Interested Teams in Patrik Laine Have Work First Before a Trade Can Be Complete
NHL Network: Aaron Portzline of The Athletic joined NHL Network during the Columbus Blue Jackets Outlook with Jamie Hersch and Stu Grimson to discuss what comes next for teams looking to trade for Patrik Laine now that he is out of the Player Assistant Program
** NHLRumors.com transcriptions
Jamie Hersch: “Finally, we learned that Patrick Laine has been cleared from the NHL NHLPA Player Assistance Program. But that does not necessarily mean his future is set with the Blue Jackets, and for more on that, we bring in Blue Jackets Insider and the guy who keeps a pulse on everything happening in Columbus let’s be real Aaron Portzline taking time out of his vacation to join us right now as he said too the Blue Jackets kept you busy over the weekend. Let’s start with the Laine news, though, because it kind of alluded to this just because he’s out of the program doesn’t necessarily mean he will stay in Columbus. What are you hearing on that front?”
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Aaron Portzline: “Yeah, now the ball can get moving forward, which is the good news. I mean, first of all, the good news is that Patrick Laine is out of the program that can only happen when the doctors associated with the program deem him well enough to be cleared. So that’s the first bit of good news.
And now for the Blue Jackets from their perspective. They can start talking to Patrik. More importantly, other teams can start talking to Patrik. Teams that are considering training for him, and it’s pretty clear they want to have a word with him first; he played 18 Games last season. They’ll want some clarity on what the program was about, where he’s at, where his head is at, and where his heart is at, and those conversations can start now.
I think honestly, Don Waddell did not want to trade him until other teams had a chance to talk to him. He doesn’t know the player. He’s new in Columbus, he doesn’t have a relationship with Patrik. And he doesn’t want to be that guy that trades players to another team or misrepresenting what that player can be.
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So it’s up to the teams that are interested in how to contact the Blue Jackets. They’ve gotten permission from the Blue Jackets to speak directly to his agent Andy Scott so all that they’ve been waiting for this summer going back before the draft before free agency, now they can start to proceed with.”
