Patrik Laine’s offseason has taken a turn that no one around the NHL seems able to pin down just yet, and the longer his contract search drags on, the more Europe starts to look like a real option.
The former Montreal Canadiens forward is still without a deal, and there has been no concrete NHL offer on the table. That’s a sharp change from earlier in the summer, when his name was tied to multiple teams, including the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Those conversations never turned into anything real.
Laine’s market is also complicated by the season he just finished. It was shortened and he spent much of it on the injured list, which only adds to the uncertainty surrounding his next move. He remains eligible for a contract with strong bonuses, a detail that could still make him attractive to some teams.
Even so, the momentum is shifting. A return to Europe is becoming a more plausible path by the day, much like the route Jeff Skinner just took.
Skinner signed a one-year contract with EHC Biel-Bienne in Switzerland, stepping away from the NHL for now. That move carries extra weight because Skinner is no fringe player; he has 379 career goals.
For Laine, that kind of precedent makes the situation harder to ignore. It would be a disappointing outcome for a player who has been trying to land an NHL deal, but right now Europe appears to be gaining steam as the fallback plan.
Nothing has been decided yet. But at the moment, that may be the clearest thing about Laine’s future: the NHL door hasn’t shut, yet Europe could end up being the only way forward.
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