{"id":709831,"date":"2026-06-02T06:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/709831\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T06:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:31:12","slug":"canadiens-laine-says-he-had-green-light-to-play-excited-for-new-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/709831\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadiens’ Laine says he had green light to play, excited for \u2018new opportunities\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

BROSSARD \u2014 Patrik Laine<\/a> spent the last four months regularly skating with the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> without seeing game action.<\/p>\n

Turns out he might have been available all along.<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably could have played pretty soon after New Year\u2019s,\u201d Laine said Monday as players cleaned out lockers following a five-game defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes<\/a> in the Eastern Conference final.<\/p>\n

The sharpshooting Finnish winger was limited to just five games this season after undergoing core-muscle surgery in late October with a three-to-four month recovery timeline. He returned to practice in mid-January and became a regular participant later that month, but still finished the season on the injured list.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could have come back pretty early, but this is one of those things when you have surgeries and stuff, you don\u2019t always feel 100 per cent,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to rush anything and go play too early, and then take a step back and it takes longer. I wanted to be more cautious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said Laine\u2019s lengthy absence complicated a potential return.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so behind since he didn\u2019t play, and we were put in a situation where we absolutely had to win,\u201d said Hughes, who told reporters at the trade deadline that he\u2019d worked with Laine\u2019s agent to find solutions. \u201cIt made his situation difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laine said he eventually received the green light from the Canadiens\u2019 medical staff, although he couldn\u2019t remember exactly when.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things. I\u2019ll just leave it at that,\u201d he said of return-to-play discussions. \u201cI kind of figured early on that I probably wasn\u2019t going to be playing since I\u2019ve been out for four or five months and guys are battling for a playoff spot, and all the guys are playing great.<\/p>\n

\u201cFigured that I probably won\u2019t be playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laine arrived in Montreal via trade from Columbus in August 2024 after spending months in the NHL\/NHLPA Player Assistance Program for mental health reasons and recovering from shoulder surgery.<\/p>\n

Injury problems persisted with the Canadiens \u2014 he also hurt his knee that September \u2014 but the 28-year-old said playing in Montreal helped rekindle his love for the game. The former 44-goal man scored 20 times in 52 games during the 2024-25 season, doing most of his damage on the power play.<\/p>\n

Now a pending unrestricted free agent with his US$8.7 million salary cap hit set to expire, Laine knows he\u2019s probably looking at a new address next season after spending so much time in the Bell Centre press box.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to see new opportunities and see where it goes,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see where the wind takes me.\u201d<\/p>\n

A former second-overall draft pick who hasn\u2019t topped 30 goals since his third season, Laine remains confident his NHL journey is far from done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be playing in this league for a long time. That\u2019s not a question. That\u2019s never something I\u2019ve doubted,\u201d he said. \u201cI just kind of need an opportunity. Great shape, feel good. Still got a lot of time before next season, so that\u2019s definitely something I\u2019m not worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHAT\u2019S NEXT FOR MONTY?<\/p>\n

While Laine appears headed elsewhere, netminder Sam Montembeault isn\u2019t certain what the future holds after Jakub Dobes<\/a> and Jacob Fowler<\/a> took over in the crease.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old Montembeault began the season as Montreal\u2019s No. 1 goaltender but struggled to a .872 save percentage and 3.43 goals-against average just one year after representing Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off.<\/p>\n

Montembeault, also a key figure in Montreal\u2019s surprising 2025 playoff berth, has one year remaining on a contract carrying a US$3.15-million cap hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust with our team, the expectations were bigger this year; we had the Olympics, too. All of that was on my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m still under contract for a year. I\u2019m not the one making the decisions. What\u2019s important for me now is to have a good summer and be ready for next season.\u201d<\/p>\n

COLD CAUFIELD<\/p>\n

Cole Caufield<\/a> didn\u2019t beat around the bush when evaluating his playoff performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I sucked,\u201d Caufield said. \u201cThat\u2019s just plain and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

After scoring 51 times in the regular season \u2014 becoming the first Canadien to reach the half-century mark since 1990 \u2014 Caufield had nine goals in 19 playoff games. Just two came at even strength, an area where linemates Nick Suzuki<\/a> and Juraj Slafkovsky also struggled to generate offence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWant to be a lot better. I expect a lot more out of myself, and my teammates and coaches do, too,\u201d Caufield said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot more out there. Nowhere near satisfied with how that went.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about his top line\u2019s troubles, Hughes pointed to former Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> star Mitch Marner<\/a>, who is playing for this year\u2019s Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing here in Canada, it\u2019s going to be a little bit of the narrative going into the Cup final that there was that belief certain players in Toronto underperformed in the playoffs, and one playoff season wouldn\u2019t necessarily reflect another,\u201d he said. \u201cI think Mitch Marner<\/a> is sitting at the top of the playoff scoring race.\u201d<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROSSARD \u2014 Patrik Laine spent the last four months regularly skating with the Montreal Canadiens without seeing game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-709831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}