Montreal is asking about Mark Scheifele, and Nick Kypreos says the Canadiens landed there after failing on Dylan Larkin.
The Canadiens are among the teams asking about Scheifele after failing on Larkin. That's the whole line.
Larkin's list runs four teams deep. Florida, Vegas, Minnesota and Dallas. Montreal never got onto it.
So Kent Hughes moved to a different centre. That's what a front office does when a door stays shut.
Scheifele put up 103 points across all 82 games last season and finished the year even.
He carries an $8,500,000 cap hit and he's 33 years old.
That's a real centre with real term questions attached to him. Nobody gives that away in September.
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Canadiens linked to Mark Scheifele after Dylan Larkin rejection
Connor Hellebuyck never reported and Winnipeg suspended him. Cheveldayoff is working through that one first.
Carolina is still talking. Darren Dreger had Buffalo close. Florida made an offer in the summer that wasn't enough.
Adding a Scheifele conversation to that pile is a lot for one front office in the last week of September.
The Jets dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Edmonton on Tuesday and visit Colorado tonight.
Winnipeg sits 1-1-1 through the exhibition schedule with none of its big questions answered.
Montreal has to submit a 23-man roster before 5 p.m. on Monday.
Hughes is also trying to move Samuel Montembeault and listening on Kirby Dach at the same time.
Three goaltenders are still on those books, and he's said he won't open the year carrying all of them.
The Canadiens are 3-0 through the exhibition schedule with Ottawa on Saturday.
Then Toronto on September 29 to start the season for real.
Kypreos didn't say Winnipeg is listening. He said Montreal is asking, and those are different sentences.
Every team asks about a 100-point centre. Almost none of them get one.
So what does asking actually get you? Calling on a player nobody has put on the market works like knocking on a door with the lights off. Somebody might be home.
Hughes tried the Detroit route and got nowhere. This one starts from further back than that did.
Should Kent Hughes pay what it takes to land Mark Scheifele?
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