A Mark Scheifele mock trade has Canadiens fans arguing this morning, and the price includes two first-round picks.
The package, floated by IceMetrix, sends Oliver Kapanen, Bryce Pickford, Samuel Montembeault and two firsts to Winnipeg. Montreal gets the Jets center back with 25 percent retained.
No team has announced anything. This is a fan-built deal, and it deserves every bit of the scrutiny it's getting.
Start with the player. Scheifele carries an $8,500,000 cap hit at age 33, and he went pointless Friday night in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Bruins.
He logged 21:21 and didn't register a single shot on goal. Winnipeg opened at 0-0-1 and sits fifth in its division.
At 25 percent retention, Montreal would carry $6,375,000 for the veteran. That lands just under Nick Suzuki's $7,875,000 hit.
Kent Hughes would be gutting his crease for a 33-year-old
The real problem sits in goal. Montreal's tandem right now is Jakub Dobes and Montembeault, and this deal ships one of them out.
Dobes posted a .929 save percentage in Tuesday's 3-2 win in Toronto. He's 25, and he's earning $965,000.
Moving Montembeault and his $3,150,000 deal opens a hole behind Dobes. Montreal would still have to fill it, with less cap room to do it.
Trading a goalie for a center like this is selling the spare tire to pay for a sunroof. Looks great until the first flat on a dark highway.
Then there's Kapanen. The 23-year-old center put up 22 goals and 37 points over 82 games for Montreal last season.
He's signed at $942,500 through 2026-27. Young centers who score 20 on a bargain deal are the assets contenders chase, not the ones they hand away.
This is a bad trade for Montreal. It burns two firsts, a productive young center, a veteran goaltender and Pickford in one phone call.
And the cap gets tight fast. Noah Dobson sits at $9,500,000, with Lane Hutson right behind at $8,850,000 on the blue line.
So why does a package like this get traction at all? Because Montreal opened 1-0-0, and a winning start makes every fan base go shopping.
That start gets tested tonight in Pittsburgh. The Penguins are coming off a 7-0 blowout in Philadelphia.
Winnipeg has its own tension. Kyle Connor, the Jets' $12,000,000 forward, put up two points Friday while Scheifele went quiet.
The Jets visit Detroit Sunday afternoon, then Pittsburgh on Monday, still hunting their first win of the season.
The Canadiens play in Winnipeg on Oct. 25 and host the Jets on Nov. 3.
That's two up-close looks at Scheifele before Hughes ever has to decide whether a deal like this deserves a real conversation.
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Should Kent Hughes give up Samuel Montembeault, Oliver Kapanen and two first-round picks for Mark Scheifele?
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