shoulder surgery. As for his NHL future, teams interested in acquiring him were told they are free to contact Laine.…
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 26, 2024
“After careful consideration and discussion with my support network and the team, I have recognized the importance of prioritizing my mental health and well-being,” Laine said then on social media. “Hockey has been my passion and my life, but I have come to realize that in order to perform at my best, I need to take this time to focus on myself.”
The Finnish forward played in only 18 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2023-24 season, posting just nine points (6g, 3a) — well off his pace of 52 points (22g, 30a) in 55 games from the 2022-23 campaign.
The 26-year-old Laine, who has two years remaining on a four-year, $34.8 million deal ($8.70 AAV), is looking to move on from the Blue Jackets and begin anew with a different team. Laine’s contract, per Puck Pedia, holds a modified 10-team no-trade clause.
“Patrik’s made it clear that, even before all the changes this summer, he would like a fresh start someplace,” Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell told TSN 1050. “We will look at it when the time comes – which hopefully is very soon – all the options. Now, I can’t rule out any options, even returning here because it takes two teams to make a trade and if there’s not a trade that makes any sense to us, then we have to just deal with what reality is.
“[Laine’s agent] Andy Scott told him multiple times that we will make sure we look at everything and know the situation, and we know Patrik’s feelings and we can find the right fit, certainly we will do that. But, if not, we’ll have to just deal with it.”
The second-overall pick from the 2016 NHL Draft started his career with three consecutive 30-or-more goal seasons, including a career-high 44 with the Winnipeg Jets during the 2017-18 campaign. But he’s seen his effectiveness wane since then, managing only three 20-goal-plus seasons over the last five years as he’s struggled to stay on the ice.
According to Friedman, any NHL teams interested in acquiring Laine can contact him and his representation before determining how they’d like to proceed with the Blue Jackets.
One team that NHL.com’s Dan Rosen believes should be in the mix for Laine is the Washington Capitals, who recently got the remaining 50 percent of Evgeny Kuznetsov’s cap hit off their books next season due to a mutual contract termination between the Russian center and the Carolina Hurricanes.
Kuznetsov’s outright release gives the Capitals an additional $3.9 million to work with heading into the 2024-25 season with a further $5.75 million available if TJ Oshie finishes his career on long-term injured reserve and effectively retires.
Provided the NHL gains clarity on Laine’s playing status before the coming season, the Capitals should be in the mix to try to acquire him[.]
…
They’ve already added Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane. Both should be in the top-six mix. There’s ample cap space now to add to that group whether it’s someone like Laine through a trade with the Blue Jackets or another forward via a trade. The free agent market doesn’t house anybody of that ilk anymore.
However, after a thorough analysis of the Capitals’ cap situation, a possible Laine acquisition would be heavily determined by how much salary the Blue Jackets would be willing to retain — if another player/s goes the other way, and what Oshie decides to do. If Oshie’s playing days are done, the Capitals would start the season with $4.65 million in cap room while if he plays, the team would need to free up $1.1 million in cap space.
The Capitals were seemingly done for the summer when they introduced Chris Patrick as their new general manager.
“I don’t know if we have any money left (for me) to put a signature move on, but I think now, this is when the league is a little quiet,” Patrick said earlier in the month. “I think teams are trying to finish up whatever RFAs they have left. I think there’s 14 or 15 players that filed for arbitration, so they got to work through that stuff. And August gets pretty quiet. I think there’ll be some opportunities here and there for maybe some smaller things, but we’ll just kind of weigh them as they come in. And really, I don’t anticipate much until training camp, and we’ll see where we are.”
