Patrik Laine Not Seeking International Offers

We’re now more than a month into the season with a handful of veteran wingers still hoping to find a team for this season.  One of those is Patrik Laine.  But while no deal in North America has materialized, he’s not looking into international offers, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan relayed this week (Twitter link).

It has been quite the fall from grace for the 28-year-old.  The second overall pick back in 2016, Laine was a prominent scorer right away, making the jump to the NHL as an 18-year-old while hitting the 30-goal mark in all three seasons of his entry-level contract.  It looked like he had already established himself as a star winger.

However, Winnipeg would only do a bridge deal with Laine, a decision that caused some frustration on his end but ultimately proved to be a wise decision.  While he had 63 points in 68 games the following year, he was moved to Columbus soon after for Pierre-Luc Dubois (among other pieces on either side) in a swap of players seeking a change of scenery.

In four-plus seasons with the Blue Jackets, Laine only got to double-digit goals twice while dealing with a long list of injuries.  Having signed him to a four-year pact worth $8.7MM per season, he went from being a desired star winger to someone they largely had to give away when Montreal picked Laine up in 2024.

His two seasons with the Canadiens were mired by injury, though he still managed 20 goals in just 52 games in 2024-25 on the heels of 15 power play markers.  Last year was a complete write-off, however, as he was injured in the fifth game of the season and hasn’t played since.

With how much time he missed last season, Laine is eligible for a one-year deal with performance incentives, an option that isn’t normally available until a player turns 35.  However, no firm offers have come his way yet, by the looks of things, given that he remains on the open market.

At this point, Laine looks like a power play specialist with some question marks about his skating and fit in a spot lower in the lineup.  His shot is still a niche that could warrant a look but sitting and waiting for an extended stretch for a contract isn’t going to help his cause either.  But for the time being at least, Laine’s focus is on remaining in the NHL and not closer to home.