Should The Flyers Acquire Patrik Laine

Over the last couple of weeks there has been a lot of pressure on the Winnipeg Jets front office. Just one year removed of losing basically their entire defense core, it appears their elite goal-scorer Patrik Laine is inevitably on his way out of town as well.

Pierre LeBrun on Insider Trading: “Patrik Laine’s agents do confirm that it probably would be mutually beneficial to both the player and the #GoJetsGo if he is traded, and that there is clear communication between them and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff about this.”

— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) October 15, 2020

According to Pierre LeBrun on TSN1050 Toronto, Laine’s agent has said to the Jets front office that a trade would be mutually beneficial. So that begs the question, should the Flyers acquire the 22 year old right-winger?

Well, we know Chuck Fletcher has tried. Frank Seravalli and other journalists have confirmed that the Flyers and Jets have been in talks about Laine. The chatter has halted for the moment because the Jets opening asking price was too steep for the Flyers to pull the trigger. What was the asking price? Well, we don’t fully know but we’ve heard reports of potentially Provorov, Sanheim, Myers, or Konecny were involved.

Believe the #Flyers were the team most engaged with #nhljets to this point on Laine. Talks have cooled for now. Though it did involve a defenceman going to WPG, the Niskanen retirement is a nonfactor in PHI’s ability to revisit a potential Laine deal. Will they? We’ll see. https://t.co/jjqWMc0cxc

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) October 6, 2020

The fact of the matter is where there is smoke there is fire. Clearly this relationship between Laine and Jets management has been tainted and a deal will eventually get done, but it’s a matter of when. The Jets are losing leverage by the day and the package they could get for him will worsen as time goes on.

If you have a chance to acquire an elite goalscorer who is 22 years of age, and no where near his prime years, you try to do it. To me the only untouchables on this team are Carter Hart, Ivan Provorov, and Sean Couturier. That’s it.

Laine’s cap hit comes in at around 6.75 million for the next season before he becomes a restricted free agent. After this season he’s gonna look to be extended and make somewhere between 8-9 million and potentially more, depending on how he performs in this contract year. Take a look at his career statistics so far.

Yes, there’s been a bit of a decline since his 44 goal campaign and there is also questions about his defense, but there’s no denying this guy brings world-class offense to the table. See for yourself.

Been a while since I did one of these, so here’s a 2 minute reel of Patrik Laine scoring ridiculous goals and making it look very easy pic.twitter.com/xWEbbb9fIC

— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) October 16, 2020

Perhaps Fletcher is waiting for Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff to lose more leverage and lower his asking price, or maybe Fletcher realizes this is unrealistic. Regardless we know the Flyers are keeping tabs on this transaction, and Fletcher usually keeps these kind of things in-house.

As of right now the Philadelphia Flyers are the front-runner to acquire Patrik Laine, and while the movement of Laine could take months and potentially even up until the trade deadline to happen; I want it to happen. A change of scenery would do Laine some good and on a team full of a playmakers, he will thrive in my opinion. As long as Provorov, Hart, or Couturier aren’t going the other way… I’d pull the trigger.

---

Land the plane Chuck.

Chuck Fletcher… I’m begging. pic.twitter.com/ySSixKsaUE

— Danny (@TLYDanny) October 6, 2020

Make sure you stay up to date throughout the Flyers offseason with The Liberty Yell podcast. Available where ever you listen to podcasts.

Mandatory Credit: NBC Sports / Hockey-Reference