Where do you see Patrik Laine fitting into the Montreal Canadiens lineup upon his return from injury, which, now that he’s skating, feels somewhat imminent? — @kavanyoung
Laine’s return is not imminent just because he’s skating. Montreal announced on Oct. 25 that he had core muscle surgery and is expected to be out 3-4 months, which puts him in line to return later this month or early February. It’s possible, if not likely, that Laine isn’t ready until after the Olympic break. He is not taking any contact yet.
At this point, it’s hard to determine where Laine would fit in the Canadiens lineup, if at all, when he is ready to play because there are still still weeks to go before that happens. In that time, an injury or a slump could create a hole in the lineup that Laine could fit into. It could be a natural fit for a player with Laine’s ability to score goals who hasn’t played since Oct. 16.
However, for now the Canadiens are playing well and have solid top-nine depth on the wing with Alexandre Texier, Ivan Demidov, Brendan Gallagher, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Zachary Bolduc. Forwards Jake Evans, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach are expected to return at some point. They’re fairly stacked even without Laine.
Obviously, any team in need of a goal-scoring punch could find a place for Laine, including the Canadiens, but if they stay status quo, one of two things could happen when he’s ready to play: he becomes available in a trade, or the Canadiens keep him as an expensive depth forward.
Laine is in the last year of a four-year contract that has an $8.7 million average annual value. It’s a high number that limits the teams that would be in the market for him, but GMs have been known to get creative when they want to acquire a particular player. It’s unlikely the Canadiens would want to retain salary to make trading Laine more palatable for another team unless the return is good enough. The Canadiens could easily keep Laine and have him in reserve. They’re in a good situation because of all the depth they’ve built.
