Montreal Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] forward Patrik Laine is a player to watch very closely during the 2025-26 season. The 27-year-old winger is entering a contract year, so he will be looking to put together a strong season for the Habs. Laine just completed his first season with the Canadiens in 2024-25, and it is fair to say it was a decent year for the 2016 second-overall pick. In 52 games with the Canadiens on the year, the 6-foot-4 forward recorded 20 goals, 13 assists, and 33 points in 52 games. He was most effective while on the man advantage, however, as he scored 15 power-play goals and recorded 19 power-play points. It was another season where Laine scored more than he set up his teammates. This is not necessarily a rare occurrence when it comes to Laine, as the sniper has had more goals than assists in five out of his nine NHL seasons. Due to this, he has also more goals (224) than assists at this stage of his career. While this is the case, Laine does possess playmaking skills, and he is nearing a new milestone because of it. Laine needs to record just three more assists to record the 200th of his career. If he stays healthy in 2025-26, it should not take him very long to hit this nice milestone. Laine has recorded at least 30 assists in three different seasons during his career. This includes during the 2019-20 season with the Winnipeg Jets, as he finished the year with a career-high 35 helpers in 68 games. It will now be interesting to see how quickly Laine can hit the 200-assist mark of his career from here.
