A Matthew Beniers mock trade lit up Canadiens fans this morning, and the price tag starts with Kirby Dach.
The pitch from IceMetrix sends Dach, Oliver Kapanen, Alexander Zharovsky and a 2027 second-round pick to Seattle. Montreal gets Beniers back. Nothing else.
The timing stings. It landed hours after the Canadiens fell 4-3 in overtime to San Jose at home last night.
Dach logged 10:15 in that one with a single shot on goal. Pretty much his season in miniature.
Through 9 games, he has one assist and a -5 rating. His last five? Held scoreless.
So yes, the cap is the point here. Dach carries a $3,600,000 hit, and the mock tags him as salary filler without pretending otherwise.
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Seattle has every reason to hang up on Kent Hughes
Beniers carries a $7,142,857 cap hit. That's real money for a Montreal club sitting 21st in the league.
And the Canadiens' biggest problem right now lives in their own end. They're giving up 3.8 goals per game.
The Seattle forward has 4 points through 10 games, with a +3 rating attached.
He skated 17:38 last night as the Kraken beat Detroit in a shootout. No points, two shots.
Here's where Bob plants his flag. Seattle says no to this, and it isn't close.
The Kraken are 6-3-1 and third in their division. Teams winning games don't move a 23-year-old forward to absorb someone else's slumping contract.
It's like offering your neighbor a sedan with a blinking check-engine light, a bus pass and an IOU for his newer SUV. He's going to laugh.
Kapanen is the sweetener nobody can price yet. He's dressed twice, has no points, and earns $942,500.
Zharovsky isn't on Montreal's NHL roster, which makes him the lottery ticket in the package. Seattle GM Jason Botterill would want more than a ticket.
Botterill also has Chandler Stephenson leading his club with 9 points. Shane Wright already has 3 goals. Seattle's forward group isn't desperate.
Montreal's top six, meanwhile, leans hard on Nick Suzuki and his 12 points. Behind him, Jake Evans has yet to register a point.
Would Martin St-Louis welcome another young forward with a plus rating? Of course. Would Hughes pay what Seattle would actually ask? That's the real fight.
These clubs haven't met yet. The first look comes February 3 in Seattle, then March 4 in Montreal.
Before any of that, the Canadiens open a road trip Friday in Chicago. If Dach stays quiet out there, this kind of noise only gets louder.
Should Kent Hughes give up Kirby Dach and Oliver Kapanen to land Matthew Beniers?
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