Hockey

“The Habs still have payroll problems, we’ll see what happens with Patrik Laine.”
Félix Forget
“The Habs still have payroll problems, we’ll see what happens with Patrik Laine.”
Credit: Getty Images

As we saw last year, Patrik Laine is a special player. His ability to score on the powerplay is second to none on the Habs… but at 5-on-5, it's not always easy.You can tell he's putting in the effort this summer, and that's encouraging.

And in 2025-26, Laine will enter the final year of his contract, which pays him an average of $8.7 million a year. That's a hefty cap hit… but it's especially noteworthy in light of the fact that the Canadiens are currently over the salary cap.Many people expect Carey Price's contract to be traded in September, but right now it's still on the Habs books.

That's why it's interesting to note that last night, on Tony Marinaro's Sick Podcast, Eric Engels talked about the CH's powerplay… and he had this to say about Laine:

The CH still has payroll problems. We'll see what happens with Patrik Laine.

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Eric Engels

It's pretty peculiar that he mentioned this when the conversation wasn't even about Laine's salary in the first place… but mostly, because we know Engels is well connected to what's going on with the Habs.Does he know there's a chance of Laine being traded soon? Mathias Brunet also said earlier this summer that he felt the Habs were trading Laine right now… and when you look at all this, you have to wonder if the Finn will actually start the year in Montreal.

Once again, the “salary cap problems” will be solved if Price's contract is traded (which is likely to happen in September)… but that doesn't stop the Habs from trading Laine either, either as an alternative if they can't trade Price's contract, or to get more leeway.We'll have to keep an eye on this, but it's interesting to see Engels mention Laine's case when talking about the Habs' payroll problems. Because yes, it's also a way to solve the problem… especially since the Habs can facilitate a transaction by withholding salary.

'Overtime'

– Kaapo Kakko signs for three years with the Kraken.

– The Oilers are looking for another top-6 player.

– Weird story.

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