Montreal Canadiens dangle star player in blockbuster pitch to longtime rivals
Alexis Lafreniere to the Canadiens was apparently more than barstool talk, and Patrik Laine was reportedly part of the package.
Frank Seravalli dropped the framework Wednesday on Frankly Hockey. What got whispered, per Seravalli: a pick, a prospect and Laine going to the Rangers for Lafreniere.
His wording was careful, "if this was truly a thing," but he believes the conversation happened. That's enough to take seriously.
Start with what Montreal would be getting. Lafreniere is 24, played all 82 games this season, and put up 24 goals and 57 points on a Rangers team that finished 29th overall.
A Quebec-born former first overall pick landing in Montreal? The market would lose its mind. Kent Hughes knows exactly what that sells.
The post lays out Seravalli's exact framework, pick, prospect and Laine, in his own cautious phrasing.
-
Patrik Laine's lost season makes this math work for Montreal
Now the part nobody in Montreal will mourn. Laine appeared in just 5 games this season, finishing with a single point.
He carries an $8.7 million cap hit. For a team that won 48 games and piled up 106 points without him, that's dead money walking out the door.
Swapping that contract for Lafreniere's $7.45 million isn't just a hockey trade. It's a cap cleanse with a 24-year-old winger attached.
The catch sits on the other end of the phone. Why would Chris Drury take Laine's deal off Montreal's hands while also surrendering his most marketable young forward?
The answer has to be the pick and the prospect. New York just finished 8th in its division under Mike Sullivan. A retool needs futures, not another expensive forward.
There's a fit question too. Lafreniere closed the year with 7 points over his last 10 games. He produces. Whether he produces enough to justify top-six minutes alongside Nick Suzuki or Cole Caufield is the real evaluation.
Here's my read: if Hughes can turn the Laine contract into Lafreniere, he does it before lunch. The risk is almost entirely New York's.
Seravalli framed it in the past tense. Conversations like this have a way of coming back in late June.
|
LIVE
JUNE 4, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brett Howden | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mark Jankowski | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||