For the first time since in the Golden Knight’s 7 year existence you can make the case that this is the first time the team hasn’t improved on the roster going into a new season.
After the team lost key forwards Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson during the NHL free-agent period earlier this month the Knights weren’t able to pull off the usual big star-studded acquisition that fans have been accustomed to in the past. Instead, Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon made smaller moves, taking a flier on former Buffalo Sabre Victor Olofsson on a one-year deal and acquiring 22 year-old Alexander Holtz from the New Jersey Devils in a draft day trade.
Related: Knights Will Need Big Contributions From Victor Olofsson, Alexander Holtz To Replace Lost Production.
Aside from those two moves, the only other forwards the Knights added this off-season were depth forwards in Zach Aston-Reese and Tanner Laczynski. There is one more forward who can move the needle that could be on the move soon that would help recoup the goals lost by Marchessault’s departure. Patrik Laine.
Laine, 26, by all accounts had a disastrous season last year for the Blue Jackets. Laine only appeared in 18 games last season after fighting through some injuries during October and November before fracturing his clavicle in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 14th. Laine was reported to have a set-back on January 27th before it being announced the next day that Laine would be entering the NHL’s player assistance program. Laine ended up missing the rest of the season.
Fast forward to three days ago on July 26th when it was announced that Laine has cleared the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program and is ready to return to action for this coming season. Now that Laine is eligible to return, it is expected the Laine will be traded before training camps open in September. Blue Jackets’ new GM Don Waddell spoke with the media last week and gave a update on where things stand on Laine’s future.
“We will look at when the time comes, which hopefully is very soon, all the options. I can’t rule out any options even returning here, because it takes two teams and two parties to make a trade, and if there’s not a trade that makes any sense to us, then we have to just deal with what reality is. Andy Scott (Laine’s Agent) told him multiple times that we will make sure that we look at everything and know the situation, we know Patrik’s feelings, and if we can find the right fit, certainly we will do that, but if not, we’ll have to just deal with it.”
When it comes to the Knights making a move for Laine it becomes complicated. The Knights will only have a little over $1M of cap space with goaltender Robin Lehner being on LTIR. Laine carries a cap hit of $8.7M for two more seasons. In order for the Knights to fit Laine under the cap, the Blue Jackets would have to retain a portion of Laine’s contract and the Knights would still have to send back a decent sized salary in the move.
The Knights could send defenseman Shea Theodore the other way who is the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $5.2M. While losing Theodore would hurt, the Knights could give a bigger role to the 25 year-old Nicolas Hague and would still have stalwarts Alex Pietrangelo and Noah Hanifin, with solid defenders in Zach Whitecloud and Brayden McNabb behind them.
The other potential trade option in this hypothetical deal for Laine, is original Golden Knight misfit in William Karlsson. Karlsson was a member of the Blue Jackets from 2014-2017 before being selected by the Knights in the expansion draft during the summer of 2017. While there is no doubt that Karlsson is a big part of the Knights offense, the Knights also have Jack Eichel, Tomas Hertl and Nicolas Roy at the center ice position, with Ivan Barbashev also capable of playing center. The Knights could deal Karlsson from a position of strength to acquire Laine. The move would allow Vegas to get stronger on the wings and use Eichel-Hertl-Roy down the middle as their top three centers.
While the move for Laine is unlikely for Vegas, there are paths to make it work if Kelly McCrimmon was inclined to do so. Acquiring Laine could be viewed as a risk with his recent struggles off the ice and recent injury history but there is no denying his skill. Laine owns a deadly release and has a 44 goal season to his name. Laine is also just two seasons removed from a point-per-game season when he scored 56 points in 56 games for Columbus during the Covid shortened season in 21-22.
