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Jarmo Kekalainen on Patrik Laine trade rumours ''people make up sh*t''

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Cooper Godin
March 2, 2022  (11:08)
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If the National Hockey League had an award for bounce back player, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine would be among the candidates.

The 2020-21 season was a rough one for the 23-year-old Finn. He started out by playing one game with the Winnipeg Jets before being dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Once he got to Columbus, he found himself in John Tortorella's dog house, being benched on a few occasions. Laine finished the season with 24 points in 46 games, the lowest total of his career thus far.

Laine has bounced back and in 35 games, he's tallied 38 points (20 G, 18 A). He'll become a restricted free agent this summer, but is open to signing long-term with the Blue Jackets.

Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen spoke with Pierre LeBrun to discuss a number of topics, including Patrik Laine and said that he is annoyed by the talk of trade rumours regarding the young Finn.

"Yeah, it bothers me because people make up sh*t, that's what bothers me," Kekalainen said. "I understand that sometimes from conversations you have (with teams), some of it may leak out, and a name gets in there, but this is not a case like that. This is just somebody making shit up from their own speculation of what we might do. They make it up and hope for the headlines and hope for the clicks. I think that's unethical. And I don't have any time for it."

Kekalainen was also asked about Laine's contract status, but he said that they aren't in a rush to lock up the Tampere native.

"When the time is right, we're going to sit down and look at all the options together and see if we can come to a solution that he will stay for us for a term that fits the need of both sides and for the dollars that meet the needs of both sides.

Let's see if there's a marriage that we can get into. And if not, you know, that's hockey. I always say, every player that gets into the time frame when they can become (unrestricted) free agents, they can do that if they want to. And there's not much we can do about it."

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