Trade Talk: Flyers Looking at Leap to Land Laine?
Why on Earth would the Jets Want to Trade the Talented Winger and Could the Flyers Land Him?
I remember the first time I saw film on Patrik Laine. It was a beast of a man, who flew on his skates and had a missile of a shot. I thought it was Alex Ovechkin. The twenty-two year old, six foot five inch, winger may not be quite as good as Alexander the great, but he certainly can score. A star scoring winger may be the one ingredient that the Flyers don’t yet have, apologies to Tyson Foerster.
Laine is the type of player any team would want to have, so why would Winnipeg want to trade him? There has been a lot of smoke, be it conflict with coaches, complaints about ice time, too much pressure, not enough pressure, lack of effort on defense and even bad line mates. None of the smoke that surrounds Laine has been substantiated by Laine’s camp or coaches, though Laine’s agents have stated they see Laine leaving the Jets.
From the players perspective Laine’s contract renewal has been on his mind as far back as 2019, after signing his extension he and his representation were not happy with. This could come down to simply money, or perceived disrespect. Negotiations sometimes leave wounds that never heal. This just feels like more than a money issue to me.
While Winnipeg is beautiful, and is the largest city in the province, it has less than a million people. It is not Miami, Chicago, New York or LA. Maybe the scene is a little to sleepy for a young single millionaire. This is pure speculation, but could be another reason to leave.
From the team’s perspective it seems the only hockey reason for the Jets to trade him is the salary cap. Worse yet, it is the salary cap just for this year. The Jets have under $100,00 in cap space, with three RFA still available. This season is a problem, though there will be cap relief with Bryan Little and his $5,200,000 cap hit likely to be on IR all season. Beyond this season, things are pretty smooth sailing with over 30 million dollars of cap space not committed in 21-22. It seems strange to be looking at moving an all world talent because of one bad cap year. But here we are.
ASIDE: If someone happened to be harboring some sort of hateful grudge against the Thrashers…err Jets, I would offer sheet Jack Roslovic, like yesterday.
With cap space so limited and players still left to sign for this season the Jets are particularly vulnerable right now. In a normal situation, a team would let the unhappy player finish his contract, then take the compensation for the player when they sign an offer sheet from another team. My guess is Laine would fetch at least two 1st round picks, a second round pick and a third round pick based on the RFA compensation table. Winnipeg still has that as an option, but has little roster flexibility in the meantime.
Taking all factors in to account, it appears the Jets would rather get the Laine situation settled this season. It would also appear that some kind of immediate cap relief might be a requirement, we know the Jets would not take on more salary. The Flyers may have the players, and a strategy to make the deal.
The center piece of the deal would be Gostisbehere. This is the piece that the Jets need the most, a left-handed defender who could energize their powerplay. The Jets may also have a player in house that would pair nicely with the occasionally defensively challenged Ghost. Gostisbehere is also attractive for the Flyers to move because it eliminates the possibility of losing him for nothing via expansion.
Gostisbehere alone would not be enough, even with including a first-round pick in 2022 and retention of some of Ghost’s salary. The best sweetener might be Scott Laughton. Laughton had his best season as a pro last year. He can play center or wing and thrived as the talent around him got better. Winnipeg is loaded with forward talent. Laughton is also in the last year of his deal and looks in line to get a nice raise.
The Flyers have Nolan Patrick, Morgan Frost and German Rubstov looking to get regular NHL playing time. None of those players play the same way as Laughton, but they all could bring something to the position. Between them something could likely be worked out to fill the space if Laughton were to be dealt.
This would be a nice haul for Winnipeg, probably quite not as much as Laine is worth, but then again, the Jets are the one who are shopping him. For the Flyers, it eases the concern of losing a plus defensemen in expansion. I have not been very impressed with the office’s results in the draft since Hextall departed, so it is worth the pick for the certain talent of Laine. Laughton would be a loss, but he may be at the height of his value. If losing Laughton proves to be a critical mistake, the team will have an opportunity in next season’s free agency rush.
Best of all, the Flyers get to test drive Laine for a season before deciding if they want to commit to a long-term deal. If they decide they don’t want him they Flyers could get as many as four 1st round picks as compensation, and Laine’s agents will be trying hard to make that happen. That is a nice insurance policy in case Laine turns out to be a bad fit for the team.
If the Flyers want to make a splash, or get that coveted scoring winger today, dealing with Winnipeg may be the best course of action. It seems the onus is on the Jets to make the deal, while the Flyers have a bit longer to figure out what to do with Gostisbehere. Who knows, a bad tweet or a heated negotiation session may be the catalyst to get a deal done.