While the Montreal Canadiens were eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday night, meaning the players will soon be heading home for their Summer holidays, GM Kent Hughes will be as busy as can be.

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Of course, there will be the draft at the end of June, but there will also be plenty of decisions to make about various players, including Finnish sniper Patrik Laine. Last Summer’s significant acquisition had a roller coaster of a season.

From a delayed start thanks to a serious knee injury that sidelined him until the beginning of December to a torrid scoring pace, concerns about his five-on-five performance, and his knack for scoring goals on the power play, he’s been through it all.

On any given week, fans’ opinions about him could change wildly. At times, he was essential to the team’s future because of his lethal shot on the man-advantage, until he wasn’t, and people were calling for his scratching because of concerns with his defensive play.

He had said he looked forward to “turning it up a notch” for the playoffs, but unfortunately, he only played in two games before being sidelined with an injury. Footage released by the team showed him wearing a splint on his finger, but there were also rumblings that he might have been having issues with the knee he injured in the preseason.

With Montreal being the hockey hotbed it is, his absence in the last three games prompted plenty of speculation that he may be done there. Disgruntled fans are calling for his contract to be bought out, pundits are claiming that Ivan Demidov will push him out of Montreal, and others are saying he should be traded for whatever return Hughes can get.

Laine is under contract for one more season with a $8.7 M cap hit; there would be no logical reason for Hughes to buy him out and have him count on his salary cap for two years rather than one (even though it wouldn’t be for that much). The Canadiens do not need the cap space yet. Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak, and David Savard’s contracts are all coming off the books and will be replaced by cheaper players. Michael Pezzetta probably won’t be brought back, RFAs Jayden Struble, Emil Heineman, and Jakub Dobes won’t command a huge contract.

There is no need to rush into this Laine decision. Defensive shortcomings or not, he did score 15 power-play goals in 52 games, the third-highest total in the league. Only Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, and Leon Draisaitl had more goals with the man-advantage than Laine. That right there is elite company.

As for Demidov getting him out of Montreal, we’re talking about a hockey team here. Not a primary school child who can only have one best friend. Good teams have depth and more than one line of players that can score. Nothing is preventing the two wings from co-existing in Montreal. Having goal scorers on both power-play units isn’t a problem, and nor is having a real top-six.

As for trading for whatever return, Hughes doesn’t sell low; that goes against how he does business. The culture on this team is strong enough to cope with one player who has defensive shortcomings for a year without it creating an issue in the room, if that’s the concern.

If Hughes decides against extending Laine at the end of his contract, he won’t rush to trade him. He can flip him at the trade deadline, or not. The GM has also shown that he’s not afraid of letting contracts run out if he feels that’s the best option.

There’s no rush with Laine, a year is a long time, and Hughes is not one to make uninformed decisions…

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