It’s been about a month and a bit since the rumour initially started to spread, but the idea that the Philadelphia Flyers reportedly had a trade offer for Patrik Laine gives us some insight in the mindset and potential pathway that the “New Era of Orange” is supposedly traversing.
The oft-injured but extremely talented winger had requested a trade out of Columbus at the on-set of the off-season with the organization obliging. With 2 years remaining at an enormous cap-hit of $8.7 million, trading the former 2nd overall pick was going to be difficult.
Beyond the cap hit and term remaining, Laine has had a series of injuries derailing his young career since his early exploits in Winnipeg. On top of that, he also admitted himself into the Players’ Assistance Program late last year but came out of it raring for a new start outside of Columbus.
The rumours were coming out of Québec from Maxime Truman of BPM Sports that Laine had rejected a deal to the Flyers that would have sent Ryan Johansen back to Columbus. It’s interesting to note that it was eventually confirmed by TSN’s Renaud Lavoie that Laine had a rejected a trade – no team was named – before accepting one to Montréal and the reports about the Flyers being involved came a day before they decided to terminate Johansen’s contract – potentially why they waited so long for a resolution on Johansen in the first place.
Laine apparently rejected the proposed trade to the Flyers because of John Tortorella and their first stint together in Columbus. As one could imagine, it did not go as planned since they butted heads primarily due to Laine’s somewhat lackadaisical game and the lack of backchecking and forechecking. Based on what we’ve seen from Tortorella in his first few years in Philadelphia, that checks out.
Taking on Laine’s $8.7 million cap hit would have been tough for the cap-strapped Flyers even with Johansen’s $4 million going the other way. If the trade had come to fruition, Ryan Ellis would have most likely been shifted to LTIR to alleviate the much-needed cap space.
Of course we will never know if it was 100% factual, but considering the Flyers have had interest in Laine since 2019-20, it speaks volumes that the current regime – with some executives still remaining from Chuck Fletcher’s tenure – would be willing to expedite the rebuild with the Finnish winger. There were reported trade discussions dating back in 2020 of a possible Ivan Provorov-Laine swap but it never materialized.
Considering the operation that the Flyers are currently running under, it does seem a little strange that they were willing to make such a big swing at this stage of the rebuild. Money is already tight, Laine’s $8.7 million would have had huge ramifications for the summer of 2025 with Cam York, Tyson Foerster, Morgan Frost, and Noah Cates needing new contracts – and the Flyers currently having around $14.45 million saved up pre-Laine for 2025-26.
The Flyers were in a playoff position for nearly 5 months last season until an unexpected collapse in late March and early April pushed them right outside of the Wild Card. Had they had some more prolific options up front to put the puck in the back of the net, they more than likely would have qualified, but once again, is that what was needed at the onset of the rebuild?
Laine would have given the Flyers their first legitimate 40-goal scorer since Jeff Carter. He also would have done wonders on the power play and given the top-6 a mighty boost. While he has suffered through injuries since 2020-21, Laine had a remarkable start to his career with 138 goals and 247 points in his first 305 games with the Winnipeg Jets.
He scored 36 goals as a rookie, followed that up with 44 goals and a career-high 70 points the following season, and added his third consecutive 30-goal season in 2018-19. He steadied the ship during the COVID-paused season of 2019-20 after tallying 63 points in 68 games after just 50 points in 82 contests the year before.
Things changed post-COVID as Laine has just 175 games under his belt but when healthy, he potted 66 goals and 141 points for the Blue Jackets. Between 2021-22 and 2022-23, Laine had 48 goals and 108 points in just 111 games but that was sandwiched between the COVID-shortened season of 2020-21 – where he got traded – and 2023-24 where he just suited up for 18 games.
However, the Flyers need more bonafide prospects within the pipeline, less money attached to current roster players, and people willing to commit to Tortorella’s coaching style. It would have looked great on paper, it assuredly would have yielded positive results, and when healthy he provides an abundance of goals, but it’s not what the 2024-25 Flyers needed.
Similarly to the Flyers, the Montréal Canadiens had an interest in Laine for quite some time. After he vetoed the deal to Philadelphia, they were able to strike when the iron was hot and it only cost them defenseman Jordan Harris and a second round pick. No salary cap retention was ever agreed upon in either trade, which makes it that much more perplexing. The Canadiens are $2 million over the cap right now and the Flyers would have been just a shade under $5 million over the cap – not to mention he carried term.
For those who believe that the Flyers’ management group has been sitting on their hands when they should have been more aggressive, this seems like the first real attempt at an “aggressive rebuild” as Fletcher would have earmarked in 2022-23.
With Laine now a member of the Canadiens, Johansen completely off the books for the Flyers, and the regular season just a few weeks away as we wait for Matvei Michkov’s highly anticipated NHL debut, it’s safe to say there’s never a dull moment in Philadelphia hockey. It really speaks volumes that the trade was completed because that shows us the front office is ready to rip the bandaid off and move forward with a more aggressive mindset.
Even going back to draft night, they were very much engaged with Columbus – again – in regards to their 4th overall pick because they knew if the Blue Jackets didn’t draft Ivan Demidov, he was not escaping the clutches of Montréal at 5. The asking price was astronomical as Columbus reportedly wanted several first round picks including the Flyers 12th overall pick and their 2025 unprotected first rounder, on top of a roster player.
Daniel Brière and company are apparently ready to make big moves when the fancy strikes. It remains to be seen how that will translate into 2025 and beyond, but they have several key RFAs that are in need of new contracts and $14.45 million in projected cap space doesn’t sound like enough to get those done and add to the roster through trades and free agency.
Moves are on the horizon, and apparently it’s only a matter of when, not if.
