The month of August is officially upon us and there are several well-know player that are still unrestricted free agents, including former Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine.
Laine's tenure with the Canadiens was marred with injuries, especially this past season where he only suited up in five games before undergoing core muscle surgery in late-October. While Laine's initial timeline to return to game action was three-to-four months, he never saw the ice again for the Canadiens, aside from practice.
With that injury now behind him, Laine is hard at work training in South Florida for wherever his next adventure may take him, whether that's another National Hockey League club or heading overseas to Europe.
What does Patrik Laine bring to an NHL club?
That brings us to the question above - what comes next for the former Montreal Canadien Patrik Laine? Well, while he might be unsigned a little over one month into the National Hockey League's free agency window, he's certainly going to a number of options to choose from in the weeks to come.
Those teams that are interested in the 28-year-old winger will need to temper their expectations a bit. The days of Patrik Laine being a 30-40 goal scorer, like he was with the Winnipeg Jets, are long gone, unfortunately. However, that doesn't mean he won't be an effective player for whichever team is able to get their hands on him.
Looking back to his first season with the Montreal Canadiens, Laine became a significant contributor to the team's power play, something that General Manager Kent Hughes was hoping would happen when he acquired him from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Tampere, Finland native finished the 2024-25 season with 20 goals - 15 of which came on the power play.
A power play specialist is likely what Patrik Laine is at this stage of his career, but he has the potential to be much more than that if he's willing to put in the work. Working on his foot speed and getting faster needs to be priority number one for Laine this summer. If he's able to do that, he just might be able to contribute at five-on-five more consistently.
What comes next for Patrik Laine?
Patrik Laine would be a low-risk, high-reward signing for any club around the National Hockey League. Because Laine spent over 100 days on injured reserve (IR) last season, the Tampere, Finland native is eligible a one-year bonus-laden contract with a low base salary. That base salary could come in around $1-1.5 million and feature bonuses such as games played, goals, etc.
However, because Patrik Laine hasn't played a since October 16th, 2025 - 292 days ago - team's might be a bit hesitant to give him a guaranteed contract, which is part of the reason why he remains unsigned as of early August.
At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Patrik Laine ends up signing a professional tryout contract (PTO) before training camps open around the NHL. By signing a PTO, Laine would be able to attend training camp, suit up in preseason games and prove to a team that he can contribute offensively.
Among the teams I'm curious about as potential landing spots for Patrik Laine on a PTO include the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings and New York Islanders, the latter of whom reportedly held preliminary discussions with his camp earlier this summer, but didn't get very far, according to Stefen Rosner of NHL.com.
I'm confident that Patrik Laine will be able to find himself a new home in the National Hockey League this coming season. But on the off chance he doesn't, whether it be due to an unsuccessful PTO or just not being offered a contract by any team, I'm curious if a return to Tappara in Finland's top division, Liiga, could be an option.
Laine had a solid draft year in 2015-16 with his hometown club before being selected second overall by the Winnipeg Jets. He registered 17 goals and 33 points in 46 regular season games and followed that up with ten goals and 15 points in 18 playoff contests. Laine helped Tappara win the Liiga championship that year, their first since 2003, and was named Liiga Rookie of the Year, Playoff MVP and Finnish Player of the Year by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association.
As I said earlier, Laine will have a number of options on where he could play next season, it's just a matter of putting pen-to-paper. We should get some clarity on where Patrik Laine ends up within the next four-to-five weeks, I'd expect.