Patrik Laine: The message from the teams to him is clear

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Patrik Laine: The message from the teams to him is clear
Credit: Getty Images

Patrik Laine is still a free agent in the NHL at the moment.

And don't think it's because the Finnish player, who hasn't played in a year, wants to explore options outside the world's best league.

Emily Kaplan believes the former Canadiens player has no interest in playing in Europe.

But for now, the consensus is that interest in Laine is rather limited among the 32 teams in the Bettman league. That's putting it mildly.

There are teams that are interested. But they aren't interested enough to actually put pen to paper.

Yesterday, on “Early Trading,” Pierre LeBrun (TSN) brought up a team in the discussion that's been making the rounds quite a bit in recent months. Just talking about months of negotiations puts things into perspective…

We're talking about the Los Angeles Kings.

The Kings need help on the power play (actually, they need help in general), and we know that's Laine's specialty, thanks to his devastating shot. Except he's not signed…

If people think Laine can't help a bad team (one win this year) with a poor power play—and with enough cap space to sign him at the minimum salary—who's going to sign him?

That's the question.

We hope he gets the chance to bounce back and prove himself. But right now, no one seems willing to make room for a player who barely saw any ice time in 2025–2026. The message from all 32 teams is clear.


In a nutshell

– Wow.

– Untouchables in Utah.

– Makes sense.

– Will he win?

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