There’s an $8.7 million question the Habs have likely been pondering for a while. When Patrik Laine returns from his core muscle injury, what are they going to do with him? With him skating and nearing a return, that question is about to be answered.
He wasn’t playing particularly well in his first few games this season and had largely worked his way to unplayable status by the time the playoffs rolled around last season. If you look at the lineup the Canadiens deployed against Ottawa, does Laine have a spot? Now add Kirby Dach to that mix and finding a spot in the top 12 for him looks even more daunting.
Of course, being close to fully healthy is a problem that doesn’t typically exist for long. Enough players are banged up that one or two could plausibly sit and heal for a bit and if that’s the case, the question will answer itself; he’ll replace whoever is going to get a break.
But if that’s not in the cards, the Habs have one too many players on the roster when Laine and Dach are both activated. Of the few waiver-exempt players they have, only Zach Bolduc has a semi-realistic chance of being sent down. For the sake of being thorough, the other exempt players are Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, and Oliver Kapanen. They’re not going anywhere.
They could waive Samuel Blais but he’s been claimed twice already. Joe Veleno hasn’t done much but he’s centre depth at a time when half the league is looking for centre depth. If he’s waived, he’s probably gone. And, knowing how depth can be depleted rather quickly, I’m not sure management necessarily wants to make a trade or risk losing anyone.
That could make Bolduc the odd man out roster-wise, but there is another option, depending on how ruthless management wants to be. What if Laine is the roster casualty? With his poor performance pre-injury and contract, he’s not really at risk of being claimed off waivers. (And if he were claimed, all of Montreal’s cap problems would immediately be solved.)
Stashing him in Laval for a few weeks (or whenever more injuries strike) would allow him to start building up his conditioning before being recalled no later than the trade deadline when roster limits go away. They wouldn’t get much cap relief with him in the minors (a pro-rated $1.15 million in cap space) but even that would give them some much-needed wiggle room on that front. For anyone wondering, a conditioning stint while on IR is an option but it’s a short-term fix and Laine would have to agree to it which I suspect he wouldn’t.
Is it something they want to do? Probably not. Do I think they will? Probably not. But, if the goal is to avoid risking losing some depth while ensuring that Laine gets some playing time (which, again, will be a challenge in Montreal), this might be the best way to do it. It won’t be a popular move to make but it might be the right one. Either way, with Laine being close to returning, they need to figure out the answer to this question very soon.