- A new report says the Blue Jackets are closing in on a Kirill Marchenko trade
- Montreal is one of the teams still in the mix for the Russian winger
- Read below for why Marchenko’s future in Columbus got murky
The Kirill Marchenko trade talk just went from quiet to loud.
Daria Tuboltseva of RG Media reported Friday that the 26-year-old winger is expected to be moved soon, with the Columbus Blue Jackets already working through the terms of a deal. The Montreal Canadiens are one of the teams still circling.
“Kirill is essentially between two teams right now. The parties are now negotiating the terms of the trade.”
That came from a source close to the player, per RG.org.
Marchenko has turned into one of the better goal scorers in the league, and the tape backs it up:
He put up 67 points last season, 27 goals and 40 assists in 76 games, and led Columbus in goals again. That’s the kind of top-six winger contenders line up for.
The wrinkle is his contract. Marchenko is heading into the final year of the three-year, $11.55 million extension he signed in 2024, and he’ll be a restricted free agent when it’s up. The word around the draft was that he wasn’t interested in signing on long term in Columbus.
Kevin Weekes was among the first to put that on the record:
For a while it looked like Columbus was going to hold the line. Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell said back in early July that Marchenko wasn’t going anywhere.
We covered that stance when the team shut the rumors down a few weeks ago. This new report reads a lot different.
Montreal has been chasing Marchenko since earlier in the summer, and Kent Hughes still hasn’t landed a big name from outside the organization. A scoring winger entering his prime would check that box in a hurry.
Nothing is official yet. When a player’s own camp says he’s down to two teams, though, the finish line usually isn’t far off.
