Ask an NHL team executive how trade talks work, and they’ll tell you that every GM is asking every other GM about every one of their players – especially if there’s even the slight whiff of discontent between that player and his team.

Also, if you ask an NHL executive about a certain player whose name may or may not be in play, you occasionally end up speaking with some crap-stirrer looking to turn up the burner on a rival team feeling the heat.

All that established: Louis Jean of TVA reports that the Montreal Canadiens are “gauging the market” on star defenseman P.K. Subban.

From Jean:

Did the rounds to find out if Subban is on the market. One team executive said "his name has come up". @TVASports — Louis Jean (@LouisJean_TVA) February 19, 2016

Not suggesting #Canadiens will trade Subban. Just saying one team confirmed #Habs are "gauging the market". — Louis Jean (@LouisJean_TVA) February 19, 2016

Subban is signed through 2022 with an annual cap hit of $9 million.

Now, according to General Fanager, here’s the rub: Subban’s no-move clause doesn’t kick in until next season. So while a Subban trade would be idiotic, inexplicable and undoubtedly something that would further alienate Canadiens fans from the current direction of the team … if they were going to do it, it would have to be now.

Elliotte Friedman calls the scenario "extremely unlikely" but reminds us that a Subban trade once wasn't so outlandish. Via Chris Nichols:

“I will tell you this. Nobody has ever confirmed it, but before that contract got done – or around the time the contract got done… – I think the Canadiens thought about it. I’ve always believed the team was Philadelphia that had the biggest offer. I don’t know what that offer was.

“But at the end of the day, the Montreal Canadiens thought having P.K. Subban was better than whatever Philadelphia’s offer was. But I heard Philly’s was the best.”

Again, this is just as likely to be a team executive making life more miserable for GM Marc Bergevin and company as it is the Canadiens actually kicking tires on a Subban move. But if Montreal needed their season-long migraine to intensify, a report like this is like someone hitting them square in the temple with a sledgehammer.

Oh man ... could you IMAGINE if the Canadiens traded Subban and brought Michel Therrien back for 2016-17?

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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