Juraj Slafkovsky hasn't been traded anywhere, but a proposal making the rounds Saturday has him leaving the Canadiens in a four-piece package.
Mitch Gallo laid it out. Montreal gets Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko. Columbus gets Slafkovsky, Michael Hage, David Reinbacher and a 2027 unprotected first.
It's a pitch, not a report. No source, no phone call, nobody from Don Waddell's office on the line.
The reason it spreads is that both Columbus names come with real situations attached right now.
Fantilli is tied up in a contract dispute and listed as questionable for the start of the season.
Marchenko stood in front of the Columbus media this week and refused to discuss his future there. Neither of those files is quiet.
The Slovak winger scored 30 goals across all 82 games last season. He turned 22 and he's already a $7,600,000 player.
WHO SAYS NO?
MTL receives:
Adam Fantilli
Kirill Marchenko
CBJ receives:
Juraj Slafkovský
Michael Hage
David Reinbacher
2027 unprotected 1st-round pick
Would you do it? #GoHabsGo
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Biggest Canadiens trade proposal in years sends Juraj Slafkovsky to Columbus
Fantilli put up 59 points last season and finished at a -13. The talent is obvious and the results underneath it aren't.
Marchenko went for 67 points with 7 game winners on a $3,850,000 cap hit. That's the piece that actually moves the needle here.
So Montreal would be paying real money and real assets for one player with a contract fight and another who won't say where he wants to play.
Reinbacher has 1 point in 2 NHL games. Hage isn't on the roster sheet at all yet.
Which means the package is Slafkovsky, two lottery tickets and a pick that doesn't exist for another two summers.
Columbus finished 40-30-12 last season and landed 18th overall. Rick Bowness isn't running a rebuild that welcomes that math.
Montreal finished 48-24-10 for 106 points and sixth overall. Kent Hughes is shopping in a completely different aisle.
The two clubs met three times last season and Columbus took two of them, including a 5-2 night at the Bell Centre in April.
Slafkovsky also chipped in 12 points over 19 postseason games. Whatever his critics say, he shows up when the calendar turns.
So why does anybody bother? Building a trade on a phone works like rearranging furniture in a house you don't own. Satisfying, completely theoretical.
The real version of this is coming eventually, because Columbus can't sit on two unresolved forwards forever. It just won't look anything like a Saturday afternoon post.
Would you trade Juraj Slafkovsky for Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko?
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