Columbus Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason and GM Don Waddell on their philosophy
Don Waddell, general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, introduces new head coach Dean Evason during a press conference at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets have granted Patrik Laine’s wish.
The disgruntled Finnish forward was traded to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday along with a 2026 second-round pick in exchange for defenseman Jordan Harris, completing a process that began on June 13 with Laine’s transfer request to Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell via agent Andy Scott.
Laine, 26, spent parts of four seasons with the Blue Jackets, who acquired him along with Jack Roslovic from the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 23, 2021. The Jets received center Pierre-Luc Dubois and a 2022 third-round pick, which they used to select forward Danil Zhilkin from the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets still face stumbling blocks in the transfer of Patrik Laine
Since that trade, all three NHL players involved have been traded again – including Dubois twice more, and Columbus-born Roslovic was traded to the New York Rangers at the March trade deadline. Zhilkin is still with the Jets, but has a long way to go after finishing his first professional season with just two goals, five assists and seven points in 44 games as an AHL rookie with the Manitoba Moose.
Laine played 174 games for the Blue Jackets over parts of four seasons, recording 64 goals, 74 assists, 138 points and a -58 plus-minus rating while playing predominantly on the first line of attack and the first power play unit. After averaging nearly a point per game in his first two seasons in Columbus, Laine never reached his peak last season. An early experiment to see if he could play first line midfield failed, and he finished the season just 6-3-9 in 18 games while battling two injuries (concussion, broken collarbone) that preceded his entry into the NHL/NHL Players’ Association relief program in January.
Laine, who was selected second in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft, missed a game for the first time in his career because he was unable to play due to illness.
Columbus Blue Jackets will take a percentage of Patrik Laine’s salary
One of Waddell’s priorities in trading Laine was to find the best value package that did not require the Blue Jackets to pay 50% of Laine’s remaining salary in the final two years of his $8.7 million contract, which violates the NHL salary cap.
According to the NHL’s current collective bargaining agreement with the NHLPA, teams can retain up to half of a player’s salary when they trade him, which in Laine’s case would have been a whopping $4.35 million for two seasons. That was too much for Waddell, which is why the trade didn’t happen sooner.
Instead, the Blue Jackets will retain $x.xx million per season in salary cap space over the next two years. Not retaining 50% may have limited the Jackets’ return, but the salary cap savings could prove beneficial to Waddell down the road.
Patrik Laine struggled with numerous injuries and absences at the Columbus Blue Jackets
The main reason Laine is no longer a forward for the Blue Jackets was his inability to stay in the lineup.
Before arriving in 2021, he battled an unspecified upper-body injury in Winnipeg that delayed his debut in Columbus by about three weeks, and that was just the beginning of a four-year stretch of health issues. The following season (2021-22), Laine missed two months with an oblique strain that coincided with the unexpected death of his father in Finland, and then a back problem forced him out of the lineup in April of that same season.
Laine signed his four-year contract extension the following offseason after the Blue Jackets surprised the NHL by signing Johnny Gaudreau. However, their on-ice chemistry was affected by two more injuries to Laine early in the next season. The first was an elbow sprain sustained in the second period of the season opener in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the second was a high ankle sprain sustained after his return.
Laine also missed some time with a Covid-19 infection before missing the last month with a strained triceps. Last season, Laine suffered a concussion from an elbow to the head from Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson on Oct. 20 in Columbus. His return from that injury was halted in early December by a broken collarbone he suffered in Toronto when he tripped and crashed into the boards.
While recovering from that game, Laine left the Jackets’ road trip in late January while they were in Calgary and entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program for undisclosed reasons. He missed the rest of the season and remained in the program until late July.
In total, Laine missed 123 of the Blue Jackets’ 297 games after his trade to Columbus, an absence rate of 41.4% due to 10 different reasons. This largely explains why the Blue Jackets granted Laine’s request for a new NHL home this summer.
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