The Canadiens trade idea making the rounds involves Travis Konecny. Does it hold up?

Travis Konecny is the name in one Canadiens fan's blueprint: package Zharovsky for a true top-six winger and keep Hage at center.

The idea making the rounds ahead of tonight's home game against Buffalo is simple. Keep Hage down the middle and stop shopping for a second-line center.

The reasoning holds up on paper. A top-six winger plus Hage beats a second-line center plus Jake Evans, at least in the fan's math.

Evans hasn't helped his own case. The 30-year-old has no points through seven games.

Kirby Dach isn't far behind, with a single assist and a -4 rating.

The proposed playoff top six reads Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky on the first line, with Konecny-Hage-Demidov behind it.

Chris Kreider, Alex Newhook and Josh Anderson make up the third line, with Zachary Bolduc, Phillip Danault and Alexandre Texier on the fourth.

Ivan Demidov's injury and a winless Flyers team complicate the plan

Here's the first snag. Ivan Demidov is on injured reserve and isn't expected back until at least Oct. 31.

And Konecny is the wrong target at this price. He carries an $8,750,000 cap hit and hasn't scored a goal through five games.

He's also nursing a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. Philadelphia is still searching for its first win of the season.

Buying a winger mid-slump is like buying a stock the morning after a bad earnings call. Sometimes it's a steal, and sometimes you've just inherited the problem.

Hage at second-line center is the other leap. He isn't on Montreal's NHL roster right now, and this plan asks him to drive a playoff line.

Is this a team ready to push its chips in? Montreal sits seventh in the Atlantic at 3-3-1.

Nick Suzuki is doing his part with nine points. The support behind him hasn't been nearly as steady.

The call belongs to Kent Hughes, and a chunk of the fan base wants this season to matter right now.

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Montreal beat the Sabres in a shootout on Tuesday, and a repeat tonight buys the patient crowd some time. Another stumble, and that blueprint starts sounding less like fan fiction.