NHL rumors: Patrik Laine linked to 5 teams by Canadiens reporter

Patrik Laine remains one of the more intriguing unrestricted free agents on the market over a month and a half since the start of NHL free agency on July 1. The 28-year-old appeared in just five games with the Montreal Canadiens in 2025-26, and it appears likely he will play for a new team this fall.

Although he has failed to land a contract for the 2026-27 campaign in the offseason thus far, Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette linked the Finn to five potential destinations last week.

“Since free agency began on July 1, Laine has been linked to the New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and, more recently, the Philadelphia Flyers,” Zurkowsky wrote.

“Most of those teams would make sense as destinations for various reasons. Mostly, if a club is seeking offence, the 6-foot-4, 208-pound Laine can deliver.”

Laine was also linked to the New York Islanders earlier this summer, making it six teams who could be interested in the former 44-goal scorer’s services.

It’s certainly a much larger list than has been reported anywhere else, especially as the Isles reportedly were only willing to give Laine a professional tryout agreement for the preseason.

The teams on Zurkowsky’s list make varying degrees of sense; the Flyers would make a lot of sense after the franchise finished dead last in power-play success rate in 2025-26. Although he would potentially take a roster spot away, he could be utilized mostly on special teams.

The Wild also make sense after losing Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson and possibly Vladimir Tarasenko this summer. Despite having an elite man advantage unit led by Quinn Hughes and Kirill Kaprizov, adding another scoring forward wouldn’t hurt.

As for the Rangers and Islanders, both teams failed to advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025-26 and could add Laine in potential retooling seasons.

Both stacked with offensive talent, neither the Lightning nor Maple Leafs make a ton of sense, especially as both clubs tried to add grit over the summer. Additional offense isn’t necessarily a glaring area of need for either franchise.

Coming off a four-year, $34.8 million contract he signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Laine will need to accept a significantly lower base salary if he is going to remain in the NHL.

But he qualifies for performance-based incentives due to his injury history, and that could allow any team to take a flier on a player who was once considered one of the best young players in the league.

It’ll be interesting to see if he has a new contract by the time training camps open in September.

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