Blake Wheeler drops a bombshell following the Patrik Laine trade.

Oh boy.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Blake Wheeler drops a bombshell following the Patrik Laine trade.
Kevin Schultz/CSM/Zuma

There are no doubt going to be a lot of Winnipeg Jets' fans with a lot of questions after this.

As all of our readers of course know by now, on Saturday the National Hockey League saw a monumental trade between the Winnipeg Jets and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Although there were other pieces in the deal, the trade focused around a pair of disgruntled forwards, Pierre Luc Dubois of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets. It was clear that neither man was happy with the current situation, an unhappiness that eventually forced a trade from their respective teams, but while Dubois' situation in Columbus seemed to burst into flames the situation with Laine in Winnipeg was much more of a slow burn.

Laine was hounded by trade rumors for years in Winnipeg after rumors emerged regarding a less than perfect relationship between the star winger and the Jets, but there have been more than just the whims of Patrik Laine at play here. Following the trade on Saturday, Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler made a stunning admission to reporters when he revealed that he may not have handled his own relationship with Laine in the best way possible. Although he did not go into great detail according to Ottawa Senators insider Bruce Garrioch, Wheeler expressed regrets about the way he handled his relationship with Laine.


There are two big problems with the admission here and the most obvious of course is that this would seem to be far too little and far too late. Laine, according to just about every rumor out there, has been unhappy in Winnipeg for quite some time but no one has ever come forward with a concrete reason as to why. There were reportedly issues with his use in the lineup, with Laine wanting to play on the team's top line alongside Mark Scheifele, but perhaps there were issues in the locker room as well that led to the Jets eventually trading a 2nd overall pick in the draft well before he even sniffed unrestricted free agency.

The second problem of course is that this is very vague. Does Wheeler, a veteran in the NHL, mean he was too hard on the youngster? Or does he mean that he was too soft on Laine during his time in Winnipeg? Either way it is not the kind of thing you want to be hearing from the captain of an NHL team, their highest paid player no less, after a young star has just been dealt in a trade that not many seem to feel has gone in your favor. At 34 years old and with the "C" on his chest one would have expected Wheeler to be instrumental in Laine's development as a player, especially considering the two men both play on the wing, but that may not have been the case here.

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