Minnesota Wild Tried Trading for Patrik Laine, He Said No

Are the Minnesota Wild trying to trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets for one-time top goal-scorer, Patrik Laine? That was the hot topic among local hockey fans, not that long ago.

It didn’t take long, though, for the speculation to die off. For whatever reason, almost just as quickly as it landed in the headlines, the Patrik Laine + Minnesota steam was gone. Poof…

Patrik Laine vetoed trade to the Minnesota Wild

Then, a couple of weeks ago, the 26-year-old sniper was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, in exchange for 24-year-old defenseman Jordan Harris. This weekend, we found out why any and all chatter about a possible deal between Columbus and Minnesota went quiet so quickly.

According to what Wild president of hockey operations Bill Guerin told LaVelle E. Neal (Star Tribune), a trade for Laine was on the verge, until it was brought to Laine, and he refused to waive Minnesota from his no-trade list. Just like that, deal dead.

“[Guerin] engaged Columbus about trading for Laine — which would have been complicated because the player is earning $8.7 million in each of the next two seasons and Wild salary-cap space is limited.

Guerin said he had made progress on a deal and believed he had a chance to complete a swap, until he couldn’t. When I asked him if Laine wanted to come to the Twin Cities, Guerin said. “No.” That suggests, and what I suspect, is that Laine had the Wild on a no-trade list.”

LaVelle E. Neal – Star Tribune

Prior to this report by LaVelle, there were already rumors floating around that Laine had rejected the Wild. This, after NHL insider Renaud Lavoie noted recently that, before being dealt to Montreal, Laine had rejected a trade somewhere else. Many believed that team was the Wild… and they were right.

Why would Laine veto move to Minnesota?

Obviously, the first thing Bill Guerin would have checked on, when engaging the Columbus Blue Jackets, was Laine’s no-trade clause. That’s my assumption, of course. But if I’m wrong, that’s not a me problem.

So, when Billy continued to negotiate with their front office, he must have thought Laine would waive his no-trade, if talks got that far. Then, when they did progress far enough to ask for Laine’s blessing, he refused.

Is Patrik Laine’s refusal to play here a reflection of Guerin? Did he not want to play for the Wild organization, or does he just have something against the state of Minnesota? It’s clearly not a cold weather thing, being he landed in Canada. Not to mention, he started his NHL career in Winnipeg and played there for 6 seasons.

Related: Wild Lock Up Brock Faber With Maximum 8-Year Contract Extension

One factual note maybe (or maybe not) worth mentioning, is that Laine is Finnish, just like former Wild captain, Mikko Koivu. I do not know Laine’s relationship with Koivu. He and Laine have played on Finnish national teams together, though. They also played together for one season in Columbus, in 2021, after Koivu left Minnesota.

Why is this relevant? Mikko was one of many Wild veterans who were jettisoned out of town, within a couple of years of Bill Guerin taking over, as general manager. We know for a fact that many of those former players are not fans of Billy G. Is Mikko Koivu one of them? I do not know.