Penguins Pass on Laine Opportunity; Looking at Why
The Montreal Canadiens not only traded for Patrik Laine on Monday, but they also snagged the Columbus Blue Jackets’ valuable second-round pick in the process. It cost them a nice young defenseman, Jordan Harris, who is not without potential but whose ceiling is probably on a third-pairing and was losing his spot in the Canadiens lineup.
So, why didn’t the Pittsburgh Penguins make a play for Laine, who has a 40-goal season on his resume and one of the best shots in the NHL?
As several readers were quick to cite, the Penguins currently lack the salary cap space to accept all of Laine’s $8.7 million salary cap hit. New Columbus president of hockey operations/GM Don Waddell said removing Laine’s full cap hit for the next two seasons was paramount in the trade talks, which existed around the league for well over a month.
According to Puckpedia, the Penguins currently have about $2 million in cap space when cut down to 13 forwards (and Matt Nieto is placed on long-term injured reserve).
The NHL player assistance program only recently cleared Laine, but he had signaled his desire, and Columbus had given permission to speak with other teams long before then. So, his availability was no secret.
However, Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas could have easily set aside the cap space to make a run at Laine. Until the Penguins’ trade for Cody Glass and the Nashville Predators third-round pick last week, the Penguins cap structure was only a few manageable tweaks from being able to do so.
So, the “Penguins couldn’t because of salary cap space” argument isn’t the reason the Penguins didn’t make a play. They chose Glass and Nashville’s third. They chose Kevin Hayes and St. Louis’s second-round pick, later becoming St. Louis’s 2026 second-rounder and Ottawa’s 2025 third-rounder.
The scales show the Penguins earned three draft picks, one second and two third-rounders, for taking Hayes and Glass. Laine would have netted them only one second-round selection.
Also, of note, there are multiple paths by which the Penguins could have been in a position to accept all of Laine’s $8.7 million AAV, even after the Hayes trade, but those would involve trading away veteran players.
Dubas proved himself to be a creative GM last summer when he shuffled the cards like a Las Vegas magician to acquire Erik Karlsson.
More than a few observers, analysts, and writers, including this one, believed Laine would have been an adrenaline shot to the Penguins lineup, helped the power play, and gone a long way toward filling the void left by the Jake Guentzel trade, which currently remains only partially filled only by Michael Bunting.
Colleague Marc Dumont ran the numbers, and even with the difficulties and injuries of the last few years in Columbus, Laine was still scoring at a first-line rate, which figures to be a healthy addition to the Montreal Canadiens.
So, the short answer to all of the above would be the Penguins weren’t interested or not interested enough.
OK, that’s fair.
But why?
We will ask the major question that is awash in nuance without a definitive conclusion. Did Dubas believe Laine would improve the Penguins but not so much as to make them a contender, thus hampering the rebuild that is running concurrent to the present roster?
Or did Dubas just not want the $8.7 million gamble? The Columbus second-round pick could well be first-round adjacent as the 33rd or 34th pick next summer. Just as Dubas was willing to jettison the St. Louis Blues’ 2025 second-round pick, which is projected to be a top-40 pick, for later picks, we can surmise Dubas is not desperately trying for a quick flip.
Perhaps Laine would have pushed the Penguins to run afoul of Dubas’s stated goal of “not just squeak into the playoffs” because the Penguins’ lineup with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin feeding Laine would surely seem to be a playoff team, though not one capable of winning the Stanley Cup.
By accepting lesser-talented salary dumps and passing on potentially high-end players in the same situation, Dubas seems to be setting up for his own lottery pick and top-40 selection in the second without the destructive chaos of overtly cleaning house.
It would seem we’re all in for a new era, not only in Penguins hockey but also in Penguins intentions.
Categorized:Penguins Penguins Trade Talk
He showed he is not interested in winning by keeping Sully!
Dan,. I think l you are 100% correct. I know Dubas has talked about trying to field a “competitive team” while still planning for the future, but the more moves he makes the more it seems that the “field a competitive team” talk is mostly lip-service. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know I would have a lot more respect for what Dubas is doing if he just shed the false pretense and came out and said something along the lines of,”Listen, we all know that Sid is going to prevent this team from ever getting a top… Read more »
What seems to make the most sense to me is that Crosby and ownership have said that they don’t want a full teardown, but Dubas the GM probably does. Doing it this way gives Dubas some plausible deniability. By declaring a full teardown, he would take a hit on his ticket sales… Dubas is in charge of all the business and PR stuff too, not just on-ice product. Additionally, if Sid thinks he has a few more good years and sees this as a trainwreck in the making and wants out, then it totally becomes his decision-the Penguins can’t be… Read more »
Don’t think Dubas is hiding anything. Pens cap strapped w/fan favs. Enjoy.
