A tricky begin to the season for Montreal Canadiens winger Patrik Laine simply obtained even more durable. The staff introduced that he has undergone surgical procedure to restore a core muscle harm. Consequently, he’ll miss the following three to 4 months.
Each of Patrik Laine’s seasons in Montreal impacted by harm
That is Laine’s second season with Montreal after he was acquired from Columbus within the 2024 offseason. It’s additionally now the second straight season that he has suffered a big harm early on. Final season, a preseason knee harm price him a few months of motion, and this one might hold him out for twice as lengthy.
Whereas Laine obtained by coaching camp wholesome this time, it didn’t take lengthy for him to drop down the depth chart. Whereas he began the 12 months on Montreal’s second line, he was all the way down to fourth-line minutes at five-on-five inside a few weeks. Consequently, he was restricted to only one help by 5 video games whereas averaging simply 12:36 per evening, a profession low in that regard. He didn’t accompany the staff on its four-game Western street journey whereas getting a second opinion on his harm; clearly, that second opinion concurred with the primary with him present process surgical procedure quickly after.
Final season, Laine made an instantaneous influence when he returned to the lineup, tallying 15 power-play targets. In doing so, he was among the many league leaders in that regard regardless of lacking 29 video games whereas he helped Montreal’s energy play get nearer to the center of the pack. Nonetheless, his enjoying time and effectiveness waned down the stretch and into the playoffs, the place he was injured partway by their sequence in opposition to Washington.
Patrik Laine’s future earnings may very well be negatively affected
It is a contract 12 months for Laine, who carries a cap cost of $8.7M, tops amongst Canadiens forwards. It’s honest to say his hopes of a giant payday subsequent summer season have taken one other hit as he’ll now miss greater than half the season; that, coupled along with his struggles at full energy, don’t bode properly for him on the open market.
That mentioned, as a result of he ought to wind up lacking 100 days due to this harm and has greater than 400 profession NHL appearances, Laine must be eligible for a one-year contract with efficiency incentives subsequent summer season. That could be one of the best path to go for him, one that may enable him to maximise his compensation ought to he keep wholesome whereas offering the signing staff — be it Montreal or another person in free company — with much less danger in signing him.
For the Canadiens, since they’ve over $4M in cap area for the time being per PuckPedia, an LTIR placement wouldn’t make any sense for them. Since Laine is predicted to return this season, the utmost quantity of LTIR area they might amass is $3.82M, not his full cap cost so, barring a rash of additional accidents, don’t count on him to be moved to LTIR. As of but, the Canadiens haven’t moved him to common injured reserve though that’s merely a formality for every time they should open up a roster spot.
