Portzline: Blue Jackets' Patrik Laine trade gives them huge cap space, a 'clean slate'

COLUMBUS, Ohio — New general manager. New coach. A new No. 1 center. Even a new television play-by-play voice.

There’s so much about the Columbus Blue Jackets that has been reimagined this summer — call it a rebirth in the middle of a rebuild — but there was one lingering issue that needed to be put to rest before the 2024-25 season could start with a clean slate.

On Monday, Don Waddell accomplished one of the major issues he assumed when he became general manager in May. Left winger Patrik Laine, who had requested a trade, was sent to the Montreal Canadiens along with a second-round pick in 2026 for 24-year-old defenseman Jordan Harris.

The best part of the deal for Columbus — and the part that few thought Waddell could achieve, especially at this late date in the offseason  — is that the Blue Jackets aren’t retaining any portion of Laine’s massive contract, which pays him $8.7 million this season and next.

The second-best part? The Laine matter is closed in Columbus.

Over the last few weeks, both Waddell and Laine’s agent, Andy Scott, said all the right things about what might happen if Waddell couldn’t find a trade to his liking and Laine was still on the roster when training camp dawned next month.

At best, it would have been a major distraction. At worst, it could have been a confrontational mess — a training camp holdout, a poisoning of the young dressing room, etc.

“It solves what potentially could have been an issue, knowing that the player didn’t want to be here, and his teammates knew that, too,” Waddell told The Athletic. “I don’t know how it would have gone if he had to come.

“You hope for the best. But how things were last year (for Laine in Columbus), I’m not sure that would have been the case.”

Laine played only 18 games for the Blue Jackets last season. He also entered the NHL/NHL Players’ Association assistance program in January and exited it last month. One of the games he missed (Nov. 19 vs. Philadelphia) was as a healthy scratch, a decision made by former coach Pascal Vincent that Laine called “the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to me.”

One month later, Laine suffered a fractured collarbone that knocked him out of the lineup for six weeks.

The Blue Jackets were ready to move on from Laine, too. If there has been one theme to Waddell’s maneuverings this offseason, it’s been a housecleaning of players who have been injury-prone and otherwise inconsistent — Adam Boqvist, Alexandre Texier, Jake Bean, and now Laine.

They want to play a much more competitive, straight-ahead style, which is why a no-shortcuts coach like Dean Evason was hired to run the bench.

It’s unclear how Laine may have fit in Evason’s new system, but the Blue Jackets no longer have to shape their style of play around Laine’s unicorn-like skill set. That’ll be a relief for many.

Waddell said Montreal GM Kent Hughes called this weekend asking for permission to speak with Laine, even though Waddell had already made it clear to Scott, the agent, that he had permission to speak with any club in the league.

“On Sunday, (Hughes) texted and said he’d had a good conversation with (Laine),” Waddell said. “We were going back and forth then on what they really wanted and it got down to something we felt we could do. It’s a fair deal, and it’s a clean slate.”

Of all the discussions Waddell had with his fellow GMs, Montreal was the only club willing to take on all of Laine’s contract.

On paper, the Blue Jackets would have several candidates to fill the wings on the top three lines to help make up for Laine’s absence. That’s especially true if captain Boone Jenner, who played on the wing at the start of his NHL career, moves back to his comfort zone.

With Johnny Gaudreau, Jenner, Kirill Marchenko, Yegor Chinakhov, Kent Johnson and Dmitry Voronkov, Evason will have some options.

But Waddell might not be finished this offseason.

The trade of Laine leaves the Blue Jackets with $18.2 million in salary cap space. Only Calgary ($19.2 million) and Anaheim ($21.7 million) have more space. When the Laine trade became known Monday, Waddell said he was contacted immediately by two other GMs who have salary-cap issues.

“It sets us up,” Waddell said. “If nothing happens now, we’ll go to training camp and see how things shake out. If nothing happens, we’ll be in a great position going forward.”

And as much as Waddell likes the potential of that forward group…

“If I could find the right guy to throw into that mix, it would be good for us, to be honest with you,” he said.

Among the teams that, according to PuckPedia, are over the salary cap with a month to go before camp: Washington ($10.2 million), Edmonton ($5.9 million) and Vegas ($3.6 million).

(Photo of Patrik Laine: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)