HOME COMING: Former Top-Five Draft Pick Patrik Laine signed a deal with the Blue Jackets to join the Canadiens

    Forward Patrik Laine is returning home to the North after spending four mainly dismal seasons with the

    Forward Patrik Laine is returning home to the North after spending four mainly dismal seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

    The Blue Jackets announced on Monday afternoon that they had sold defenseman Jordan Harris to the Montreal Canadiens for Laine and a 2026 second-round draft pick.

    On January 23, 2021, Laine, 26, was traded from the Winnipeg Jets to Columbus. During his career, the Blue Jackets never finished higher than sixth in the Metropolitan Division and missed the playoffs each season.

    In both 2021–22 and 2022–23, the Tampere, Finland native scored almost a point per game, finishing with 56 points in 56 games in the former season and 52 points in 55 games in the later. His time in the joint player assistance program of the NHL and NHLPA ended his 2024 season. Laine was a prolific scorer with the Jets who led the league in power play goals scored in 2017–18, the season that saw Winnipeg lose in the Western Conference final.

    After appearing in the Stanley Cup final in 2021, Laine joins a Canadiens squad that has finished last in the Atlantic Division for three straight seasons.

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