Disappointing news emerges as Canadiens star forward Patrik Laine is out for remainder of the year

Patrik Laine was supposed to have a fresh start with the youthful, competitive Montreal Canadiens following a difficult 2023-24 campaign with the Columbus Blue Jackets. That, regrettably, has now come to an end because Laine will at the very least, miss the entire 2024 Montreal calendar season, requiring at least three months for his recuperation.

According to broadcaster Steve Kouleas, that is the best case scenario for Laine, who, depending on the severity of his injury, may miss the entire 2024-2025 season. Whether Cedric Pare did it on purpose or not, attacking Laine's knee while he was skating was a careless move on the part of the Maple Leafs forward, and as a result, one of the league's most promising young players will miss a sizable amount of time.

Though the 26-year-old showed up for practice today in good spirits, Laine was expected to play on a line with Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach heading into the season, giving the Canadiens another explosive scoring line in their forward group.

Laine was supposed to be a major part of Montreal's plan to finish their rebuild with this current core. All we can do now is hope he can return to the ice for the Canadiens at some point this season.