- Adam Fantilli says keeping Kirill Marchenko all year would have been a nightmare
- Marchenko has 10 points in 10 games since the trade to Toronto
- Read below for the Leafs-Blue Jackets reunion and how both sides of the deal are doing
Adam Fantilli has no regrets about how the Kirill Marchenko trade played out.
The Blue Jackets center was asked Tuesday after morning skate about facing his former teammate for the first time, with Toronto in town. Fantilli didn’t dance around it.
“Happy we got guys who want to be here,” Fantilli said. “It would have been a nightmare having a guy that didn’t want to be here all year. I’m glad we got that trade done when we did.”
Here’s the quote as Blue Jackets reporter Dave Maetzold shared it:
Marchenko asked out of Columbus before the season, and the Blue Jackets got a deal done the day before opening night. Toronto sent Matthew Knies, Steven Lorentz, Emil Andrae and a conditional 2027 second-round pick. Columbus shipped out Marchenko, goaltender Elvis Merzlikins and Miles Wood.
Marchenko was a pending restricted free agent at the time. He signed a six-year extension with the Maple Leafs after the trade, and he hadn’t committed to a future in Columbus during training camp.
So far, Toronto is getting what it paid for. Marchenko has four goals and six assists through 10 games, including a hat trick against the Sabres last week.
Knies, meanwhile, scored in his Blue Jackets debut, but he has gone five games without a point since.
Marchenko wasn’t the only Columbus player with trade chatter over the summer. Zach Werenski also asked out before walking the request back and saying he plans to stay long term. Fantilli, who ended his holdout with a new extension in September, is now one of the faces of that group.
The Maple Leafs (4-4-2) and Blue Jackets (3-4-0) drop the puck a little after 7 p.m. ET in Columbus.
