Two Canadian teams linked in blockbuster trade by insider but there's one problem getting overlooked
Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
A Scheifele-to-Montreal trade scenario sounds clean on paper. But there's one complication this rumor hasn't found a way to address.
Greg Wyshynski first floated the idea on Jeff Marek's podcast this week: if Winnipeg moves Connor Hellebuyck and enters a full organizational reset, Mark Scheifele could become available.
Montreal, still searching for a legitimate second-line center after their Eastern Conference Final loss to Carolina, becomes the obvious destination.
The hockey case is genuinely compelling. Scheifele put up 103 points last season and his offensive instincts would slot cleanly alongside Nick Suzuki without needing to carry a two-way burden.
Any deal would require Winnipeg to solve their own goaltending situation first, which is where this gets expensive for Montreal.
Jacob Fowler or Jakub Dobes would almost certainly be part of the ask, alongside top prospect Michael Hage.
The hockey conversation around this rumor keeps pivoting past one name. That name is Jake Evans.
Jake Evans still plays for the Montreal Canadiens
Scheifele charged into Evans at full speed in the final seconds of a 2021 playoff game, sending him off the ice on a stretcher with a five-minute major and subsequent six-game suspension.
Evans still wears a Canadiens jersey today and is very much an active member of this locker room.
The idea that Kent Hughes would surrender two goaltending prospects to bring in the player who seriously injured his own teammate isn't impossible.
But there is a locker room dimension here that no analysis of this rumor has seriously engaged with.
What would need to happen first
Hellebuyck hasn't waived his no-movement clause, and Scheifele has given no public indication he wants out of Winnipeg.
Until those conditions change, the Evans question sits quietly as the single most underrated barrier in this entire trade chain.
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Connor Hellebuyck's specific preference exposes bigger Oilers issue
Connor Hellebuyck's specific preference exposes bigger Oilers issue