NHL Trade Grades for Montreal Canadiens-Columbus Blue Jackets Patrik Laine Deal

The Patrik Laine era with the Columbus Blue Jackets officially ended Monday after two-and-a-half up-and-down seasons.

The Blue Jackets traded Laine, (as well as his entire remaining contract at $8.7 million per season over the next two years, according to SportsNet's Elliotte Friedman) and a 2026 second-round draft pick, to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Jordan Harris.

It gives Laine the fresh start he was seeking, Columbus gets some much-needed salary-cap flexibility and an NHL defender, and Montreal gets a potential star who could accelerate its rebuild.

Let's break it down and hand out some trade grades.

Montreal Canadiens

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MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 19: The newly appointed General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens Kent Hughes addresses the media at Centre Bell on January 19, 2022 in Montreal, Canada. Kent Hughes becomes the 18th general manager in franchise history. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Everything about this trade seems like a slam dunk for the Canadiens.

First, they had the salary-cap flexibility to take on Laine's contract and the need for another potential impact scorer. With Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky, there is a very strong core of young talent here at the top of the lineup. But they need help. They need help in the short term if they want to take any sort of a step forward in their rebuild, and they need help for the long term if they are going to eventually become a championship contender.

Even though Laine has been in the league for nearly a decade, he is still only 26 years old and is still very much in the prime of his career.

While he has not quite become the superstar the Winnipeg Jets were hoping for when he was the No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft, he is still a dangerous goal-scorer.

Does he have some issues on the defensive side of the puck? He might. Is he a complete 200-foot player who you build an entire team around? Probably not.

But there is still something to be said for having a guy with his shot and his finishing ability on your top line.

Even during his "down" years in Columbus, he still scored 64 goals in 174 games. That is a 30-goal pace over 82 games.

And those were "down" years and "disappointing" years for him.

If he is healthy and gets put into the right situation where he can just focus on offense, there is reason to believe he can still be a potential 40-goal scorer.

On top of that, the Canadiens also picked up a 2026 second-round pick as part of the trade.

Maybe Laine doesn't pan out as hoped. Maybe this is simply the player he is and is going to be. But even if that is the case, it is a worthwhile risk. The Canadiens had the cap space. It did not cost them a premium prospect or draft pick. They gained an additional pick on top of that. An easy move to make and a perfect fit.

Montreal Grade: A

Columbus Blue Jackets

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COLUMBUS, OHIO - NOVEMBER 22: Patrik Laine #29 of the Columbus Blue Jackets skates with the puck as Kevin Korchinski #55 of the Chicago Blackhawks defends during the first period of a game at Nationwide Arena on November 22, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Ben Jackson/NHLI via Getty Images)

This was one of new general manager Don Waddell's first major moves since taking over the hockey operation in Columbus, and he was not dealing from a position of strength.

Everybody in the league knew Laine wanted out.

Laine also has a significant salary-cap number at $8.7 million for the next two seasons and is probably at his lowest possible trade value right now given his recent production and how much time he has missed the past couple of seasons.

That is about as bad of a situation you can have for trying to make a trade.

Still, they ended up getting a solid, even if unspectacular, player in Harris and did not have to retain any salary, clearing some much-needed cap space over the next two seasons. Losing the second-round pick could be hurtful for a team still rebuilding in the future, but the hope for Columbus should be that by 2025-26 it is competitive enough that the pick is not closer to the top of the draft.

Basically, the Jackets probably made the best of a difficult situation and allowed everybody to get the fresh start they probably needed.

Columbus Grade: B-

Other Teams That Had Cap Space

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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 23: Klim Kostin #10 of the San Jose Sharks controls the puck in front of Philipp Kurashev #23 of the Chicago Blackhawks at SAP Center on March 23, 2024 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Specifically, I am looking at rebuilding teams that could have used a top-line scorer, had the salary-cap space to take a chance on a talented player and could have also used the future draft pick.

Chicago? You are trying to take a step forward and build something around Connor Bedard. Yeah, you added Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen already, but you could still use more offense.

Buffalo? You are desperate to make the playoffs. Where were you on this?

San Jose? You are helping every team out of their salary-cap jams the past two offseasons by taking on players like Barclay Goodrow and Cody Ceci—you couldn't have used Laine here to help take a big step forward?

Laine did have trade protections in his contract and could help dictate where he went, and it is possible that one of these teams might have had an interest and he rejected them, but there had to be some other teams not on his trade list that could have—and perhaps should—topped that offer from Montreal.

All of those teams get a D for missing the opportunity and not taking advantage of the chance to try to get a star at bottom-dollar value who might bounce back with a fresh start.

Other Cap-Space Teams Grade: D