According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine has cleared the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program and is free to return to the team. Laine has made it known that he wants a fresh start somewhere else, putting a top-six forward on the trade market in the doldrums of the offseason. With the Buffalo Sabres potentially looking to add another scoring winger, Laine’s name is undoubtedly going to be tossed around.

Whether Patrik Laine can help the Sabres is the diagnosis we’ll get to, but first, there are three hurdles.

1. Physical Health

First off, he’s recovering from shoulder surgery. Laine only managed to play 18 games last season for the Blue Jackets. His durability is a concern, as, over four seasons in Columbus, the forward’s highest number of games played in a season is 56.

2. Mental Health

It’s no secret that Laine’s struggled to find his place in the league since being drafted second overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 2016. He’s a prolific goal-scorer but wasn’t to establish himself as a leader or go-to player on his teams. His discontent with his place in Columbus is now the second time he’s worked himself out of a market at only 26 years old.

3. Contract

Patrik Laine’s entering year three of four on his current contract, which carries an $8.7 million cap hit, per PuckPedia. The Sabres have a lot of cap space, but not quite that much room to take on Laine’s deal in full. Given the tight cap situations across the NHL, the Blue Jackets would likely have to retain salary on a Laine trade anyway.

Buffalo is one of the better-positioned teams in the league to add, so, with some finagling, they could make a deal work. Then the question becomes if he is worth the salary cap dollars he’d eat up as a producer for the team.

When charting his attributes, it’s clear that Patrik Laine is an elite shooter and not much else. His shot-blocking rates were spiked in limited time last season, as were his penalties drawn. This puts him in the company of aggressive, scoring, complementary shooters like the Minnesota Wild’s Ryan Hartman and the Anaheim Ducks’ Frank Vatrano.

While Laine’s quality finishing ability ranks in the 98th percentile, his playmaking is in the 23rd, and his defense is abysmal in the 5th. He’s regarded as a powerplay specialist, but teams have figured out he’s one-dimensional in the role, dropping him to the 33rd percentile.

Laine Profile

Okay, so Laine may be a one-trick pony, but what if that trick is really good? After all, he’s scored 204 goals in the league over 480 NHL games, which is a shade under a 35-goal pace across an 82-game season.

The Sabres have a wide range of play drivers, playmakers, and shooters on the team, so it’s a matter of line fit for Laine. His projected line to start with, if traded for, would be next to Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn. Let’s evaluate what he could bring to the trio.