Patrik Laine looks like a perfect Edmonton Oilers free-agent target
Could the Edmonton Oilers be lining up to bring Patrik Laine into the fold this summer?
Free agency is less than a month away, and GM Stan Bowman has a lot of work to do. On top of finding the team’s next head coach, there are also a plethora of roster holes that he will need to fill, either through trade or free agency.
One of the Oilers’ most pressing needs is some offensive support for the big guns. Depth scoring took a nosedive for Edmonton this past season, and they will need to bring in more players who can put the puck in the net if they want to see any meaningful improvement.
That will likely mean adding at least one top-six forward and another middle-six winger who can be moved around. Typically, those kinds of players don’t come cheap, but there is one player who could be had for a relatively cheap deal, although he comes with some risks.
Laine seems to be careening toward a divorce with the Montreal Canadiens this summer after an injury-riddled year that limited him to just five regular-season games.
The former second-overall pick now seems destined to hit free agency on July 1 and is likely to be had on a cheap, bonus-laden contract. That could be a perfect recipe for an Oilers club looking to acquire top-end talent on the cheap.
But would he be worth the risk? Let’s break down the pros and cons…
Obvious fit with Oilers
Laine has the pedigree and a history of being an elite goalscorer in the NHL.
Since joining the league back in 2016-17, the 28-year-old Finn has put up 20 goals in just about every season where he was healthy for the majority of the year. That includes a 20-goal campaign in 2024-25 with the Canadiens. He’s a shot-first player who is always looking to score whenever he is on the ice.
That has long been the profile of a player that would fit on the Oilers, who have a plethora of elite play-makers like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and even Ryan Nugent-Hopkins down the middle.
You could plug-and-play Laine on the left wing of any of the top-three lines if you really wanted.
Laine has had his fair share of injury troubles, but if he can finally get past those issues, it would be a good bet to see him finish the season in that 20-goal range. Edmonton already has a similar player in Jack Roslovic, but he is expected to get a big payday once free agency comes around.
Considering Laine’s injury woes last season, he’s very likely to sign a cheaper deal than Roslovic this summer. Think about his next contract as being something in the range of Connor Brown’s first deal with the Oilers, a low cap hit with bonuses based on how many games Laine appears in.
That type of deal is a win-win for Edmonton, as it keeps the cap hit down and safeguards the team in case the injury bug hits Laine again.
The downsides
While Laine fits the bill as the type of player Edmonton could use next season, the Oilers shouldn’t put all their eggs in one basket here.
There is a decent chance that the Finnish sniper struggles to return to form after playing so little last year. The cap hit may be cheap, but he won’t be any help if he is injured or has regressed to a point where he’s out of the lineup. The Oilers have seen similar signings go this way recently, notably Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, both of whom also seemed like obvious fits on this Edmonton squad, only to become healthy scratches at some point.
Laine may help the offensive output while healthy, but he probably won’t do much on the defensive end of the puck. The Finn has long been regarded as a below-average player in his own end, and that is not likely to change heading into next season.
According to Natural Stat Trick, Laine’s tenure in Montreal has been plagued by poor defensive results. He had a high-danger chances-for percentage (HDCF%) of 38.14 and an expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) of just 40.10 over 57 games with the Canadiens dating back to the 2024-25 season.
Those are brutal metrics, and should cause some concern for any team interested in signing him, especially combined with the injury history.
The Oilers should do their due diligence when considering Laine this offseason. If they decide to bring him in, he shouldn’t be the only big offensive piece they acquire.
He’s a great player to take a flyer on and hope he can rediscover things, but he isn’t the kind of player Edmonton should bet big on.