3 realistic destinations for Patrik Laine in a trade.

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine has been cleared by medical professionals and is now officially out of the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players Association Player Assistance Program. While that would ostensibly be great news for the Blue Jackets, they have another hurdle to overcome when it comes to Laine now in the form of his trade demands.

Laine has made it clear that he would prefer to play somewhere other than Columbus and with him now out of the Player Assistance Program, potentially interested trade partners are now able to speak to Laine prior to pulling the trigger on a trade deal. The question of course is which teams in the NHL would be able to take on his cap hit of $8.7 million per season, for two more years, in a potential trade that would make sense for both sides?

The answer there is the options are limited, and could even be further limited by Laine's 10 team no-trade list. Here is a look at 3 options I believe could realistically come to pass.

#1 The Washington Capitals.

The Capitals took some big gambles this summer and with that in mind it seems as though Laine would fit right into that mix. The Capitals made a bold trade when they acquired the underperforming Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Los Angeles Kings, sending goaltender Darcy Kuemper back the other way, and Laine could be just what the doctor ordered especially considering the uncertainty regarding the futures of Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie.

Laine's addition could also open some room for Alex Ovechkin, with teams having to account for another goal-scoring threat in the Capitals lineup.

Although the Capitals don't look like they have the space to make this deal happen, if both Backstrom and Oshie go on long-term injured reserve this season that will open up a great deal of room to work with.

#2 The Montreal Canadiens.

On paper Laine looks like he would be a solid fit for the Montreal Canadiens, given that they could use a winger of his size and skill to round out their top 6.

It also helps that the Canadiens have a great deal of cap space, more than enough to take on Laine's full contract and then some with Carey Price on long term injured reserve, with speculation that the Blue Jackets would prefer not to retain any money in this trade.

Additionally the Canadiens have a wealth of tradeable assets at their disposal, which could put them in prime position to make the Blue Jackets a very competitive offer.

The only question I have here is whether or not the Canadiens would be concerned about any negative impact Laine's character could have on their relatively young locker room.

#3 The Winnipeg Jets.

This is likely a long shot but there could definitely be a fit here for both sides if both Laine and the Winnipeg Jets were open to the idea.

Laine is a pure goal scorer and he found his greatest success in the NHL in that regard as a member of the Winnipeg Jets. Laine averaged over 30 goals a season in the 4 full seasons he played as a member of the Winnipeg Jets, something he has never done as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The major injury issues that Laine has had to face in Columbus also weren't nearly as much of a factor during his tenure with the Jets, although that of course could be the result of wear and tear on his body over the course of a normal NHL career.

The Jets however currently have just $5.8 million in cap space available and a considerable chunk of that is earmarked for restricted free agent Cole Perfetti who still needs a new contract. If the Jets were to be the destination for Laine, the Blue Jackets would have to eat a good chunk of his salary to make it happen.

That being said, I suspect the Blue Jackets are likely to have to retain salary on Laine given his injury history and given the fact that he has played just 129 NHL games over the course of the last 3 seasons. That becomes even more true if the Blue Jackets are hoping to get any kind of significant return in a Laine trade.