Let’s start by saying things everyone already knows:

The Montreal Canadiens were looking to add a top 6 forward to help them get better results sooner in their rebuild.

Kent Hughes is more than willing to bet on talented players who seem desperate for a fresh start.

By acquiring the former 2nd overall pick in the 2016 draft, Kent Hughes is doubling down on a strategy that’s been mostly praised by the fanbase. Patrik Laine is a 6”5, 215 pounds player with star level potential who’s only 26 years old. To be able to acquire such a talent for a very reasonable cost in Jordan Harris (who’s shockingly only 2 years younger) is the kind of opportunity that’s impossible to pass.

I had to read the trade announcement a few times to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. Columbus actually added a 2nd rounder in 2026 as a sweetener in the trade. Considering the amount of success expected of Columbus in the next two years, that 2nd round pick is looking to be earlier than later in the round, which is just the cherry on top of an already pretty sweet looking sundae.

Now of course, there’s also a reason Montreal was able to pull off such a trade as there are certainly risks involved with Laine. First of all, Laine has had significant injury issues in the past 4 seasons, barely playing over 50% of the games over that span.

We’re also talking about a player who entered the NHL’s players assistance program in January and got out at the end of July, which explains why the trade happened in August and not before.

Laine still has 2 years left at a 8.9M cap hit, which probably limited the number of suitors. Don Waddel even claimed Montreal was the only team willing to accept the whole contract, which seemed important for Columbus’s ownership. Fortunately for the Canadiens, they have the cap space and the term isn’t long enough for it to really be a concern for them.

Once we’ve said all that, I think Habs fans can rejoice over the acquisition because the risk remains somewhat limited with the length of the contract while it also raises the “upside” of their next season significantly.

We’re talking about a team that finished in the bottom tier of the standings (28th) and at a similar rank for goal scored (26th). They’ve also had one of the worst powerplays (26th last season) in the league for a while now. Laine, as a pure goal scorer and a powerplay specialist will surely help in all of these categories.

We already knew we were adding a fully recovered Kirby Dach as our 2nd line centre. If he remains healthy, he’s going to contribute significantly to the team’s success.

We’re now increasing the importance of the “needs to remain healthy” department by adding Patrik Laine and his own issues to the equation.

If both players remain healthy and play to their potential, we’re not talking about a team that’s looking to simply improve, we’re looking at a team with an upside of actual playoff aspirations.

Now granted, that’s a pretty big IF considering the history of both players. But that’s what upside is. It’s the best case scenario. I bet the players on the team are psyched with the upcoming season to see if that potential can actually happen.

And for the first time since 2021, I think the fans are also more than just curious of what this team can achieve on the ice, with the most optimistic of us seeing the playoffs as a possibility… knowing full well that the best version of this rebuild is still a few years away.

Thank you all for reading and have a nice day.

Hugo Brossoit (Scabeh)

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