Patrik Laine of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Photo credit: USA Today

Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell has made a major announcement regarding all the trade rumors that have been surrounding Patrik Laine lately.

Patrik Laine has requested a trade from the Blue Jackets, and because he has still not been traded, many questions have been arising. Waddell finally addressed them all. He confirmed that they are still on track to trade Laine, and that it should hopefully happen sooner, rather than later.

He has been dealing with a tremendous amount of interest from teams regarding Laine’s services, which is why it’s taking some time to put the right deal together.

«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!»

Laine is currently taking part in the NHL’s player assistance program, which blocks him from speaking directly to teams, although a trade is still possible. Due to this lack of communication, it can definitely slow the process down.

Don Waddell says Patrik Laine could be out of the program «any day now.» #CBJ

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Several big name reliable sources have confirmed that the Canadiens Kent Hughes are very active in trying to acquire Laine, and they definitely have plenty of cap space to do that, unlike other teams. It should only be a matter of weeks now.