Canadiens Don’t Need Scheifele to Win Now or Ever

This is getting ridiculous. Is Brad Marchand next? Mere weeks after the Montreal Canadiens signed the justified-to-have-been-vilified Chris Kreider, reports have surfaced the Habs are interested in Winnipeg Jets centre Mark Scheifele, who is arguably just as reviled. Maybe even more so.

Remembering the Scheifele Suspension

Take it all with a grain of salt, in that Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos is the one doing the reporting, suggesting the Canadiens are enquiring about acquiring the 33-year-old forward to complement No. 1 pivot Nick Suzuki down the middle. Until the report is substantiated by multiple sources, it’s hard to lend credence to the notion the Habs would be interested in giving up a king’s ransom for player who literally five years ago was suspended for illegally charging Jake Evans and having him stretchered off the ice.

In that regard, while acquiring a free-agent Kreider for a low-risk one-year, $2.15 million contract ($3.25 million in potential bonuses) was quizzical enough, after he had crashed into goalie Carey Price in 2014 (more than double the five years ago), this would be worse. The cost would be significant, albeit for a legitimate star forward, with Kypreos saying names like Oliver Kapanen or Michael Hage would likely have to be included (on top of goalie Sam Montembeault to compensate for the projected departure of Connor Hellebuyck in net). That would all likely just be for starters. However, for a 100-point player, maybe it might just make sense?

Cue the apologists. All of a sudden, Kreider didn’t mean to crash into Price. While that could theoretically be true, the irrefutable facts state he had a history of running goalies at the time. So, the anger directed towards him was understandable even if only for his apparent recklessness at the very least, which arguably contributed to the Canadiens’ elimination in 2014 and Price’s ultimately cut-short career.

However unlikely acquiring Scheifele seems to be, if this somehow comes to pass many will similarly reverse course. They’ll inevitably argue Scheifele was just trying to prevent an empty-net goal on the play, when a half-decade ago, all of Montreal seemed to be unified in their hatred for the guy, especially after he seemed to show little contrition for the incident in the media afterwards.

The Upside of a Scheifele Acquisition

All that having been said, there’s little denying Scheifele’s statistical worth as effectively a point-per-game player in his career, who is coming off a career-best 103-point season in 2025-26. Furthermore, in an inflationary world where Josh Anderson’s $5.5 million cap hit no longer seems detrimental to the Canadiens, Scheifele’s $8.5 million hit for the next five years looks downright incredible.

Looks can be deceiving, though. You can argue that, despite all appearances to the contrary, Scheifele wasn’t trying to injure Evans. That’s fair game, just as it should be that Scheifele, coming off a 100-point season, won’t be worth nearly as much as someone like an upstart Hage in the same second-line-centre role within just a few seasons.

What’s likelier? After an entire career of bouncing between point totals within the 60-80 point range, that Scheifele builds on his production from last season in 2026-27 at Age 33 or that he starts to show signs of decline?

It may not be exactly the same situation as current-Canadiens special advisor of hockey operations Vincent Lecavalier, who, within a few hours of news breaking that he would be bought out by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2013, was being displayed on RDS in a Photoshopped Canadiens jersey.

At the time, Lecavalier had been coming off a few down seasons in a row, but that didn’t stop the local media from getting carried away to the point of pre-emptively having the undeniable star sign with the hometown Canadiens (and envisioning a Stanley Cup championship). After signing with the Philadelphia Flyers instead, he scored a mediocre 37 points in 69 games and was out of the NHL by 2016.

While the difference between Lecavalier then and Scheifele now is clear, there is one similarity. Lecavalier was the same 33 years of age then. This is hardly the Canadiens acquiring a 27-year-old Robert Thomas, who had been linked to the team last season with a similar projected price tag. Thomas, who was recently named St. Louis Blues captain and is probably staying put, could have been seen as someone who could grow with the Canadiens’ young core. As a result, it would have made sense to send a blue-chip prospect like Hage, who is currently seen as the one who will eventually take over as No. 2 centre instead, the other way.

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.