Will he or won't he?
Will president and general manager Don Waddell find a "hockey trade" for Patrik Laine this off-season? In other words, will the Blue Jackets be able to acquire an NHL player in return for Laine's services?
That's what Waddell is hoping for in appeasing Laine's desire to be traded to a new club.
When looking back at Laine's Blue Jackets tenure, it's complicated in that it feels as if he hasn't quite performed to the caliber of a player the Blue Jackets were seeking when they acquired him alongside Jack Roslovic from the Winnipeg Jets for Pierre-Luc Dubois in Jan. 2021.
Since that COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, Roslovic leads all Blue Jackets in that span with 146 points and is third with 51 goals. Roslovic is another player who flashed his skill but would go on long spurts without a point or a goal.
In that same span since 2020-21, Laine is third on the team with 138 points and second with 64 goals.
On the surface, that's pretty good, even when you might have expected gaudier numbers when considering Laine's skillset and goal-scoring prowess.
Across eight NHL seasons, Laine, still only 26 years old, has compiled 388 points, 204 goals, and 184 assists.
His career started with a bang in 2016-17 when he scored 64 points (36 goals, 28 assists) in 73 games for the Jets. Laine scored a career-high 44 goals and 70 points in 82 games in 2017-18, and he netted 30 goals and 50 points in 82 games in 2018-19.
After his first three NHL seasons between 2016-17 through 2018-19, Laine was sixth in the NHL with 110 goals, trailing Alex Ovechkin (133), Nikita Kucherov (120), John Tavares (112), Connor McDavid (112), and Auston Matthews (111).
Laine has not played a full 82 games since 2018-19. He still registered 63 points (28 goals, 35 assists) for the Jets in the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season when he played 68 games.
When Laine was traded to the Blue Jackets, it was a fresh start for all. Dubois wanted out. Roslovic was coming off a contract holdout with the Jets. Laine could be the sniper the Jackets could use.
Fast forward to today, Laine has appeared in 174 games for Columbus, compiling 138 points as mentioned above (64 goals, 74 assists). He played 45 of 56 games in 2020-21 for Columbus scoring 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) and scoring three points (two goals, one assists) in one game for the Jets that season.
Dealing with an oblique strain in 2021-22, Laine also dealt with the passing of his father. Upon returning to action, he looked to be regaining form, scoring 21 points (13 goals, eight assists) over an 11-game point streak from Jan. 27 through Feb. 24. He finished the season with 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists) in 56 games.
In the 2022-23 season opener at the Carolina Hurricanes, Laine scored before being knocked out with an elbow injury. He also missed time with a sprained ankle, landed in COVID-19 protocols, and a triceps strain prematurely ended his season as he ended up with 52 points (22 goals, 30 assists) in 55 games.
This past season, he finished with nine points (six goals, three assists) in 18 games. He suffered an upper-body injury after a hit by Rasmus Andersson in the closing minutes of a win over the Calgary Flames, a fractured clavicle in December, and then went into the NHL/NHL Players' Association Player Assistance Program in January.
A lot of Laine's Blue Jackets tenure has been unfortunately marred by injuries and bad luck and it's no wonder why a fresh start might be in the forward's best interest.
Laine still has two seasons at $8.7 million per year left on his contract, including a 10-team no-trade list.
There's interest from teams in Laine.
Waddell is hoping to make a trade that satisfies Laine and his agent's wishes while also looking to make a trade that helps the Blue Jackets. As Brian Hedger reported in The Columbus Dispatch last week, Waddell admitted it's a slow process.
"At this time of the year, people are less responsive," Waddell said. "So, I don't really know. I think it's going to play out for a while.
"We might end up eating some money. If I wanted to eat half, I could've traded him by now, but that's not my first choice."
As this process plays out, Laine could end up being a member of the Blue Jackets longer than anticipated as training camp starts next month.
