“I don’t think Patrik Laine wants to leave Montreal.”

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
“I don’t think Patrik Laine wants to leave Montreal.”
Credit: NHL.com

The Patrik Laine situation is a hot potato for the Canadiens. Everyone knows it.

The player himself will not be playing before the trade deadline, and the Canadiens are doing everything they can to send him elsewhere for the rest of the 2025-2026 season.

Will it work? Who knows?

From what we learned yesterday, Laine's agentLaine's agent got the OK from the Canadiens to talk to other NHL teams to find common ground to facilitate a trade.

It's the right thing to do, under the circumstances.

But the fact remains that Laine himself is not exactly thrilled about the whole situation. Elliotte Friedman, who reports in his 32 Thoughts that Laine has asked to leave a city in the past, believes that this is not the case in Montreal.
The informant believes that the Finn does not want to leave Montreal. He thinks that the player really likes the city… but, obviously, that the fit is not there.

He and his wife have never hidden the fact that they love the city. And recently, his wife spoke publicly about how the trade deadline brings its share of stress.

But right now, a departure seems inevitable. Two healthy forwards (Zachary Bolduc and Joe Veleno) are ahead of Laine in the pecking order… and in the event of an injury, I'd rather see a guy like Samuel Blais called up as backup.

Kent Hughes knows that Laine no longer has a place in the city, and it's clear that the Canadiens want to make room. It remains to be seen which team will take the bait.
The trade deadline is exactly one week from today.


In a nutshell

– Yeah.

– Incredible.

— Must read.

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