A summer saga that began with reports of a trade request in June has finally come to an end. Patrik Laine is a Montreal Canadien.

On Monday afternoon, we learned that the Habs sent Jordan Harris to Columbus in exchange for Laine and a second-round pick in the 2026 draft. Given the discrepancy in name value between Laine and Harris, I thought Montreal was the team giving up its second-round pick at first. However, a closer look reveals that the pick was a sweetener to make Laine's $8.7 million AAV (two years remaining) easier to stomach. This is an excellent move from Canadiens' General Manager Kent Hughes, who has successfully leveraged Montreal's abundance of talent on the blueline to further the team's recent mission of acquiring high-end offensive skill. That mission has taken massive strides this summer after the Laine acquisition and selection of Ivan Demidov in this year's draft.

What Columbus Gets:

Jordan Harris is an incredibly intelligent defenseman who fell victim to a logjam at his position in Montreal. As a result of the Habs' numerous defensive options, Harris frequently found himself a healthy scratch these past few seasons, so other players could also get reps. With so many players ahead of him on the depth chart, he was limited to just 17 or 18 minutes a night. Although Columbus has a lot of big names in their top-four and Harris likely starts the year on the third pairing, he has potential to earn more ice time thanks to his high-end hockey sense. I don't expect him to be relevant in too many fantasy leagues next season, but he strengthens Columbus' blueline and should make life a little easier for the team's netminders.

It’s also worth mentioning with Harris out of the picture in Montreal, offensively gifted blueliner Lane Hutson will probably see more opportunity next year than originally anticipated.

What Montreal Gets:

As a result of recent storylines, you may have forgotten how talented Patrik Laine is, so I'll remind you. This is a player who racked up 138 goals in his first four seasons (305 games). Only six players in the league had more goals than him during that span. He didn't produce much last year because injuries and a long stint in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program limited him to just 18 games. He produced just nine points in those games because he was stuck with a career-worst average of 15 minutes a night. However, over his previous two seasons with the Blue Jackets, Laine racked up 108 points over 111 games. He's still an incredibly talented player, he just needed a fresh start.   

After adding Laine, Montreal suddenly has a solid top-six. Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield enjoyed a lot of success together last year, so I imagine they stick together on line one again. That would leave Laine on the second trio beside two solid offensive players in Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach. Now, Laine doesn't have the greatest reputation for his defensive play, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him take a few shifts with the intelligent two-way talent Nick Suzuki this year. I imagine that would be more to get Laine settled in than it would be a long-term combination, considering the palpable chemistry of that Slaf-Cauf-Suzuki trio.

It’ll also be interesting to see how Laine's arrival affects Montreal's power-play combinations. I imagine Dach is easiest to demote to the second unit to make room for Laine on the top group with Caufield, Suzuki, Slafkovsky and Mike Matheson. Adding another lethal shooting threat likely opens up more space for Caufield, who was sometimes stifled by opponents given his reputation as Montreal’s primary shooter.

That said, I think the team will test out a few different looks to see what works best for them, so Dach's fantasy outlook isn't necessarily doomed because of this projected loss in power-play opportunity. Laine's arrival also benefits Dach in some ways because he'll likely skate beside the star Finnish sniper at even strength.

Who This Helps

Patrik Laine (fresh start in a young locker room with lots of positive energy)

Jordan Harris (increased role stability)

Lane Huston (more room for opportunity)

Who This Might Hurt

Kirby Dach (in the event he experiences a power-play role reduction that can't be offset by the boost Laine provides him at even strength)