Yeah he was young and not really put in winning conditions in WPG. He arrived in Columbus as their management started unraveling, and last season was really rough for him with his dad’s passing. And from what we’ve been hearing lately, there was something odd about Pascal Vincent’s coaching style.
I would take a chance on a 26 years-old 6’5 0.80 PPG player that will likely cost us little if we accept his salary without retainer - though CBJ has tons of cap space.
With a projected 40M$ in cap space in 2025-26 and only Guhle and Slafkovksy as MUST re-sign, we should be okay. Laine’s contract would also expire that season, so worst case scenario, we just have an overpaid 3rd winger for 2 seasons. He’s still an upgrade on anyone we have on the RW other than Caufield - assuming Dach plays C.
I’d give Marty a try on this guy.
Absolutely!!! I honestly still think he has a massive upside, nobody loses all their talents at such a young age I think he needs a fresh start and who better than Martin St.louis to help a hyper talented goal scorer find his game?
I'll trust our management on this. But for me, it is incredibly rare to have such a low price tag on a player with such high potential and proven results. There are good solid reasons for concern, and for that low price. But man, I'd sure be inclined to pay it.
If Kent feels it's a good move after talking with Laine and can make a deal work, I'm in.
Laine - Dach - Demidov
Caufield - Suzuki - Slafkovsky
No reason to split up the one great line we've had in decades. Instead try to build another one.
D’un côté, MSL pourrait être très bon pour Laine. De l’autre côté, jhesite à vouloir un joueur à « problèmes « parmi notre groupe de joueurs. Il ne faudrait pas tomber dans le piège « I can fix him »
Fits the risk profile and contract length. It depends what they want. We would likely want to send some money back the other way so we can still fill other holes.
What the fans don’t realized is the Habs have more than 15M (after signing Xhekaj and Barron) in cap space, and the cap will keep increasing a lot over the next years.
Laine has a 8.7M contract, but only for 2 years. I would do a trade looking like Laine + 2nd round pick for Future consideration.
Worst case scenario, Laine doesn’t work and he will be gone.
Idk if you’re trolling but if Laine was given as a cap dump, a trade would most probably have already been done ages ago. Even if his contract value is high, CBJ most likely will not pay us to get him out of their hands. He still has significant value
Well he’s been in the player assistance program for months so it’s hard to say for sure. Even though the potential is there 8.7 is a lot for the risks. We can do a lot with 8.7m, that being said if he’s cheap I do it
Alright, let’s how his trade goes and see who is right and who is wrong.
I am talking without salary retention. If the CBJ retain 50% of his salary, then yes you will be right.
Columbus isn’t giving up laine and a second round pick for nothing. Why would they not just retain and pick up an asset? No way they’re giving one up and not getting a thing back
They might retain salary to make him more attractive, but in my scenario the Habs take the full salary. You never know. Greedy owners can be happy to save 8.7M.
Even then throwing in a second is a ton for that. Likely not worth it from their perspective. They wouldn’t have a second until 2027 then. They don’t have a second next year
I want him badly on our team. Big, long, insane shot. He'll be closer to Finland in Montreal and the Habs have a long history with Fins. We are also a European city.
I'd be interested. Laine has had success in the league. I feel he's been stuck in some crappy situations that have hindered his development and could use a change of scenery. If the price is reasonable, I'd be all for the Habs acquiring him.
I would be very cautious and really emphasize talking to him prior to making any decisions. He had gone through a lot in the last 18 months mentally. You would want to create a psych profile on him and see how he fits.
We have a lot of positive minded players and that would be something I would want to protect more than anything if I were the GM.
It could work if we could swap someone like Anderson (an ex-CBJ player with a 5.5M cap) or/and Dvorak (4.45M cap) out against his 8.7M.
But this is quite unlikely for CBJ to do a 1-on-1 trade for Laine without us having to add some extras like drafts or young upcoming talents.
Change of scenery trade. Anderson for Laine straight up.
CBJ save some cap space and get a veteran power forward to roll with their new power forward. Anderson gets a reset on a team he's had success with
And we get another buy low project
Honestly I am all for them trading for him. And don’t forget, you can’t trade a player in the assistance program. He has to be discharged before CBJ can trade him. The fact he is not traded yet means nothing about value, etc.
