The Boston Bruins just benefited from the Patrik Laine trade to the Montreal Canadiens

So, a trade should benefit all parties involved right?

The Blue Jackets shed $7.3 Million dollars in cap space, and get a defenseman to help boost the rebuild.

Meanwhile the Canadiens get a new weapon to help out the offense.

This is great for the Bruins, indirectly, as it was speculated that the rival Montreal Canadiens were only one of the few who could have offer-sheeted Jeremy Swayman.

As they offer Laine a new start in Montreal, they take on his salary and won't be able to do so as a result.

With Swayman's next contract projected to be from $7.75 Million to $10 Million AAV, they can't afford to. According to PuckPedia, the Canadiens are currently $2 Million over the salary cap.

But they shouldn't worry, as offer-sheeting another team's RFA's could lead to retribution down the road, as we've seen with the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes.

This was in 2019 when Jesperi Kotkaniemi would join the Carolina Hurricanes after they had offer-sheeted Sebastian Aho.

Most teams who could afford to do this have something else standing in the way, therefore they wouldn't risk it, for the retribution alone.