Report: "Only One Team" Has Expressed Interest in Patrik Laine

The Patrik Laine trade drama in Columbus has seemingly come to a grinding halt as we enter August. While there are plenty of rumors about where he could be heading, the actual machinations to get something done are practically non-existent right now.

Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that only a single team has actually reached out to him with interest in talking trade about the former star sniper.

But with this being the dog days of summer in the NHL, Waddell told Hedger that he's not too concerned, nor does he expect things to heat up anytime soon on the Laine front:

At this time of the year, people are less responsive. So, I don’t really know. I think it’s going to play out for a while.

The former No. 2 overall selection in the NHL Entry Draft (2016, Winnipeg Jets) had an extremely rough go of it this past season in Columbus. After getting off to a slow start, he was even benched as a healthy scratch at one point, which he called "the most embarrassing" moment of his hockey career. He would wind up heading into the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program for six months.

But now that he's been cleared to return, we were told that it had opened the door to trade discussions heating up. Well... Not so much, as it turns out.

Waddell has already said clearly that he has no intention of just giving away the three-time 30-goal scorer, and that he wants to get back something impactful in any deal.

Laine managed to play just 18 games last season, and recorded only nine points. But he had back-to-back point-per-game and 20+ goal seasons in Columbus before that. So despite the $8.7 million cap hit for two more seasons, teams will be interested. However, Waddell admits he may need to retain some of that cap hit to get a deal done.

Despite the lack of talks at the moment, we should expect things to pick up as we get closer to September, with training camps starting shortly thereafter.

Laine has 204 goals in 488 career games, with 388 points.