Patrik Laine's days with the Montreal Canadiens are over. This, we already know. The unrestricted free agent had a lost season in 2025-26, playing only five games in October, then going down to injury and never returning to the Habs lineup.
Laine fell out of favor in Montreal, but let's not forget that he's only 28 years old and has no less than seven 20-goal seasons in his 10 years in the NHL. He popped 20 as recently as 2024-25 in his first year with the Habs. He has 224 career goals.
Now that his hefty $8.7 million cap hit is over with, he will garner some interest on the UFA market from teams looking for some scoring, at a much cheaper price.
Hockey insider Frank Seravalli and John Buccigross discussed exactly who would have Laine on their radar, on Frankly Hockey on Victory+. They listed six good fits that make sense for Laine.
Carolina Hurricanes
Seattle Kraken
New Jersey Devils
Nashville Predators
Utah Mammoth
Florida Panthers
Hurricanes 'really stand out' as a landing spot for UFA Patrik Laine
The Stanley Cup Champions really stand out for Seravalli as the team that should be all over Laine.
"The Carolina Hurricanes," said the insider. "They've taken a chance before on players that were drafted high and showed some promise... They have some (Finnish players), maybe they could find some magic with the success that Laine has had on the world stage with them...
"Try it for one year and give it a whirl, and he might want the challenge of playing for Rod Brind'Amour–working hard, skating, and being in proper shape... I think Carolina is the team to watch, because they're always looking to get better and add more goals, and shot volume is the name of their game."
Other teams looking for scoring are in the mix for Laine, as well
Buccigross notes that the Devils' issue is scoring goals, and that Seattle is "always looking for some sort of little buzz, lightning in a bottle." We would posit that they found it this season at the trade deadline with Bobby McMann, but his price might be too high on the free agent market. That shouldn't be the case for Laine.
Utah is another team that's looking to add some scoring punch up front. Additionally, Laine's size (6'4") could work for them.
Florida Panthers could be ideal fit for UFA Patrik Laine
Seravalli then chimed in with the Panthers.
"He played for Paul Maurice and had his most successful years in Winnipeg. Aleksander Barkov is another Finn. You've got the other Finns there... Florida has been the place where players... who had the talent and couldn't put it all together, that's the place where they've all found it."
AFP Analytics shockingly projects Laine to land only an $850,000 AAV and a one-year deal. So it won't cost much for any of these teams to take a shot and roll the dice on a seven-time 20-goal scorer.
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