The Philadelphia Flyers are in need of some offensive talent this offseason as they await the 2024 NHL Draft. However, they could be getting some help in this area through the trade market. Per Pierre LeBrun of TSN Insider Trading, Patrik Laine of the Columbus Blue Jackets is currently seeking a trade.
Laine has battled both injury and massive mental health obstacles in his last few seasons, making him somewhat difficult to examine properly. Despite this, he could be a huge get for the Orange and Black. What are some reasons for both trading for him and avoiding him?
Pros of Acquiring Laine
A big reason to try and go after the 26-year-old winger is because of his sunk cost. In his last four seasons, he has only played 175 of a possible 302 games (57.9 percent). Because he hasn’t been able to get on the ice, it’s a gamble to trade for Laine—teams don’t love taking risks if they don’t have to. As for the Flyers and general manager (GM) Danny Briere, they invite these sorts of challenges.
Laine’s upside is still very real, and the Flyers could be getting that for very cheap in a trade. He wouldn’t be free of charge, but it’s not every day that you can land a player who has essentially been a point-per-game scorer his last three seasons even with injuries (117 points in 129 games since 2021-22). Scoring 44 goals back in 2017-18, he’d be a sensational addition to any team if he is playing at his best.
For a Flyers team that could really benefit from acquiring high-end talent for cheap, this is the type of move that could shoot them into contention in the future. When he’s healthy, Laine is certainly a force.
If Laine can get a new opportunity with a team that is willing to make him a part of their future and even grant him a talent like Matvei Michkov who could help unlock his scoring ceiling, there appears to be a long-term appeal for him. He might not break out in the short term, but he could eventually be an incredible player and sustain that for a while. Briere and the Flyers need offensive talent—their ticket to landing that is right here.
Instead of needing to draft a high-end goal scorer in the future, the Flyers can rely on Laine to provide that if they trade for him. It’s not easy to select a player with his upside in any draft, as his physical gifts are what made him so worthy of being taken with the second-overall pick in 2016 in the first place. This can both allow the Orange and Black to explore other roster needs with their draft picks and save them a lot of trouble.
Make no mistake—if the Flyers are getting Laine at his best, trading for him could end up being one of the best moves they have ever made. The reward is astronomical, hence why a talent-needy team like Philadelphia should at least consider trading for Laine.
Cons of Acquiring Laine
Of course, there are some cons to acquiring Laine. The most obvious concern is his $8.7 million cap hit for the next two seasons. Even if it’s a short-term deal, the Flyers will need to do some maneuvering in order to make everything work for 2024-25. If Ryan Ellis and Ryan Johansen are placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) and Cam Atkinson is bought out, they’ll have around $14.6 million to spend with most of their roster players under contract—that’s plenty, but not exactly a comfortable amount.
Related: Flyers’ Salary Cap Situation Entering 2024 Offseason
If Laine struggles next season, then it will be even harder to swallow an inability to make big splashes in the 2025 offseason with his cap hit in mind. Luxury regarding cap space is always a plus, and the Flyers would be risking it all in this scenario. Considering his age, a long-term extension is likely what he’ll be looking for if he plays well—are the Flyers up to that? The end goal is for him to rejuvenate his career, so that’s something that Philadelphia will have to be wary of.
Beyond the salary problems, there’s a bigger issue at hand. Laine, a top-six right-handed winger with a lot of goal-scoring potential, is the fourth one of these that the Flyers would have on their roster—Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, and Travis Konecny would be the others. This deal somewhat assumes that the latter is traded at some point soon considering his longevity concerns, but even then the Orange and Black already have decent scoring upside out of their wingers. Unless he can switch back to the center position as he experimented with in 2023-24, finding a fit could be tricky.
As it stands, the Flyers also don’t really have a player who can help maximize Laine’s potential. He is an immensely gifted scorer who still has 40-goal abilities, but can Philadelphia of all teams unlock that? Without a great playmaker other than maybe Morgan Frost, he’s sort of out of luck in that regard. If he couldn’t reach his ceiling in Columbus, wouldn’t that make Philadelphia a similarly poor destination?
Finally, head coach John Tortorella and Laine didn’t mesh too well in 2020-21—their only season together. Tortorella doesn’t seem like he’s willing to budge from his coaching position, so it’s not easy to envision a world where Laine magically reaches his peak levels under the coach he played the absolute worst under.
There are valid reasons to want to acquire Laine as well as wanting to avoid him. Whichever path the Flyers choose, it should be with their long-term interest in mind.