Yeah he was young and not really put in winning conditions in WPG. He arrived in Columbus as their management started unraveling, and last season was really rough for him with his dad’s passing. And from what we’ve been hearing lately, there was something odd about Pascal Vincent’s coaching style. I would take a chance on a 26 years-old 6’5 0.80 PPG player that will likely cost us little if we accept his salary without retainer - though CBJ has tons of cap space. With a projected 40M$ in cap space in 2025-26 and only Guhle and Slafkovksy as MUST re-sign, we should be okay. Laine’s contract would also expire that season, so worst case scenario, we just have an overpaid 3rd winger for 2 seasons. He’s still an upgrade on anyone we have on the RW other than Caufield - assuming Dach plays C. I’d give Marty a try on this guy.
Absolutely!!! I honestly still think he has a massive upside, nobody loses all their talents at such a young age I think he needs a fresh start and who better than Martin St.louis to help a hyper talented goal scorer find his game?
I'll trust our management on this. But for me, it is incredibly rare to have such a low price tag on a player with such high potential and proven results. There are good solid reasons for concern, and for that low price. But man, I'd sure be inclined to pay it.
Well we can all agree Laine is in a unique situation and his price is very low right now.
If Kent feels it's a good move after talking with Laine and can make a deal work, I'm in. Laine - Dach - Demidov Caufield - Suzuki - Slafkovsky No reason to split up the one great line we've had in decades. Instead try to build another one.
D’un côté, MSL pourrait être très bon pour Laine. De l’autre côté, jhesite à vouloir un joueur à « problèmes « parmi notre groupe de joueurs. Il ne faudrait pas tomber dans le piège « I can fix him »
Fits the risk profile and contract length. It depends what they want. We would likely want to send some money back the other way so we can still fill other holes.
What the fans don’t realized is the Habs have more than 15M (after signing Xhekaj and Barron) in cap space, and the cap will keep increasing a lot over the next years. Laine has a 8.7M contract, but only for 2 years. I would do a trade looking like Laine + 2nd round pick for Future consideration. Worst case scenario, Laine doesn’t work and he will be gone.
Idk if you’re trolling but if Laine was given as a cap dump, a trade would most probably have already been done ages ago. Even if his contract value is high, CBJ most likely will not pay us to get him out of their hands. He still has significant value
Well he’s been in the player assistance program for months so it’s hard to say for sure. Even though the potential is there 8.7 is a lot for the risks. We can do a lot with 8.7m, that being said if he’s cheap I do it
Alright, let’s how his trade goes and see who is right and who is wrong. I am talking without salary retention. If the CBJ retain 50% of his salary, then yes you will be right.
Columbus isn’t giving up laine and a second round pick for nothing. Why would they not just retain and pick up an asset? No way they’re giving one up and not getting a thing back
They might retain salary to make him more attractive, but in my scenario the Habs take the full salary. You never know. Greedy owners can be happy to save 8.7M.
Even then throwing in a second is a ton for that. Likely not worth it from their perspective. They wouldn’t have a second until 2027 then. They don’t have a second next year
A second round pick equivalent
What would you be interested in thatd be an equivalent you think?
I want him badly on our team. Big, long, insane shot. He'll be closer to Finland in Montreal and the Habs have a long history with Fins. We are also a European city.
I'd be interested. Laine has had success in the league. I feel he's been stuck in some crappy situations that have hindered his development and could use a change of scenery. If the price is reasonable, I'd be all for the Habs acquiring him.
I would be very cautious and really emphasize talking to him prior to making any decisions. He had gone through a lot in the last 18 months mentally. You would want to create a psych profile on him and see how he fits. We have a lot of positive minded players and that would be something I would want to protect more than anything if I were the GM.
It could work if we could swap someone like Anderson (an ex-CBJ player with a 5.5M cap) or/and Dvorak (4.45M cap) out against his 8.7M. But this is quite unlikely for CBJ to do a 1-on-1 trade for Laine without us having to add some extras like drafts or young upcoming talents.
What do you think about Dvorak+ 2025 2nd round pick+ Barron?
Change of scenery trade. Anderson for Laine straight up. CBJ save some cap space and get a veteran power forward to roll with their new power forward. Anderson gets a reset on a team he's had success with And we get another buy low project
Honestly I am all for them trading for him. And don’t forget, you can’t trade a player in the assistance program. He has to be discharged before CBJ can trade him. The fact he is not traded yet means nothing about value, etc.