NHL Trade Market For Kirill Marchenko Is Booming

Forward Kirill Marchenko has made it very clear that he is looking to be traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets as soon as possible. However, as of Friday, Blue Jackets general manager, Don Waddell, wasn’t budging on his asking price for the high-scoring winger who is set to become a restricted free agent next July 1.

On Thursday, the Blue Jackets signed star RFA centre Adam Fantilli to a six-year $82.5 million deal. Now that the Blue Jackets have taken care of Fantilli’s contract, the belief is they will move on to the next set of business, which is to move a disgruntled Kirill Marchenko on the NHL trade market.

The Montreal Canadiens have been one of the most aggressive NHL trade suitors Marchenko since this past June, but they are far from the only teams that are looking to get a hold of the winger. Will the Canadiens be able to outbid other teams with an offer that fits what the Blue Jackets want?

Considering the Blue Jackets still want to compete for a playoff spot in a wide-open Metropolitan Division this upcoming season, they have been looking for pieces that could play in the NHL now rather than receive futures that could help down the line for Marchenko.

“If the Habs are willing to include a solid middle 6 forward and/or a top 4 defenseman, then yes they’re right there,” an NHL scout told TheSickPodcast.com early Friday evening. “The question is, are they willing to risk the chemistry they have on that NHL roster now.”

Later on Friday night, Hall of Famer and longtime Boston Globe reporter Kevin Paul Dupont tweeted what he believed to be the asking price from the Boston Bruins for Kirill Marchenko

If Bruins make a serious bid for Marchenko, 26, it means surrendering Minten or Hagens, Round 1 pick and another young roster asset, Lohrei or better.

On his most recent 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliot Friedman talked about the Boston Bruins being a team to watch in the case of Marchenko.

“I heard Boston made an offer at one point,” said Friedman.

Maybe not so ironically, Bruins superstar winger David Pastrnak followed Marchenko on Instagram on Friday.

Longtime NHL analyst and co-host (along with Jimmy Murphy) of The Eye Test Podcast, Pierre McGuire, was on Melnick In The Afternoon on TSN 690 (Montreal) on Thursday evening, and mentioned which teams he believes would be willing to pay something similar to Waddell’s asking price. McGuire mentioned the Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, and Vegas Golden Knights, who have both been linked to the Russian winger throughout the off-season. However, he also mentioned another team that could be an interesting landing spot for Marchenko.

“The Rangers might be able to be one of those teams (to pay up for Marchenko),” McGuire told TSN 690.

“(Pavel) Dorofeyev has had a tremendous impact on that team so far… If you can add a guy like Marchenko to that, and the way [Gabe] Perreault is playing helps them a ton. I think anything less than the playoffs for the Rangers probably isn’t going to be acceptable from ownership. There is a lot of pressure in New York.”

In terms of the other teams that Friedman has heard showed interest or reached out about Marchenko recently, according to him the Canadiens, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, and Seattle Kraken are looking to potentially acquire the 6-foot-3, 201-pound 26-year-old Russian.

The questions now become which team would be willing to give up the assets that the Blue Jackets want, as well as whether Marchenko is willing to sign an extension with that team.

Kirill Marchenko, who led the Blue Jackets with 27 goals last season, is in the final season of a three-year $11.55 million ($3.85M AAV) contract. Many NHL insiders have speculated that he may want somewhere between $10-$12 million per season and between 5-6 years for term.