The Minnesota Wild may get another shot at Patrik Laine, and this time the path looks a whole lot cleaner.
According to the Montreal Gazette’s Herb Zurkowsky, Minnesota is one of five teams connected to the unrestricted free-agent forward. The Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers were also named as possible landing spots.
That connection stands out because the Wild have been here before. Minnesota showed interest in Laine while he was with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but the move never happened after Laine rejected a trade to the State of Hockey.
Now, with Laine on the open market, the Wild could circle back without giving up anything to get him. They also wouldn’t have to work through the kind of trade protections that blocked the fit the first time around.
The appeal is easy to see. Laine missed almost all of last season, which naturally brings risk, but it also opens the door to a deal built around upside instead of certainty. A team could structure a contract with a modest base salary and performance bonuses tied to games played, goals or points, limiting the financial exposure if things go sideways again.
That kind of setup would make sense for Minnesota, especially after several changes to the forward group this offseason. Laine would give the Wild another scoring option without forcing the club to make a major money commitment.
The 28-year-old has never been shy about putting the puck in the net when he’s healthy. Drafted second overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 2016, Laine scored 36 goals as a rookie and then hit his career high with 44 goals and 70 points in 82 games the following season.
Through his first 306 games, the 6-foot-4 winger piled up 140 goals and 250 points. He also gave Minnesota plenty of trouble early in his career, with 10 goals and four assists for 14 points in 17 games against the Wild while with Winnipeg, plus two goals and two assists in five playoff games against them.
Laine has reached the 20-goal mark seven times in his NHL career, and he did it again in the 2024-25 season with the Montreal Canadiens. He scored 20 goals in 52 games, 15 of them on the power play, which works out to a 30-goal pace over an 82-game season.
That power-play production is part of what makes the fit interesting in Minnesota. With Mats Zuccarello gone, the Wild still need to settle on a replacement for him. The top unit is set to feature Matt Boldy, Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Quinn Hughes, while the fifth spot is still up for grabs.
Laine’s heavy right-handed shot would bring a different look to a group that’s otherwise all lefties. And unlike the last time Minnesota chased him, this would not require a trade package or a waiver of a no-trade clause.
It would just take Laine saying yes. Whether that turns into a contract is still unclear, but Minnesota’s past pursuit makes its name on his list of possible destinations impossible to ignore.
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