GM Don Waddell of the Columbus Blue Jackets has just made a trade announcement regarding the future of Patrik Laine, and it's huge. The Blue Jackets received a trade request from Laine, however the weeks have gone by and still no trade has been made, which led to a flurry of questions being asked by reporters. Waddell finally addressed those questions, and has stated that <a href='https://www.nhltraderumors.me/2024/07/blue-jackets-gm-provides-latest-update.html' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>the plan is still to trade Laine</a>, however a little more patience is needed. A bunch of teams are interested in Laine, which is why it's taking Waddell some time to sort through all of the offers and figure out which deal works best. <q>«There really aren't a lot of free agents. If some teams have the cap space today, they'll probably still have it tomorrow. I know there are teams that are still interested!»</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/theScore/status/1812906222615441883'> </a></blockquote></div> Laine is not allowed to speak to other teams right now, as he is enrolled in the NHL's player assistance program. He is still able to be traded while in this program, but teams may be unwilling to officially pull the trigger on a deal until they speak face-to-face with him first. This issue could also be slowing down the trade from happening. <q>Don Waddell says Patrik Laine could be out of the program «any day now.» #CBJ</q> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/mark_scheig/status/1803791308223312023'> </a></blockquote></div> <div align='center' style='padding-top:20px;padding-bottom:20px;'><img src='https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/i/photo/449100.webp' width='100%' border='0' alt='image' loading='lazy' defer /></div> The Montreal Canadiens still remain at the forefront to acquire Laine, as per several reliable sources, and their GM Kent Hughes has a heavy advantage over other teams, which is a ton of available cap space. Credit Habs Fanatics: <a href='https://www.habsfanatics.com/nhl-team/columbus-blue-jackets/trade-major-announcement-from-blue-jackets-gm-regarding-patrik-laine' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Trade: Major announcement from Blue Jackets GM regarding Patrik Laine</a>