Kirill Marchenko might not be a Columbus Blue Jacket much longer, and the trade market for him just got a lot more real.
According to Daria Tuboltseva of RG, a source close to Marchenko says the winger is nearing a trade out of Columbus.
The Mug NHL posted that report Friday, and it landed as more than the usual offseason noise.
-
Marchenko is coming off a strong season, posting 27 goals and 40 assists for 67 points in 76 games at age 26.
He's still on a bargain deal at a $3,850,000 cap hit, the kind of number that makes any suitor's front office happy.
Columbus finished 40-30-12 for 92 points last season, 18th overall, a middle of the pack club that could still extract a real return here.
Why the Canadiens could have an edge for Marchenko
Marchenko is signed through this coming season, then hits restricted free agency in the summer of 2027 with arbitration rights attached.
That detail changes everything about how this trade gets structured, and it puts him in the same kind of leverage spot Noah Dobson had a year ago.
Whoever trades for Marchenko will almost certainly want an extension in place first, locking him up before arbitration becomes a factor.
Without that extension, a team risks Marchenko taking a one year arbitration award and walking straight into unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2028.
That's the whole reason Montreal makes sense as a landing spot here.
The Canadiens and agency Gold Star, led by Dan Millstein, have reportedly grown close, and that relationship matters when an extension is the real price of admission.
-
Montreal already has a high profile Russian in Ivan Demidov, who posted 62 points in 82 games this season at just 20 years old.
Add in the Canadiens' spending capacity, and Montreal looks like a real contender to both trade for Marchenko and get him signed long term.
Nothing here is finalized. A report saying a player is nearing a trade is not the same as a deal being done, and Columbus still controls the timeline.
But if Marchenko really is on the way out, the teams that can solve the extension problem are the ones that actually land him.
-
Should the Canadiens go all in and trade for Kirill Marchenko?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Montreal Canadiens catch everyone off guard with surprise trade
