Canadiens’ Patrik Laine Out Long-Term With Knee Sprain, Won’t Require Surgery
Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine is expected to miss 2-3 months due to a left knee sprain, the club announced Tuesday evening.
The positive news is Laine’s injury won’t require surgery and can be treated through rest and rehab, likely allowing the 26-year-old to return later this season. But it’ll likely be an extended time before he resumes on-ice activities.
Laine departed Saturday’s preseason affair against the Toronto Maple Leafs following a knee-on-knee collision with Cedric Pare at the 3:49 mark of the opening frame.
The Canadiens acquired the three-time 30-goal scorer in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets over the summer, shipping defenceman Jordan Harris the other way. They also received a 2026 second-round pick as part of the deal.
Montreal absorbed the remainder of Laine’s $34.8-million contract, which has two seasons left and carries an average annual value (AAV) of $8.7 million through 2025-26.
“We thought it was going to be maybe longer than that, looking at the video and stuff,” defenceman David Savard told reporters, including NHL.com’s Sean Farrell, following Tuesday’s 4-3 preseason loss to the Ottawa Senators. “We weren’t sure if it was going to be good news, but it’s definitely better than a lot of us expected. But it’s still a long time. It’s good news and bad news in a way.
“We’ll try to support him in that and make sure he’s feeling part of the team. You know, I think that’s the biggest thing when you come to a new team, especially if you’re not around the guys all the time, so we’ll try the best we can to make sure that he feels at home here in Montreal.”
Laine appeared in just 18 games with Columbus last season after suffering a broken clavicle last December and entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on January 28th. He exited the program on July 26th before being traded less than a month later.
The 6-foot-5 winger scored six goals and nine points in his fourth season with the Blue Jackets, averaging a career-low 15:13 minutes per night. In 2022-23, he tallied 22 goals and 52 points across 55 games, playing 19:07 per contest – the second-highest total of his career.
Once healthy, Laine will attempt to re-establish himself with his new team following a series of challenging seasons in Columbus that amounted to struggles on and off the ice, losing his shine as one of the NHL’s top goal scorers.
While Montreal received encouraging injury news on that front, the update on defenceman David Reinbacher – who also suffered an injury Saturday versus Toronto – was far more ominous, as he underwent surgery to repair his left ankle on Tuesday. As a result, he’s expected to miss 5-6 months and could be sidelined for the entire 2024-25 season.
The Canadiens will kick off their regular season at the Bell Centre against those same Maple Leafs next Wednesday, concluding the second half of a back-to-back against the Boston Bruins the following night.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Roopeank. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.