{"id":588744,"date":"2026-06-01T18:45:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T18:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/588744\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T18:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T18:45:16","slug":"pending-ufa-patrik-laine-looking-forward-to-another-nhl-opportunity-well-see-where-the-wind-takes-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/588744\/","title":{"rendered":"Pending UFA Patrik Laine looking forward to another NHL opportunity: \u2018We\u2019ll see where the wind takes me\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

To say the 2025-26 campaign was a frustrating one for Montreal Canadiens<\/a> forward Patrik Laine<\/a> would be an understatement.<\/p>\n

Laine suited up in just five games early in the season for Montreal before a core muscle injury took him out of the lineup and later required surgery.<\/p>\n

With the recovery expected at three to four months, Laine eventually returned to practice for the Canadiens but wouldn\u2019t draw into the lineup again for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of figured early on that I probably wasn\u2019t even going to be playing since I had been out for four, five months,\u201d said Laine during the team\u2019s locker cleanout on Monday. \u201cGuys are battling for a playoff spot, and all the guys were playing great. I\u2019d figured I probably won\u2019t be playing but I\u2019ll take this time to support the guys and work hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the call comes, it comes. If it doesn\u2019t, still keep working. It\u2019s only going to help me in the future, when you work hard every day. That\u2019s kind of how I saw it this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laine confirmed that he got the green light from the Canadiens\u2019 medical staff to return and that he wasn\u2019t asked to waive his no-trade clause ahead of the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I have agents, so I just basically work here,\u201d said Laine of his no-trade clause. \u201cI don\u2019t take part in those conversations, so I don\u2019t really know what was going on with that stuff, but I don\u2019t think I was ever asked personally, no.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old winger joined the Canadiens via trade in August of 2024, arriving from the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> in exchange for defenceman Jordan Harris<\/a> and a second-round pick.<\/p>\n

In his first season with Montreal in 2024-25, Laine scored 20 goals with 33 points in 52 games. Fourteen of his goals came on the power play and had five game winners.<\/p>\n

With his four-year, $34.8 million contract expiring this summer, Laine expressed that he is looking forward to finding another NHL home.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust excited where the wind takes me next year,\u201d said Laine. \u201cI\u2019m excited to see new opportunities, see where it goes. I\u2019m not too worried about it right now. Just right now, take a little breather and relax and then get back at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second-overall pick by the Winnipeg Jets<\/a> in 2016, Laine had a career season as a sophomore, scoring 44 goals with 70 points in 82 games.<\/p>\n

He was later dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> along with centre Jack Roslovic<\/a> in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a>, where he spent four seasons before coming to Montreal.<\/p>\n

In 537 career NHL games, Laine has scored 224 goals with 422 points.<\/p>\n

Laine believes he still has several NHL seasons ahead of him and that he learned a lot in this past year with Montreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I\u2019ll be playing in this league for a long time,\u201d said Laine. \u201cThat\u2019s not a question. Never something I\u2019ve doubted. Just going to need an opportunity. In great shape, feel good. Still got a lot of time before next season. That\u2019s definitely something I\u2019m not worried about.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think this year was especially hard since I didn\u2019t play a lot of games and all that but learned things about myself this year I probably wouldn\u2019t have otherwise and learned how to handle tough situations that will last me for a lifetime way beyond hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To say the 2025-26 campaign was a frustrating one for Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine would be an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[4759,5,33168,40075],"class_list":["post-588744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hockey","tag-apple-news","tag-hockey","tag-montreal-canadiens-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-8","tag-patrik-laine-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8479339"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116676337556662992","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}