{"id":750569,"date":"2026-06-21T01:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T01:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/750569\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T01:08:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T01:08:10","slug":"oilers-free-agent-targets-patrik-laine-is-a-low-risk-high-reward-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/750569\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers free agent targets: Patrik Laine is a low-risk, high-reward option"},"content":{"rendered":"

NHL free agency is just over a week away, and the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> are expected to explore all available options.Recently, hockey insider Pierre LeBrun noted there has been significant interest in forward Patrik Laine, who played just five games last season with the Montreal Canadiens. He recently said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hook there is that teams can sign him to a low-risk deal because he spent more than 100 days on injured reserve this past season, meaning he\u2019s eligible for a performance bonus-based contract at a low average annual value.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that in mind, let\u2019s take a look at what Laine could bring to the Oilers and whether it makes sense to acquire him.<\/p>\n

What could Laine add to the Oilers\u2019 lineup?Laine would add scoring to the Oilers<\/a>, and could be the trigger man next to Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, with one of his top skills being his hard, accurate shot, having scored the fourth-most goals (224) among the 2016 NHL Draft class.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old only played five games last season due to injury, which we\u2019ll dive deeper into later in the article. However, using NHL Edge data from the 2024-25 season as a larger sample, his hardest recorded shot was 90.69 MPH, which ranked in the 82nd percentile in the NHL.<\/p>\n

Where Laine can really make an impact for any NHL club is by ripping pucks on the power play from the top of the circle.<\/p>\n

Since he missed most of last season, let\u2019s take a look at his body of work from 2024\u201325. Despite missing 30 games, he still led the Canadiens with 15 power-play goals, and all 15 came in a similar fashion.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t banging away at rebounds, and the puck wasn\u2019t deflecting off his shin pads into the net. Instead, he was blasting pucks from the left half boards, and as a right shot, burying one-timers from that spot \u2014 an element I feel the Oilers haven\u2019t had since Mark Letestu<\/a> was wiring them from the left-side half wall back in 2016\u201317.<\/p>\n

DEATH. TAXES. LAINE PP GOAL \ud83e\udd1d \ud83d\udea8 <\/p>\n

There\u2019s certainly value in having that skill set in the lineup, but the question is, would the Oilers really need Laine on their power play? After all, their main group of Connor McDavid<\/a>, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman, and Evan Bouchard already forms one of the best power play units<\/a> ever assembled, having led the NHL last season with a 30.6% power play.<\/p>\n

That said, Laine\u2019s best fit on the PP would be where Nugent-Hopkins usually sets up, and he could be a good backup option if the 33-year-old \u201cNuge\u201d sees his offence dip next season.<\/p>\n

Also, I feel Laine could provide valuable insurance if one of the Oilers\u2019 power-play staples goes down with an injury. We saw last season how out of sync the first unit looked when Draisaitl was out of the lineup down the stretch<\/a>, at times struggling to connect on routine plays. If the Oilers were to insert Laine onto the top unit, they could keep things simple \u2014 set him up for one-timers and let him rip.Alternatively, it seemed like the messaging from the leaders<\/a> at the end of last season was about giving other players opportunities, which could translate to more minutes from the second-unit power play, and could feature Matt Savoie<\/a> as the main puck distributor with Laine as the shooter.Should the Oilers pursue Laine?<\/p>\n

As valuable as his shot is, there are some concerns when it comes to Laine.<\/p>\n

One concern is his health. Laine underwent core-muscle surgery last October that kept him sidelined for a few months. He mentioned he could\u2019ve played after New Year\u2019s<\/a>, and although he was given the green light to return in the new year, the Canadiens opted to keep him out of the lineup because the team was battling for a playoff spot and he had been out for so long.<\/p>\n

There are also question marks about his foot speed. As mentioned, he only played five games last season, but using his data from NHL Edge from the 2024\u201325 season, where he played 52 games, his 20.17 MPH max skating speed ranked well below the 50th percentile.<\/p>\n

Lastly, there are concerns about his defensive game at five-on-five. Over the last six seasons, he\u2019s posted a combined minus-79 rating and, to put it simply, the Finnish forward is no former Selke Trophy winner, Jere Lehtinen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All things considered, should the Oilers pursue Laine?<\/p>\n

As Ryley Delaney<\/a> alluded to recently, a major acquisition decision to be made for the Oilers\u2019 top six hinges on the outcome of the Darnell Nurse<\/a> trade and the amount of money left over for the Oilers to work with. If they strike out on acquiring a legitimate top-six forward, Laine could be a very inexpensive scoring option, especially with right-shot Jack Roslovic and Kasperi Kapanen<\/a> rumoured to be testing the free agency market.<\/p>\n

That said, I\u2019d take a flyer on him if the Oilers strike out on other options, but only if it\u2019s a cheap deal, somewhere in the ballpark of a one-year, bonus-laden contract in the $1.5 million to $2 million range and mainly use him in offensive situations.<\/p>\n

Also, Oilers management could pitch Laine and his agent, Andy Scott \u2014 who also represents Draisaitl<\/a> \u2014 on a low-cost, one-year deal. The opportunity to play alongside either McDavid or Draisaitl could help Laine boost his production, rebuild his value, and position himself for another lucrative long-term contract down the road, wherever that may be.<\/p>\n

Laine may not be a stalwart defensively, but if he can be had on an inexpensive contract, it\u2019s a low-risk, high-reward type of deal worth exploring.<\/p>\n

Having another one-shot scorer on the team is never a bad thing, and that type of weapon in the Oilers\u2019 arsenal can make all the difference in a tight playoff game, like a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final<\/a>, down by a goal, type of scenario.Other Oilers free agent targets\u2026PRESENTED BY THE DAILY FACEOFF FREE AGENCY SPECIAL\"\"<\/a>Daily Faceoff is your Free Agency Headquarters! Big moves. Breaking news. Instant analysis. Daily Faceoff is bringing the team together July 1st for a live Free Agency Special featuring Jeff Marek, Tyler Yaremchuk, Carter Hutton, and Dave Pagnotta. Tune in at noon ET on the Daily Faceoff YouTube Channel<\/a> and socials for full coverage as the NHL landscape changes. WATCH LIVE!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NHL free agency is just over a week away, and the Edmonton Oilers are expected to explore all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-750569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}