Kirill Marchenko is the name driving every conversation around the Montreal Canadiens this summer.
And on Thursday, PM Perron threw a specific number into the mix. A sign-and-trade, worth $67.8 million.
Marchenko put up 67 points last season with Columbus, 27 goals and 40 assists over 76 games. He's 26 years old, and his current cap hit sits at $3,850,000.
Perron's math is not random. He's proposing six years at $11.3 million per season, then a trade to Montreal either before or after the ink dries.
That number represents 9.5% of the Canadiens salary cap, the exact same share currently carried by Noah Dobson's contract.
Dobson put up 47 points last season, 12 goals and 35 assists over 80 games, at a $9.5 million cap hit. Perron wants Marchenko valued the same way, relative to the cap.
Two Russians, one power play, seven years locked in
The pitch would pair Marchenko with Ivan Demidov for seven full seasons in Montreal. Demidov, still just 20, put up 62 points last season on 19 goals and 43 assists.
Two skilled Russian forwards growing together for that long? It's the kind of long-term core building most GMs only dream about on a whiteboard.
Perron didn't stop at hockey. He pitched the Canadiens locker room culture as the closer, telling Marchenko's camp he'd be treated like a king in Montreal.
That line wasn't thrown out randomly. Perron was responding directly to a message from Dan Milstein, who represents Marchenko.
Selling culture is easy. Selling a 26-year-old winger and his agent on leaving Columbus for term and control is a different fight entirely, and Perron knows it.
The Canadiens went 1-2-0 against Columbus this season, including a 2-1 win in March before dropping the finale 5-2 in April. Marchenko was on the wing in every one of those games.
Kent Hughes has built the Canadiens into a 106-point team, sixth overall in the league. Columbus finished 18th at 92 points, well below where Marchenko's talent usually lands a roster.
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None of that changes the real question hanging over this idea. Is Hughes actually willing to hand out seven years and $11.3 million a season to make it happen?
Should Kent Hughes pursue a sign-and-trade for Kirill Marchenko at $11.3 million per season?
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