The Montreal Canadiens will be a team to watch once the Olympic trade freeze ends on Feb. 23. With the Canadiens being among the top teams in the Eastern Conference, there is certainly a chance that they could look to add to their roster ahead of the trade deadline. However, with the Canadiens having limited cap space, Patrik Laine has been a popular name in the rumor mill as of late. Now, Laine is only continuing to create chatter as a trade candidate. Laine was one of the players included on Nick Kypreos' latest trade board [https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/real-kypers-trade-board-3-0-how-deep-will-torontos-changes-go/] for Sportsnet. "Montreal is looking to move out his money and might be willing to spend an asset to do that. The Canadiens are prepared to retain a good chunk (even up to 50 per cent) of his deal, considering they haven't used any retention slots and because Laine's contract expires at the end of the season anyway," Kypreos wrote. Kypreos also mentioned the Calgary Flames as a potential team that could take a chance on Laine. In addition, Kypreos brought up the prospect of a Laine for Andrew Mangiapane trade with the Edmonton Oilers. This is not the only recent trade board that Laine has been included on, either. Chris Johnston gave Laine the No. 28 spot on his latest trade board for The Athletic [https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7018480/2026/02/04/nhl-trade-board-panarin-wallstedt-thomas/], which was released on Wednesday. "Working his way back from core muscle surgery that’s limited him to just five games this season, Laine doesn’t appear to have a future with the Canadiens. They don’t have an obvious spot for him in the lineup and seem inclined to move off his contract in order to clear cap room needed for other moves," Johnston wrote. With all of the trade rumors surrounding Laine, there is no question that Laine will be a player to keep an eye on from here. It will be interesting to see if the Canadiens can find a new home for the skilled forward. In five games this season with the Canadiens, Laine has recorded zero goals, one assist, and a minus-3 rating. This is after he had 20 goals and 33 points in 52 games this past season with the Habs.
