The Montreal Canadiens got some devastating news regarding the injury of forward Patrik Laine. The Finnish star had not played since October 15 due to an undisclosed injury. But now, Habs fans know what the injury is all about.
News broke on Saturday regarding Laine undergoing surgery for a core muscle at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, Sportsnet reported. The news was a crushing blow as Laine will miss roughly three to four months this season.
The situation is a huge blow, both to the Canadiens and Laine himself. Laine has appeared in five games this season, notching just one assist. He was playing fourth-line minutes and not contributing much to the club.
Perhaps the injury explains the precipitous downfall in his production this season. Be that as it may, the Canadiens are now looking at most of the season without Laine. On the surface, it may not seem like a huge loss.
But looking at the deeper picture, it could signal the end of the line for Patrik Laine in Montreal. There’s a pretty good chance the Habs will move Laine to LTIR. That move would free up nearly $9 million in cap space.
The Canadiens may not touch that cap space yet, as there is hope that Laine will return this season. But realistically speaking, the chances of that happening seem somewhat slim. In the best-case scenario, Laine would return at the end of January, early February. In the worst of cases, he’d be back until after the Olympics.
If the Canadiens are in the thick of the playoff race, it’s doubtful the Habs will be banking on Laine making a huge impact upon his return.
Future with Canadiens Uncertain for Laine
Given how the Canadiens initially described Laine’s injury as “lower body,” and the procedure conducted, it sounds like Laine has been dealing with a torn adductor. If that’s the case, and that’s purely conjecture at this point, recovery from a torn adductor is highly uncertain.
Some athletes bounce back fairly quickly from such injuries. Others are never the same again. Judging from Laine’s injury history, the latter could be the case. As such, there’s a good chance that Laine may not return this season.
In that situation, it’s unlikely the Canadiens bring Laine back next season. Even if they did, it certainly wouldn’t be at a cap hit anywhere close to his current one.
So, Laine may find himself sitting all of next summer waiting for another club to potentially give him another shot.
Laine Could Get One More Kick at the NHL Can
There’s plenty of reason to believe some other NHL club would want to give Patrik Laine one more shot at the NHL can. There could be a market out there for the still relatively young forward.
However, that opportunity may come in the form of a one-year deal or even a PTO. It sounds harsh, but it’s doubtful any team would commit more than one season to Laine. His injury history and declining production are not precisely what teams look for these days.
But here’s hoping that Laine comes back strong and manages to rekindle his once-promising NHL career.
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