Patrik Laine Could Be the Top-Six Forward the Oilers Need

The Edmonton Oilers have a big checklist of things to do this offseason. The first still remains finding a new head coach, though there are also plenty of roster adjustments they are hoping to make as well. Those include finding a goaltender and adding some help on the back end, but it doesn’t end there.

The Oilers are also hoping to add a top-six forward to better balance their offence. Most have presumed that would involve a trade in order to make things work from a cap perspective. On top of that, this year’s free-agency class doesn’t feature many prominent players. That said, there is one very intriguing pending unrestricted free agent that could serve as the exact piece the Oilers are looking for.

Laine is a Low-Risk Option

It’s pretty hard to fathom how quickly Patrik Laine’s value has dropped. The 28-year-old was once viewed as one of the game’s best young talents, with some even believing he was a better natural goal scorer than Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews. The second-overall pick from the 2016 draft scored a combined 80 goals in his first two NHL seasons.

Laine’s production has come to a halt since. He still managed a few 20-goal injury-riddled seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but it was far from the dominant talent we all witnessed in his early days with the Winnipeg Jets. This past season saw him suit up for just five games with the Montreal Canadiens, where he logged only one assist.

Despite being injured for the vast majority of the regular season, Laine was healthy during the playoffs, but was ultimately kept out of the lineup by head coach Martin St. Louis. It just serves as another reminder as to how much his value has decreased. That said, there’s reason to believe he can get his game back on track in the right situation.

What makes Laine so intriguing is that he could potentially be the Oilers’ missing piece in the top six while not costing a whole lot to get. As mentioned, his value is as low as it’s ever been, and, as reported by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, he can now sign a bonus-laden contract with a lower base salary due to remaining on the IR by the time the playoffs came to an end. In other words, there’s a good chance he won’t take up much of a team’s cap space.

Though Laine isn’t a great skater, he still possesses one of the more lethal shots in all of the NHL. That could make him a great option to play alongside either Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, two of the best distributors in the NHL. If there’s any chance he can find his old form, signing with the Oilers seems to be his best bet.

Many will be against signing Laine given how volatile both his production and health has been in recent years. The ideal match would be a forward who has been a consistent producer in recent years. That said, adding those types of players isn’t easy, especially for teams with little cap space to navigate such as the Oilers.

While signing Laine may not wind up being the fit the Oilers need, the contract isn’t going to be one that handcuffs the team from making other moves. In other words, it’s a pretty low-risk signing and has the potential to be a great bargain move for a team that continues to have Stanley Cup aspirations.

Oilers Need Bargain Contracts

The biggest issue for the Oilers right now is that they are a team with Stanley Cup aspirations who also have several bad contracts. The deals that Darnell Nurse, Trent Frederic, and Tristan Jarry are on make it difficult to put the right pieces in place to give this team the best chance to win it all. In order to overcome that, general manager Stan Bowman needs to add some bargain deals, and signing Laine would be a great start.