Patrik Laine will make his long-awaited regular-season debut with the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday after missing the past two months with a knee injury.
Montreal made the roster move official by removing Laine from long-term injured reserve. Laine was spotted taking rushes on the Canadiens' second line with Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky during morning skate ahead of Montreal's game against the New York Islanders.
Montreal acquired Laine -- along with a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL draft -- from Columbus in August for defenseman Jordan Harris following Laine's request to be traded out of the Blue Jackets organization.
Laine was skating in his second preseason game for Montreal in September when he collided knee-on-knee with Toronto Maple Leafs' forward Cedric Pare. While Laine said at the time the injury "could have been much worse," it still set him up for a two-to-three-month recovery, the latest in a long line of lengthy absences.
Laine, 26, was limited to just 18 games last season while rehabbing a broken clavicle and then while spending time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program from January to July. That makes Tuesday's outing the first regular-season game for Laine in almost 365 days.
He has had some form of injury nearly every year since the Winnipeg Jets selected him second overall in the 2016 NHL draft. Despite that history Laine made the most of his time in Columbus, averaging a point per game over two seasons from 2021-23.
Montreal was meant to be a fresh start though. Now it finally can be.
"It's almost been a year since my last real game," Laine said. "I'm mostly excited, finally get this thing over with, just be back on the ice with the guys, so I'm just happy about it."
Laine was hoping he'd get to come back at home in front of Canadiens' fans and feed off that energy.
"If somebody plays [at the Bell Centre] and doesn't get fired up, I think there's something wrong with them," he said. "So, I don't think that should be an issue. I think the crowd will be buzzing as always, and hopefully, as we play, and with the way that we play tonight, we're going to excite them even more."
Ironically, Laine's return won't be the only homecoming Tuesday. Patrick Roy -- the Canadiens Hall of Fame goaltender -- will be behind the Islanders' bench trying to beat his former team. But even with that star-wattage around, all eyes will be on Laine to see how all of his hard work is paying off.
"The whole city, the whole organization, Habs fans have been just wonderful throughout this whole thing; I'm super thankful for that," Laine said. "The coaching staff have included me in stuff, like watching video and getting my input on some things and keep me involved. It's not easy, guys are on the road and you're isolated a bit but they did a good job [keeping me involved] and I'm super thankful for that."