Laine ready to do ‘whatever it takes to contribute’ for Canadiens

Patrik Laine is excited about hockey again and excited about getting back to the level of game he had when he came into the NHL in 2016, especially with his goal production.

“I don’t want to come back as a 30-goal-scorer. I want to come back as a 40, 50- (goal-scorer). I’ve done that previously and it's not by accident,” Laine said after the Montreal Canadiens acquired him from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.

“But it’s not just all about that. I want to come in and do whatever it takes to contribute to the team and help the team win, whether it’s me scoring 50 or scoring 20, as long as the team wins. I’m getting to that age, I’m not 19 years old anymore. I just want to win.”

Indeed, the 26-year-old is ready for a fresh start with the Canadiens, who are looking to get back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs after not qualifying the past three seasons. He has two seasons remaining on the four-year, $34.8 million contract ($8.7 million average annual value) he signed with Columbus on July 22, 2022.

The No. 2 pick by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2016 NHL Draft, Laine has 388 points (204 goals, 184 assists) in 480 career games with the Jets and Blue Jackets. He scored a career-high 44 goals with the Jets in 2017-18 after scoring 36 his rookie season (2016-17).

Laine is coming off a trying season on and off the ice. He had nine points (six goals, three assists) in 18 games last season but last played on Dec. 14 because of a broken clavicle, on which he had surgery.

He then began receiving care from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Jan. 28. He was cleared from the program July 26. Laine said through the program he “learned things about myself, how to handle certain situations.”

“There’s always going to be stuff happening to you, a lot of adversity, a lot of good things and it’s how to handle that. I always wasn’t the best doing that,” Laine said.

“Now it’s how to navigate through it. It’s a is-the-glass-half-full-or-half-empty kind of thing and looking at things in a more positive perspective these days. Navigating through tough times is what I’ve learned. I feel I’m in a really, really good place and couldn’t be (more) excited with the news today.”

While Laine is expecting big production from himself, the Canadiens are taking the big picture approach with what he can bring.

"To me, this isn’t a transaction that either he scores 40 or 50 (goals) or it’s a bust, far from it,” Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said Monday. “My relay to him was: If you come here ready to contribute to this team, to do everything in your power to help us get to a place, and if that’s the opportunity that you’re looking for, then say no more. That’s what I want to hear from you.

“Whether you score 20 goals or 40 goals, your success here is not going to be defined strictly by goals. It’s going to be defined by your ability to help contribute to this team and help us.”

It’ll also be defined by how much Laine can help the young Canadiens continue their growth. Center Nick Suzuki, who led the Canadiens with 77 points (33 goals, 44 assists) in 82 games last season, is 25 years old. Forwards Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky are 23 and 20, respectively.

“We’re very young, and he may be young at 26, but that still makes him an older statesman on the Montreal Canadiens. And we’re hoping that as such he’ll do his part to help and teach our young players,” Hughes said. “We talked to him about that, about you look back at your time when you came to Winnipeg as a young 18-year-old hockey player and you think about the people and things that helped you be successful, and you think about the things that occurred that maybe made it more difficult to be successful, and carry that forward to the Montreal Canadiens and help those players succeed.”

Laine is feeling good in every way. He’s recovering well off his shoulder surgery and said he has been skating with no problems.

“Still ripping the puck, so no issues there,” he said with a smile.

Now to put it all together again with the Canadiens.

“It’s been tough missing the playoffs the last handful of years, and in my second year being in the (Western) Conference Final (with Winnipeg) and seeing what that’s like, it’s all we play for. It’s why we work out in the summer and train as hard as we do, to get to those games. I’m going to do whatever it takes for me to contribute and take the Canadiens over there.”