Ding-ding-ding-ding!
I think u r a little off base. I agree with u on Dan’s article with Laine, too big of a price and gamble but I respectful disagree with u on how Dubas is retooling the team…he is doing exactly what he said. The Penguins are in a better position than last year, Dubas has filled in the holes that needed to be. Malkin needs to play and not give up. I expect a turn around for Karlson and Graves. The team lost faith in Jarry but that is also addressed. I have hope.
Again Enjoy. Blocked again.
Let me start by saying I didn’t give you the minus, but I do disagree, Dubas is doing exactly what he said he would do after the season. Last year was his last-ditch effort to add what he thought were NHL players that would make the team a contender. It didn’t work. I still like the Karlson trade and I would have signed Graves at that time based on his past performance. Both players still have a good chance of performing better this year. I didn’t like picking up Eller for 2 years, who has performed well, and Accairi for… Read more »
That’s mostly what I heard from him previously. It was the message about aggressively acquiring draft picks. To me, it’s obvious why he can’t put it in the terms you describe. For one, his contract is longer than 87, 71 and 58s. He has to continue to sell tickets while the renovation is under way. He’ll have to keep peace in the locker room. Etc. (Personally, I’d like to see 87 make the decision to play elsewhere and get a couple more Cups. That’d make it obvious, eh? And it would clear the way for GMKD to tear it down… Read more »
Sid is good for hockey period. For Sid and hockey’s sake I would like to see him go and get another cup or two. It would be tough to see him in another jersey, but in 10-15 years we’ll love him as an eternal penguin.
No he’s a penguin for life just like Mario. This is not a Jagr situation. To the folks who want out of here have either no soul or want to make sure the Pens never compete again or both. My guess is both. Fans have no soul and want the Pens to never compete again and for that SHAME ON ALL OF YOU.
Kyle has done exactly what he has said he was going to do. The team will be competitive, just as it was last season. He isn’t saying that the penguins are going for another cup because he knows that is not a realistic objective. The days of going for a cup are over, everyone knows it, the team is stuck in the middle of the pack for the forseable future unless the supporting players step up and contribute. As soon as everyone accepts these facts there will be less things for people to complain about. Personally i am fine with… Read more »
Now that Dominik Simon is a Free Agent …….
Still obsessed…smh, at least try to move on.
Patrick Laine simply wasnt worth pursuing for this team. Its surprising to me that any amount of “observers” would want a rapidly declining asset with a price tag that high. Much better off betting on a Rakell rebound, a player with a much more complete game and more positive presence and capable of 30 goals himself. Laine was never in a million years going to skate on Sids line. Hed be a disaster with Malkin. I just dont get the allure.
Passing on that trade is in no way shape or form indicative of a direction, just sensical roster management.
Why is not making the playoffs better than “squeaking” into the playoffs. That doesn’t make sense at all. Not going after laine feels like a real wasted opportunity especially since they chose to add bottom feeders like hayes and glass.
I don’t know, Eric. I think drafting 20th with no Cup chance has less appeal to Dubas than drafting 10th. That was the conclusion that I came to as I pondered writing this column.
Valid point. I get they aren’t a cup contender but regardless of how competitive the team really is they at least need to be entertaining and a guy that has a 40 goal season on his resume has the potential to be entertaining. You remember as well as I do how bleak things were for hockey in Pittsburgh the last time they bottomed out pre-Sid. It was unwatchable. Steeler fans will continue to watch and attend when the team is bad, and the pirates make a profit from mlb handouts no matter what. Penguins have neither of those luxuries. Plus… Read more »
You think Laine was worth 10 spots in the standings and THAT is why he wasnt pursued?
Laine is really overrated. Since he had a 40 goal season almost 7 years ago mind you, his numbers have progressively gotten worse each season. For 8.7 million for two more years, no thank you. You can make an RFA offer to Nicholas Roberson for less with more upside.
Three words — yuge defensive liability.
Three words — yuge defensive liability.
100 percent agree, not to mention since his 44 goal season, his numbers have gotten worse since.
Nobody knows the chemistry until they play. As bad as last year was, they were playing meaningful hockey in the last week of season… If either the power play was average, graves was not a disaster, they didn’t tank after Jake was shipped, or they eliminated own goals …they actually would have been a playoff team. And c’mon…only 1 team wins the cup. When they were favorites, they always found ways to lose… Philly brawl series, couldn’t score vs Boston … So if they make playoffs , everyone will watch, as it only takes on hot goalie, or some other… Read more »
The post-59 pouting is what surprised me. Moreso even than the own goal.
I forget about the own goal. That was wildly encapsulating of the season.