- Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell says Kirill Marchenko will start next season in Columbus despite the trade buzz
- Waddell fielded calls on his leading goal scorer but says no offer came close to Marchenko’s value
- Read below for what Waddell said about the agent talks and keeping the core together
Kirill Marchenko isn’t going anywhere.
Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell settled the trade talk Thursday, telling reporters his leading goal scorer will start next season in Columbus:
He wouldn’t get into the specifics of his talks with Marchenko’s agent. The message underneath was clear enough. Marchenko is staying put.
That closes the book on a rumor that had been building for weeks. Teams had been circling Marchenko all summer, with the Canadiens among the clubs kicking the tires.
The GM has taken the calls. He just hasn’t liked what he’s heard.
Those offers were “not even close to what he means to our hockey club,” Waddell said, and he noted that trading the best player in a deal is a good way to lose it. Columbus isn’t in a rush to sell low on a 25-year-old who keeps burying pucks.
Marchenko posted 27 goals and 67 points in 76 games last season. He’s topped 20 goals in all four of his years with the Blue Jackets, including a career-high 31 goals and 74 points in 2024-25.
There’s one year left on his deal at a $3.85 million cap hit, with restricted free agency waiting next summer. That contract situation is a big reason the phone kept ringing.
Columbus had already settled its other big question a day earlier. Zach Werenski turned down a trade to Dallas and told the club he wanted to stay:
Waddell was asked about the reigning Norris winner’s change of heart. “The end result is this is what we wanted,” he said. “We didn’t want to have Zach go anywhere.”
Two of the biggest names on the summer trade board are officially off it. Columbus keeps its scorer and its Norris winner, and Waddell gets to run it back with the core intact.
