Injury: The Truth About Patrik Laine

The Canadiens lost their first post-Olympic game…

Noah Dobson and Matthew Schaefer showed that they would have been more helpful to Canada than Drew Doughty and Travis Sanheim in Milan…

Samuel Montembeault missed a great opportunity—his fourth this year—to reclaim his spot as the Habs’ #1 goalie… And Martin St-Louis has 24 hours to decide whether Jayden Struble, Joe Veleno, or Zachary Bolduc will rejoin the lineup tomorrow night against the Capitals.

Because no, Patrik Laine will not be the solution tomorrow. And not just because he failed to make a difference in the playoffs against the Caps.

Officially, Laine is still injured. For him to be activated, Ivan Demidov, Oliver Kapanen, and/or Lane Hutson be assigned to the Rocket (lol), a player be placed on waivers before 2:00 p.m. today, or a trade be completed to free up one of the 23 spots available for an active player before the trade deadline.

Except that the killer question regarding Laine is this: is he still injured?

According to what we heard before the Olympic break, Laine was fit to return to play, but he had agreed to “remain injured” until the end of February.

However, it’s now the end of February, he’s been training for a month, and he’s completed his rehab. Why are the NHL and the Players’ Association willing to play along with Laine’s health status?

I don’t have THE answer, but I may have a possible solution.

Laine is training on the fifth line as a third forward. Reactivating him would hurt his training. Plus, he doesn’t want to leave Montreal.

Keep in mind, however, that Laine skated during the Olympic break but was not at his post during the CH’s first official post-Olympic practice. The Canadiens reported a minor lower-body injury and said he would be reevaluated daily.
Laine was back with the group the next day.
What happened during those 24 hours? According to reliable sources, Laine felt a slight discomfort in his leg during the last friendly practice before the official return and went to see the Canadiens’ therapists (and medical staff) to let them know.
They performed a few manual tests and confirmed that he was fine and not injured. However, Laine was still concerned, despite the CH’s assurances. He therefore asked for more tests (the next day), to which the CH naturally agreed. The conclusion was the same as that of the therapists the day before: no injury.