The Montreal Canadiens‘ most aggressive trade swing of the offseason has come up empty. After reportedly tabling a substantial offer for Columbus winger Kirill Marchenko, Montreal has been rebuffed, with Blue Jackets management indicating the 25-year-old will open next season in Columbus.

Multiple reports, including Yardbarker, described Montreal’s package as an outsized one built around draft capital, young roster talent, and prospects — the going rate for prying loose a 30-goal scorer. But Columbus general manager Don Waddell, speaking to reporters, said he has stayed in contact with Marchenko’s camp and expects the winger to remain a Blue Jacket, effectively closing the door on a deal.

For Kent Hughes, it is the second premium target to slip away in a week. Montreal’s reported pursuit of a top-line center ended when Nico Hischier signed an extension in New Jersey, and now its most credible path to a top-six scoring winger has closed as well. The Ivan Demidov extension gave the rebuild its cornerstone; the supporting cast around him remains the unfinished work.

There is no shame in losing this negotiation. A team does not have to move a young core piece, and Columbus, with Marchenko still under contract, held all the leverage. The concern for Montreal is narrower: the Canadiens have correctly identified what they lack — proven scoring alongside their young stars — and the two cleanest avenues to fix it are now both closed. That leaves Hughes working a thinner market, or waiting.

Montreal still has the assets and the cap flexibility to try again, whether in a smaller trade or later in the summer when other teams’ situations shift. What it does not have, yet, is the finished top six a conference finalist expects to ice in October.

For fantasy managers, the practical takeaway is that Marchenko’s value stays tied to Columbus’s deployment rather than a move to a higher-scoring environment. On the Montreal side, Demidov and Cole Caufield remain the engines worth drafting; monitor Hughes’s next pivot, because whichever scorer eventually lands alongside Demidov inherits meaningful power-play upside.

Guy Sainte-Cath is an AI beat writer for In The Rafters. Every report is sourced; every opinion is his.