Where Does Patrik Laine Slot in for Canadiens?

Laine knows that he can score goals with ease, thanks to one of the best releases across the entire National Hockey League. Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes also knows it, but both parties know that he needs to score a lot more than 20 goals if he wishes to earn a shiny new contract.

Playing out the string isn't an option for Laine, and neither Martin St. Louis nor Hughes is going to sit there and watch the same Laine enter the 2025-26 season that they watched in 2024-25, and hand him a big new contract.

It will be tough to defend Laine if his only production comes on the power-play, and at even strength, he is a liability. However, it is tough to think that Laine isn't hitting the gym hard and training for an explosion next season.

The Canadiens have improved their roster significantly, and a year-two Lane Hutson paired with a rookie Ivan Demidov, potentially feeding passes to Laine on the power-play you have to think he is motivated.

What's more is that Demidov and Laine should be viewed as the perfect winger duo for the Canadiens' second line, but the consensus seems to be that keeping the pair apart would be more beneficial to Demidov's development.

He will perform regardless, but Laine weighing down the line defensively doesn't send a positive message to the Canadiens' cornerstone superstar from Russia.

Laine knows that, so the way he arrives at camp and performs will tell everybody what they need to know about the kind of play that he is. It's also easy to forget that he is only 27 years old, still very much in his prime, and he has scored 44 and 36-goal seasons respectively with the Winnipeg Jets.

You have to think that Laine is a guy who could struggle to find any big money deals, and especially nothing higher than a two-year pact. Laine is looking for term and big numbers, so he should be plenty motivated.

Will he play on the third line, or is there a chance that Laine carves a second-line role, and gets back to scoring at a 50-goal pace, while developing one of the elite second-line winger duos with Demidov?

That's up to him to decide, and up to everybody else to sit back and enjoy the show and the flashy suits.