Blue Jackets players told management to get rid of Laine and Merzlikins

In the wake of yesterday's trade that saw the Columbus Blue Jackets ship out talented forward Patrik Laine, there are some crazy reports coming out of the city regarding Laine's time with the team.

Blue Jackets insider Aaron Portzline reports that as far back as 2021 the team's leadership core of Cam Atkinson, Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, Nick Foligno and Gustav Nyquist told management that they needed to trade Laine and goaltender Elvis Merzlikins for the good of the team. As it turned out, the team did the exact opposite. They retained both Laine and Merzlikins and instead walked away from Atkinson, Jones, Foligno and Nyquist. Only Werenski and Merzlikins (for now) remain with the team.

From Portzline, courtes of Jason Newland of The Hockey News:

Portzline said that veteran players had a meeting a few years ago. He says, "I also think back to a meeting with the veteran players, I think it was maybe after the 19-20 season (believe it was 20-21 he meant), and if my recollection is right it was Cam, it was Seth Jones, it was Werenski, it was Foligno for sure, maybe Gus Nyquist. What do we need to do here to make this thing work? You guys know what a good room is like, you've seen it. And the players, they have a hard time doing this sometimes, and you understand why, basically came back with "You gotta get Laine and Merzlikins out of here." That's steps one and two. The organization heard that and said, "You know what let's get rid of the people who said that," not the people that they mentioned. And look who all's gone."

He goes on to say, "That's one of those things, in the near term you go ouch, you ask those guys to bare their soul, and they do, and that's how you respond by moving them out, rather than taking the suggestions they made. But think of the chill it sends throughout the room, as don't ever share your honest opinion here. Because that's how it's going to be handled, not straight up "Thanks for your input, we'll respect your privacy here." 

Read below for our earlier report on Laine's trade out of Columbus, published yesterday by Hockey Feed staff writer Michael Whitaker.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have officially moved on from forward Patrik Laine, sending him to the Montreal Canadiens along with a second round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft in exchange for defenseman Jordan Harris.

It brings to an end a rocky tenure with the Blue Jackets that included a trade request along with spending the majority of last season within the NHL Player Assistance Program. And shortly after the trade was completed, Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell made it clear he has no interest in players who don't want to suit up in Columbus.

"We want players that want to be Blue Jackets and Patrik made it clear that he thought a change of scenery was best for him," he said. "We were able to acquire a good young player in Jordan Harris while maintaining financial flexibility, which was very important to us.”

The financial flexibility comes from the fact that they didn't have to retain any of Laine's AAV of $8.7 million.

Waddell had recently spoke about Laine's desire to move on from Columbus, stating in no uncertain terms that Laine wanted no part of playing for the Blue Jackets: 

“This is a different situation than any that I’ve really dealt with," Waddell said during a recent appearance on TSN1010 Toronto. "I’ve had players that have requested trades, and sometimes you trade them, sometimes you don’t. Obviously, I don’t know Patrik, I wasn’t here last year. He went into the program 28 games into the year, and he’s been very vocal about it, way before I got here, that he does not want to play for the Blue Jackets. There was a lot of things that went on in the locker room and he just doesn’t want it.”

“This is different because it’s harder to bring him back knowing the situation, but saying that, that might be the option. We’re into the summer, he’s got a high cap hit for two years. I’m talking to teams every day. I’ve got two or three teams engaged right now, we’ll see where it goes. At the end of the day, like I told Andy Scott, his representation, I can try to do it, but if there’s not a deal to be made, he’s going to have to come back here to camp and we’ll welcome him back and try to make the best out of the situation.”

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