Some have suggested the Montreal Canadiens are the front-runners for Patrik Laine, but do they really have that much interest in him?
The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro: Eric Engels when asked about Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine and if the Montreal Canadiens would have any interest in Laine.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Marinaro: “Do you believe that there is any kind of interest from the Canadians towards Patrik Laine?”
Engels: “I’d say it’s quite minimal. You know, I’ve obviously poked around on this. I’m kind of laughing because, like, you know, Twitter has this new ‘for you’ feature that, unfortunately, puts you in that box right away before you have to go to the people you’re following.
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And, you know, stuff that’s been pushed to me over the last couple months, or at least couple weeks, actually, intensely, is, you know, a couple people saying, you know, the Canadians are front runners for Patrik Laine.
And it’s just like, I’m sitting back laughing because I’m not really working right now. I’m not gonna, not gonna go after that, but at the end of the day, like, let’s be real about this situation. Patrick Laine is on the market for a reason. It’s not just because of the Players Assistance Program, which he’s come out of and now teams have the opportunity to speak to him, speak to his agent, find out where he’s at, mentally, physically.
His play on the ice, aside from, you know, putting up good goal numbers, which obviously, have diminished over the last couple years, it just has been lacking in different departments. He wants a new start. I could understand that.
Would he be willing to accept it anywhere? We’ll find out. He’s got a nine or 10-team, no-trade clause in his contract.
As far as Montreal is concerned, I wonder, would he want to jump out of the Players Assistance Program and into this type of spotlight? I don’t know. It depends on how many teams are willing to give him an opportunity. And I don’t know that the Montreal Canadiens are one of them. They feel they have an extremely healthy room. Whether or not they’d want to incorporate somebody like him, and what he’s coming with into it at this juncture of their development, is a question.
I understand a lot of people look at it and say, ‘Okay, here’s the potential of the player, and the Canadians need scoring.’ But he also comes with the $8.7 million cap charge and a $9.1 million actual salary.
And if the Canadians were to even consider taking on the full weight of that, which they could do based on their cap situation, you would think that would be coming, if you see the way Kent Hughes has been operating for the last few years, with a cost to Columbus, not a benefit.
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I don’t think they’re offering up all kinds of packages to get him and leading the race, quote, unquote.”
