Laine traded to Canadiens by Blue Jackets for Harris

Patrik Laine was traded to the Montreal Canadiens by the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.

The Blue Jackets, who also sent a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft to the Canadiens, received defenseman Jordan Harris.

Last season, Laine played his final game for the Blue Jackets on Dec. 14 because of a broken clavicle and began receiving care from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Jan. 28. He was cleared from the program July 26.

The 26-year-old had requested a trade from the Blue Jackets, and Columbus general manager Don Waddell said Monday an equitable deal for all involved was a prerequisite for any trade.

"We want players that want to be Blue Jackets and Patrik made it clear that he thought a change of scenery was best for him," Waddell said. "We were able to acquire a good young player in Jordan Harris while maintaining financial flexibility in this deal which was very important to us. We wish Patrik all the best."

Waddell, who was hired as Columbus GM on May 28 after holding the same position with the Carolina Hurricanes for the previous six years, told The Hockey Writers on Aug. 15 that he had given Laine and his agent permission to speak with teams about potential trades.

"He's made it clear that he wants a fresh start someplace else," Waddell said. "And I've had this situation before, probably not at this level, this type of player. And I've told his representation that we will definitely look at every deal and I've given him full permission to talk to teams. So, I've been where I've had players that wanted to be traded before, and just because a player wants to traded, two things have to happen. You have to have a willing partner and you also have to have a deal that we both can accept and agree on."

Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes confirmed he spoke with Laine prior to the trade.

“It isn’t always the case when you’re negotiating a trade that you have ability to talk to a player before acquiring his rights, but Don (Waddell) was gracious enough to allow us to speak to Patrik, which Jeff Gorton, Marty St. Louis and I did over the weekend to just get a better understanding of his journey to where he is today, to the struggles that he’s had and what he has done to put himself in a better place," Hughes said. "We came away from that conversation very satisfied. We did a lot of other homework -- I don’t want to get into a lot of detail about that out of respect for Patrik and those people that we spoke to -- but Patrik and Don were also gracious enough to let us speak and consult on the medical file and just have the conversations that we felt we needed to have to be comfortable moving forward. And everybody involved came away very comfortable with Patrik. And we also spoke to Patrik about Montreal and the pressure that comes with this market, and he didn’t shy away from it at all. In fact, I think he is looking for this type of a market to come play in.”

Laine had nine points (six goals, three assists) in 18 games last season and has two seasons remaining on the four-year, $34.8 million contract ($8.7 million average annual value) he signed July 22, 2022.

The Canadiens confirmed that no salary had been retained in the trade.

“It frees us up," Waddell said. "Since we made the trade I think I've got four calls from GMs. A lot of teams are in cap situations trying to free up contracts, so I think it’s good.

"If we don’t do anything this year it really sets us up. We went into the free agent market a little bit but we had this (Laine situation) outstanding. We had to be careful, so now we know what our path is moving forward.”

Selected by the Winnipeg Jets with the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Laine began his NHL career with four straight seasons of at least 28 goals, including 44 for the Jets in 2017-18. He has 388 points (204 goals, 184 assists) in 480 games with the Blue Jackets and Jets, and 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 24 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"To me, this isn’t a transaction that either he scores 40 or 50 (goals) or it’s a bust, far from it," Hughes said. "My relay to him was: If you come here ready to contribute to this team, to do everything in your power to help us get to a place, and if that’s the opportunity that you’re looking for, then say no more. That’s what I want to hear from you. Whether you score 20 goals or 40 goals, your success here is not going to be defined strictly by goals. It’s going to be defined by your ability to help contribute to this team and help us. We’re very young, and he may be young at 26, but that still makes him an older statesman on the Montreal Canadiens. And we’re hoping that as such he’ll do his part to help and teach our young players. And we talked to him about that, about you look back at your time when you came to Winnipeg as a young 18-year-old hockey player and you think about the people and things that helped you be successful, and you think about the things that occurred that maybe made it more difficult to be successful, and carry that forward to the Montreal Canadiens and help those players succeed.”

Harris had 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) and averaged 17:28 of ice time in 56 games with the Canadiens last season.

The 24-year-old was selected by Montreal in the third round (No. 71) of the 2018 NHL Draft and has 32 points (eight goals, 24 assists) in 131 games.

“He’s a young player, a great kid, got some skills," Waddell said. "It gives us another player [at defenseman] that’s going to compete with the guys for jobs and that’s what you want.

“You can never have too many good players. Let them compete, and at the end of the day the best ones will make our team.”

NHL.com independent correspondents Sean Farrell and Craig Merz contributed to this report.