NHL Rumors: Do Montreal Canadiens Have Any Kind Of Interest In Patrik Laine?

Some have suggested that the Montreal Canadiens are the best for Patrik Laine, but are they really that interested in him?

The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro: Eric Engels was asked about Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine and whether the Montreal Canadiens might be interested in Laine.

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Marinaro: “Do you believe there is any interest from the Canadians in Patrik Laine?”

Engels: “I would say very little. You know, obviously I’ve been a bit shy about this. I’m like laughing because, like, you know, Twitter has this new ‘for you’ feature, unfortunately, that puts you in that box right before you go to the people you follow.

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And, you know, things that have been pushed on me in the last couple of months, or at least a couple of weeks, actually, a lot, is, you know, a couple of people saying, you know, Canadians are Patrik Laine’s front runners.

And it’s like, I’m always laughing because now I don’t really work. I won’t, I won’t follow that, but at the end of the day, like, let’s be real about this situation. Patrick Laine is on the market for a reason. It’s not just because of the Players Assistance Program that he came out of now that teams get the chance to talk to him, talk to his agent, find out where he is, mentally, physically.

His play on the ice, other than, you know, putting up good goal numbers, which have obviously, decreased over the last few years, has been lacking in various departments. You want a fresh start. I understood that.

Would he be willing to accept it anywhere? We will find out. He has nine or 10 teams, no trades in his contract.

As for Montreal, I wonder, would he like to get out of the player assistance program and into this kind of spotlight? I don’t know. It depends on how many teams are willing to give him a chance. And I don’t know if the Montreal Canadiens are one of them. They feel they have an extremely healthy room. Whether or not they want to bring in someone like him, and what he brings to this stage of their development, is the question.

I understand that a lot of people look at it and say, ‘Okay, here’s a player’s skill, and the Canadians need goals.’ But he also comes with $8.7 million in cash and a real salary of $9.1 million.

And if the Canadians could consider taking the full weight of that, which they can do based on their cap situation, you would think that would come, if you see the way Kent Hughes has worked in the last few years, at a cost to Columbus, not a profit.

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I don’t think they’re offering all kinds of packages to get him and lead the race, quote, unquote.”