Kirby Dach might be worth more to the Montreal Canadiens as a trade chip than as a lineup piece, and Edmonton's interest could open a path to Kirill Marchenko.
Frank Seravalli reported the Oilers are "drooling" over the 25-year-old. That hands Kent Hughes something valuable: leverage.
Nobody is negotiating a three-team deal between Montreal, Edmonton and Columbus. The idea is simpler: turn Oilers interest into assets the Blue Jackets would actually want.
Why Marchenko? The Columbus winger put up 27 goals and 67 points in 76 games last season.
He had 74 points the year before. That kind of consistency is exactly what Montreal's top six could use.
The contract is just as attractive. Marchenko carries a $3,850,000 cap hit for 2026-27 before hitting restricted free agency, so he's no rental.
Boston's price for Marchenko shows how steep this climb really is
Kevin Paul Dupont already priced it out from Boston's side. A serious Bruins bid, he said, would mean giving up Minten or Hagens, a first-round pick and "Lohrei or better."
That's the bar Hughes would have to clear. Dach alone won't get there, not with 15 points in 37 games last season.
The money is the easy part. Swapping the two cap hits adds only $250,000, and Montreal has room to absorb it.
Columbus is the hard part. Don Waddell has no reason to move a productive winger on a cheap deal unless he gets NHL-ready help back.
Hughes should chase it anyway. If Edmonton brings real value, flipping that toward Marchenko beats waiting another year for health and production to finally line up.
It's the red paperclip trade, NHL edition. Swap up one rung at a time until you're holding something worth keeping.
The upside is still real. He's 6-foot-4, can play center and went third overall in 2019.
But he's playing on a one-year deal, and the Canadiens have spent seasons waiting on a breakthrough that keeps getting interrupted by injuries.
Montreal's blue line already carries Noah Dobson at $9,500,000, so Hughes has to be picky about where the next big commitment goes.
Martin St-Louis' club finished the preseason 4-1 and opens Tuesday in Toronto. The Oilers open the same night against Vancouver.
If Edmonton keeps pushing, Hughes has a decision to make. He can sell Dach for a pile of maybes, or turn him into the first domino in something bigger.
Should the Canadiens trade Kirby Dach to help land Kirill Marchenko?
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