Sportsnet journalist Elliotte Friedman has made a new statement regarding Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine.

It sheds even more light on the unfortunate circumstances surrounding his departure from the Columbus Blue Jackets and what led to his trade request.

Essentially, Friedman mentioned that nearly the entire Blue Jackets locker room had turned against the young Laine before his departure.

It certainly couldn’t have been easy for him, and it’s sad to see how teammates can turn their backs on a young player like that.

Blue Jackets veterans demanded Patrik Laine’s departure from Columbus

Let’s not forget that Laine’s return to Columbus earlier this month did not go well, as he once again faced numerous criticisms from former teammates (and several questionable hits during the game).

On the latest episode of his podcast 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman added this:

«At the end of the season, there was a team meeting, and some veterans stood up and said that if the team truly wanted to succeed in the future, Elvis Merzlikins and Patrik Laine needed to go.»

– Elliotte Friedman

That’s heavy.

The name Zach Werenski (who harshly criticized Laine publicly after the game) even came up among the veterans who demanded the Finnish player be traded.

He even had the audacity to claim they had been good teammates and friends to him after trying to push him out of Columbus..

Let’s just say it doesn’t reflect well on him.

«It’s really disappointing. We’ve only ever been good teammates and friends to him.

To see him badmouth us like this today, I find it unacceptable.

I hope he’s okay tonight, but he left after just a few hits and didn’t finish the game.

Seeing him say all that about us-it’s ridiculous!

I’m definitely not happy about it, and none of the guys here are either.

It says more about him than it does about us.

It motivated us before the game, 100%.

What was he thinking saying things like that?

It’s just unbelievable.

I don’t want to talk about him anymore from now on.

It’s ridiculous.»

– Zach Werenski, a few days ago

The good news today is that Patrik Laine seems to be doing very well in Montreal, surrounded by real good teammates this time around.