Finnish forward Patrik Laine is back in the NHL, so should Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins take a risk?
Patrik Laine has been reinstated to the NHL after recently spending time in the league's Player Assistance Program. After a rough stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the 26-year-old Finnish forward has requested a trade.
According to the rumors, Columbus wants to acquire draft picks and prospects in exchange for Laine, who has two seasons left on his current contract at $8.7 million annually.
Despite the need for a young sniper to join the top six to once again qualify for the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins should not take a chance on Laine.
Even though it would be a feel-good story for Laine to come back, find a new home, and score at least 20 goals, there's too much risk involved with making this deal.
First, Laine hasn't played all 82 games in a season since 2018-19, the last time he scored over 30 goals. But he did play all 45 games in 2020-21 with the Blue Jackets after a Jan. 21, 2021, trade from the Winnipeg Jets.
However, since the end of the 2018-19 season, Laine has missed 34% of his team's games, sitting out a combined 126 games over that span. He didn't play much in 2023-24, just 18 games, significantly increasing his totals.
Meanwhile, Laine has only finished the regular season with a positive plus/minus rating in three of his eight seasons, all with the Jets.
His career plus/minus rating is currently minus-58, which is the total he collected with the Blue Jackets in 174 games. He earned a zero rating while collecting 250 points in 306 games when he was with the Jets.
As one of the better Finnish players in the NHL, Laine has managed only 64 goals and 138 points over the past four seasons. At 19, he set a career-high of 44 goals and 70 points in 82 games in 2017-18.
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Even if the Blue Jackets agree to keep a portion of Laine's $8.5 million salary, this will be a tough deal for any team to make, including the Penguins.
Everyone knows that Pittsburgh has the oldest roster in the NHL, and Columbus has already indicated that they don't want a roster player in return for Laine, but they want picks and prospects.
Since Dubas is challenged with getting the Penguins younger by eventually promoting prospects like Brayden Yager and Owen Pickering, it would be crazy for him to dangle either of them or any high-ranking prospect in a trade.
So, flipping any future draft capital for a young sniper with a lot of injury baggage is just not a risk Dubas needs to take at this point.
The Sidney Crosby era is ending, and despite the cries to get him another Stanley Cup title, it's not worth mismanaging the future to make this trade today.
If Laine came and worked out with a bounce-back campaign, he'd still be one of the highest-paid players on payroll and could walk away in two seasons, leaving the Penguins without the pieces they gave up to acquire him.
No offense to Laine, who would help the club's struggling power play, but he's not Mitch Marner and wouldn't be the missing piece to Pittsburgh's sixth Stanley Cup pursuit.