One rival of the New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division might be trading a star player this offseason. Additionally, two other Rangers’ rivals may show significant interest in trading for Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Trade rumors are circulating since Laine was cleared to return from the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance Program on Friday. The six-time 20-goal scorer had been in the program since January for mental health treatment. Laine entered the program right before he was set to return from a fractured clavicle sustained in December. He recorded six goals and nine points in 18 games last season before the injury and requested a trade from the last-place Blue Jackets this offseason.
With Laine out of the program, new Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell can now entertain trade offers, and interested teams can speak with Laine (with Columbus’ permission). Waddell confirmed that the Blue Jackets would explore potential deals for the 26-year-old forward, who has missed 107 games over the past three seasons.
“Patrik’s made it clear that, even before all the changes this summer, he would like a fresh start someplace,” Waddell told First Up on TSN 1050 Thursday. “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.”
The reality might be that it’s very difficult to trade Laine this late in the offseason when most teams have set their rosters or at least have done so at the high end.
Any team that acquires Laine would have him for two seasons at a salary cap hit of $8.7 million. He is the third-highest paid Blue Jackets player behind Johnny Gaudreau ($9.75 million) and Zach Werenski ($9.58 million). To make a deal at this late juncture of the offseason, the Blue Jackets likely would have to retain half of his salary, which is something they can afford to do since they’re projected to have nearly $11 million in cap space.
Waddell also indicated he wants at least one player in return that can step into Columbus’ NHL lineup immediately.
Now the question is what’s a realistic destination for Laine, who scored an NHL career-high 44 goals with the Winnipeg Jets in 2017-18 and 30 the following season? He has scored 204 goals and has 388 points in 480 NHL games. When healthy, Laine is a difference-maker, so there are teams that would benefit from taking a chance on him.
Since Laine is a natural right wing, he’d be an intriguing, though unaffordable, fit for the Rangers, who are likely looking to Reilly Smith to address their issues on a line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad.
Assuming RFA defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who has an Aug. 2 salary arbitration hearing scheduled, gets around $4 million annually, that would leave the Rangers with $1.1 million in cap space. Even if New York included Kaapo Kakko in a possible trade with Columbus, the Rangers still couldn’t afford even half of Laine’s salary.
So, the Rangers, even if interested, wouldn’t appear to be a fit to make a Laine trade unless general manager Chris Drury gets very creative.
2 Rangers rivals could be fits to trade for Patrik Laine
Laine is likely to be traded soon. It’s hard to imagine Waddell burdening new coach Dean Evason with a dissatisfied player who has requested a trade. Even if the Rangers are no longer in the running for Laine, he could still stay within the Metropolitan Division.
The Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals are potential destinations. Both teams recently cleared $3.9 million off their cap when the Hurricanes terminated Evgeny Kuznetsov’s contract last week (they shared his cap hit after a trade last season).
The Hurricanes have nearly $7 million in cap space remaining, and the Capitals can place Nicklas Backstrom and his $9.2 million cap hit on LTIR to make room.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes seem solid with Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas as their top two right wings. Jarvis increased his goal total from 14 to 33 last season, while Necas followed up his 28-goal campaign in 2022-23 with 24 goals last season. Necas, like Lindgren, had an arbitration hearing scheduled but signed a two-year, $13 million contract before the hearing on Monday, reducing Carolina’s cap space and complicating a potential Laine trade.
However, there’s an interesting development: Necas, like Laine, has requested a trade. New Carolina GM Eric Tulsky might want to move an unhappy yet productive player and consider a Laine trade, unless Necas changes his stance after securing his new contract.
Additionally, the Waddell factor comes into play. Don Waddell, who was the Hurricanes’ general manager for the past six seasons before departing in May, played a significant role in building a team that made six consecutive playoff appearances. His deep knowledge of the Carolina organization could facilitate a trade, should the Hurricanes show interest in Laine.
Washington Capitals
The Capitals were outscored by 37 goals during the 2023-24 regular season. However, after being swept by the Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they strengthened their offense by trading for Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane this offseason.
Adding Laine could significantly enhance the Capitals’ lineup even further. Imagine a top line of Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and Laine. Alternatively, if that’s too many shooters on one line, Laine could team up with Dubois on the second line, potentially revitalizing both players.
The Capitals have already made several strong moves this offseason, including trading for defenseman Jakob Chychrun and goalie Logan Thompson, and signing defenseman Matt Roy. They should keep pushing forward and go all in to find a way to trade for Laine.
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