NHL Insider suggests a landing spot for Columbus Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine

usatsi_21538094

NHL insider Nick Kypreos on his Real Kyper and Bourne radio show yesterday suggested where Patrik Laine could go.

Kypreos says about Laine, "It's clear he wants out, Columbus wants to lower the payroll. Oh Yeah! Oh yeah! I do know there is interest for him. There is interest. I don't think a team would take him on his full salary. Columbus would have to eat some of it I believe."

Kypreos goes on to ask if the Winnipeg Jets would take Laine back. "He's shown great success there in the past, he was happy." Kypreos says. Rumors of why Laine wanted out of Winnipeg were because of bullying from Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele. Rumors were that Laine's young and upcoming status threatened him, and his right-wing position. Wheeler was the top right-wing on the team and apparently didn't like the fact that Laine scoring and gaining popularity.

Scheifele's role in it was that he openly preferred Wheeler over Laine. All this information came out after Laine was traded to Columbus in 2021. Head Coach Paul Maurice and Blake Wheeler admitted to making some mistakes when it came to Patrik Laine. Mark Scheifele however, refused to talk about it.

With Wheeler gone, would Laine ever want to go back to Winnipeg? It is an interesting take that I don't think Patrik Laine would ever approve of.

His co-host Justin Bourne offered the following question, "Do we need to be worried about Columbus? You have to spend to the cap in this league to compete. I understand that they don't have the players and are going to spend the money for nothing. But you're saying, we just finished 30th in the league and we're going to cut payroll."

Bourne brought up the salary situation after Kypreos said the CBJ wanted to lower the payroll. But lowering payroll and trying to get out from under Laine's contract are two different things. The Blue Jackets have over 10 RFAs to sign and may need every bit of the $23,775,000 they have available. Is it possible they won't replace Laine's salary? Of course, but that doesn't mean they're slashing payroll.

Don Waddell could be doing what he can for the 24-25 season, and then in the summer of 2025, he's going to let it rip.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts on our forum.

More From THN Columbus