Kirill Marchenko trade talk reached a fever pitch over the weekend when a report suggested that the Columbus Blue Jackets were expected to move their star winger soon, with two teams in the mix to acquire him.
While the idea of a Marchenko trade hasn’t been shut down, a deal doesn’t appear to be as imminent as initially thought.
That being said, it also might not be all that far away. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels pointed to September 16 — the deadline for players to sign eight-year contract extensions — as a potential target date for a trade to get done beforehand.
“You have a player that is still eligible to get an eight-year extension up until September 16 and if he doesn’t want to sign it with Columbus but could potentially sign it with somebody else could put kind of a clock over this situation if he is going to be traded. That said, Don Waddell is standing firm on his stance on anybody that is calling him… Look it seems very obvious, the player doesn’t want to be in Columbus. You have to decide as a general manager how do I recuperate the best possible value if I’m to trade the player and you also have to decide like it might be a good idea to do it because you don’t want a player around who doesn’t want to be with your team,”
The 26-year-old Marchenko is poised to enter the third and final year of the three-year, $11.55 million contract extension he signed with the Blue Jackets in 2024. He tallied 67 points (27 goals, 40 assists) in 76 games played last season.
While it’s unknown whether that eighth year is important to Marchenko, it’s certainly something to keep in mind should Columbus decide they have no choice but to move on.
There haven’t been any confirmed landing spots of interest, though Montreal, Utah, Chicago, and Ottawa are among the teams that have drawn the most speculation online.
Between Marchenko, Zach Werenski, and RFA Adam Fantilli, GM Don Waddell has a lot to figure with his Blue Jackets out moving forward.
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