Rumors are swirling regarding the Montreal Canadiens’ potential interest in Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele, but bringing the 33-year-old forward into the fold would represent a massive, high-risk gamble that the organization should carefully reconsider. Following the controversial signing of Chris Kreider, reports suggest the Canadiens have inquired about Scheifele’s availability. However, acquiring a player with his history and contractual baggage would be a step too far for a team already on a promising upward trajectory.
Remembering the Scheifele Suspension
Any discussion of Scheifele must account for his history. Five years ago, the league suspended him for illegally charging Montreal’s Jake Evans, leaving the goaltender stretchered off the ice in a chilling scene. While some modern analysts attempt to downplay the incident as an attempt to prevent an empty-net goal, the lack of public contrition at the time cemented a lasting legacy of controversy. Acquiring a player with such a deeply polarizing reputation—especially one still playing in the same division and conference—poses a significant public relations and cultural challenge for the Canadiens.
On the ice, the financial cost of such a move is staggering. To land Scheifele, who is coming off a spectacular 103-point campaign, Montreal would likely have to part with highly valuable assets, including prospects like Oliver Kapanen or Michael Hage, alongside goaltender Sam Montembeault. While Scheifele’s $8.5 million annual cap hit over the next five years might look appealing on paper in an inflationary era, it represents a massive commitment to a player on the wrong side of thirty. History suggests that players at this stage of their careers rarely sustain peak performance, and the risk of a rapid decline is incredibly high.
The Upside of a Scheifele Acquisition
To be fair, Scheifele’s on-ice production is undeniable. As a career point-per-game player, his offensive capabilities are elite, and pairing him with Nick Suzuki down the middle would theoretically elevate the Canadiens’ top-six forward group. In a cap environment where other major contracts are escalating, his current price tag could be viewed as a relative bargain for a proven center.
However, statistics only tell half the story. Relying on a player’s career-best season as a baseline for future projection is a dangerous gamble. Rather than investing in a veteran whose physical prime is fading, the Canadiens have younger, homegrown talent like Michael Hage poised to step into prominent roles. Betting big on an aging star risks blocking the development of the very prospects who represent the franchise’s long-term future.
Scheifele Not Worth the Risk
Could Scheifele buck the trend and consistently, year over year, get better as he moves out of his prime? Stranger things have been known to happen. It used to be that the Canadiens acquiring a hated player like Kreider would have made that list. So, who knows?
However, if general manager Kent Hughes is seriously considering this, he should also consider the following: The Canadiens reached the third round with the youngest roster in the NHL to start last season. While they are currently set to start this season ranked No. 1 in that category once again, their core is collectively one year older and more experienced. Through sheer organic growth, they should be able to improve on their 106 points in the standings last season and will realistically compete to win the Atlantic Division.
They wouldn’t have needed Kreider to do that, but what’s done is done. They certainly don’t need Scheifele, with several players on this Canadiens roster right now having played on that 2021 team, Evans included. How inconvenient for this hypothetical trade’s purposes.
Would Evans be going to Winnipeg in the deal? While everyone is expected to be a professional and go about their business regardless of how they feel about specific moves, what benefit is there in controversially adding someone with whom there might still be hard feelings?
As hyperbolic as it might sound, there comes a point where you don’t just sell pieces of your future, you begin to sell pieces of your soul. Next thing you know, you’re the Vegas Golden Knights or Edmonton Oilers, justifying each and every acquisition through the lens of “whatever it takes to win.” What if you don’t? Will it have all still been worth it, then?
Some may say the benefit is you would obviously gain a shot at a Cup, and that’s worth the risk. Fair enough. At what point do you begin to risk the chemistry in the locker room, though… risk the culture that this administration has spent the last 4.5 seasons building?
Keep in mind, the Canadiens were seen as potential Cup contenders even before the Kreider signing. If they’re legitimately a piece or two away, why not wait until the trade deadline to acquire someone else on the block who has far less term left, who wouldn’t represent as much of a high-risk, long-term commitment?
Word on the street is Nikita Kucherov is slated to be unrestricted next summer. All he did was insult the entire city of Montreal during those same 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Or is that a bridge too far (for now, anyway)? Hughes should operate under the assumption there are some lines you don’t cross, some lines behind which you can’t or shouldn’t be able to walk back.
You would have thought Scheifele had crossed one of those lines five years ago.
