- Pierre LeBrun floated Patrik Laine as a fit for the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday
- Laine is still unsigned with the regular season 10 days away
- Read below for where Laine’s goals actually come from and why that matters in Detroit
Patrik Laine is still without a team, and Pierre LeBrun just attached a new one to his name.
LeBrun, of The Athletic, raised the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday morning. He did it while passing along Max Bultman’s training camp observations out of Little Caesars Arena, a piece that flagged Detroit’s need for more scoring at five-on-five.
“I wonder about Patrik Laine as a possible fit in Detroit ?” LeBrun wrote. Here’s the post:
Nobody has reported negotiations. This is an insider looking at a roster hole and a free agent who has been on the market since July 1 and putting the two together.
Detroit went 41-31-10 for 92 points last season and scored 241 goals. The Red Wings have missed the playoffs 10 years running, the longest active drought in the league.
Todd McLellan spent camp this week talking about how his group plays rather than who it might add. He was asked what has to change in Detroit.
“Our team has to harden up a little bit,” McLellan said. “It has to get harder in front of the net. We have to try to push them to become that.”
Catch Saturday’s media availability with McLellan, Alex DeBrincat and Andrew Copp:
Laine went second overall in 2016 and scored 44 goals in his second NHL season. Across 537 games with Winnipeg, Columbus and Montreal he has 224 goals and 422 points.
There is a catch. Eighty-five of those 224 goals came on the power play, and the hole Bultman pointed at in Detroit is at five-on-five.
His last two seasons cut both ways. He put up 20 goals in 52 games for the Canadiens in 2024-25, then injuries held him to five games and a single assist last year.
Take a look at his first goal as a Canadien:
Six other clubs have come up this summer. Laine was tied to five teams in August, the Panthers surfaced after Brad Marchand’s surgery, and Ottawa looked at him before betting on Andre Burakovsky. None of it turned into a contract.
The Red Wings are running camp with Shawn Horcoff as interim general manager and Dylan Larkin’s trade request still sitting there unresolved. Signing Laine would cost them a roster spot and some cap room, and nothing else.
