Nathan MacKinnon got linked to the Canadiens this week, and that alone was enough to break the internet in Montreal.
It started on The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro, where insider Jimmy Murphy floated the idea that Colorado could eventually have to move on from its franchise center.
Nothing here is close to happening. But the fact that anyone is even saying it out loud tells you where the hockey world thinks the Avalanche might be headed.
MacKinnon carries a cap hit of 12.6 million dollars, third highest among all NHL forwards according to league salary data. Last season he posted 53 goals and 74 assists for 127 points in 80 games.
The bigger issue for Colorado isn't MacKinnon himself. It's Cale Makar, who carries a 9 million dollar cap hit right now and plays like he's worth double that.
Makar put up 20 goals and 59 assists for 79 points last season and remains the engine of Colorado's blue line. Paying him what he's about to command will squeeze the rest of the roster.
That's the kind of math that turns a dynasty into a demolition site if a front office isn't careful.
Why Colorado's own cap crunch fuels the rumor
The Avalanche finished the season 55-16-11 with 121 points, first overall in the league. They're riding a three game winning streak with a 7-2-1 mark over their last ten games.
This isn't a team in crisis.
That's exactly why the MacKinnon talk feels premature. Teams don't usually shop their best player while they're first overall and rolling.
Still, cap math doesn't care about standings. If Makar's next contract eats into the space Colorado needs to keep its core intact, something eventually gives.
Montreal, meanwhile, closed out at 48-24-10 for 106 points, sixth overall, and dropped their only head to head meeting with Colorado this season, a 7-2 loss on the road back in November.
Kent Hughes has built the Canadiens around cheap, young talent and draft capital, which is exactly the profile that lets a general manager dream big if a superstar ever hits the market.
Would MacKinnon actually waive whatever no movement protection he has to play in Montreal? That's a different question entirely, and one nobody on that podcast really answered.
For now this stays what it is: a rumor born from a cap squeeze two thousand kilometers away, not a phone call anyone in the Canadiens front office is expecting soon.
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But hockey fans in Montreal have learned to hold onto rumors like this the way kids hold onto lottery tickets before the numbers get read. Long odds never stopped anyone from checking.
Should the Canadiens actually go all in and try to pry Nathan MacKinnon away from Colorado?
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