Proposed swap (Basu and Godin) brings Patrik Laine to Montreal

In his first three NHL seasons, Patrik Laine scored goals at an interesting rate.

He scored 36, 44 and 30 goals in his first three campaigns with the Jets…

But since the trade that sent him to Columbus, he hasn’t been the same player.

Laine is looking for himself on the ice, and everyone will agree that we’re not talking about the most involved player when he’s on the ice.

He does have undeniable offensive talent, however…

And it forces Arpon Basu to believe that Laine “could” perhaps be a good fit for the Habs.

In the recent episode of “The Basu & Godin Notebook” podcast, Basu and Marc Antoine Godin had some fun constructing a deal that would bring Laine to Montreal, and it would look something like this:

• Avalanche second-round pick (2024) + offensive prospect goes to Columbus
• Laine comes to Montreal (if the Jackets retain more than $2 million from his current contract)

That’s a different proposition:

Patrik Laine is a risk for any NHL team, because we know his attitude.

But the Habs are looking for natural talent, a big guy capable of filling top-6 minutes… And that’s exactly what Patrik Laine can bring to a club.

The Finn earns an annual salary of $8.7 million, which is a lot. That said, his contract runs out in two years (summer 2026) and the risk for two years isn’t huge.

Could the Habs be interested in adding a guy with attitude “issues”?

Martin St-Louis is a vocal coach who talks to his players when the time comes. Does he have what it takes to revive the career of an offensive player who’s been searching for three or four years?

The idea of adding talent and goals to the lineup is all well and good… but would it really help the Habs?

In gusto

– Hard to give less than a B+.