The Columbus Blue Jackets are in no rush to force a Kirill Marchenko deal, even with the noise around his future continuing to build.
Marchenko’s situation has become one of the more interesting ones to watch as the 2026-27 NHL season approaches. His agent, Kevin Weekes, said at the NHL Draft that the forward is looking for a change of scenery, and Marchenko himself didn’t want to get into the subject last Friday. His answer was simple: “I just want to play hockey.”
That’s where things sit for now. Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period said Monday on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio with Gord Stellick and Scott Laughlin that Columbus plans to stay patient and move Marchenko only if the deal makes sense for the team long-term.
The sense around the league is that Marchenko would prefer to be elsewhere, but Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell has made it clear he isn’t going to trade him just to say he did. Pagnotta said Waddell has repeated that he wouldn’t move anyone simply for the sake of making a move, and that Columbus needs to land the right return before doing anything.
That could mean waiting. It could mean waiting a while.
If the Blue Jackets don’t get the package they want now, Pagnotta said they could hold off until next offseason. The team isn’t interested in being boxed in, and it doesn’t have to make a rushed decision just because the situation is uncomfortable.
There’s no question the uncertainty comes with baggage. A player situation like this can hang over a locker room, and it raises the obvious question of how it affects the team over the course of the season.
But Columbus is also trying to win. Pagnotta pointed out that the Blue Jackets are focused on making the postseason, with Zach Werenski, Adam Fantilli and others on the roster, and that push toward competing matters in how they handle Marchenko too.
Montreal has been one of the teams heavily linked to Marchenko, with interest that dates back to the draft. But they’re not alone. For now, though, Marchenko is still with Columbus, and that’s where he’ll remain over the next stretch while the Jackets and their GM work through the market.
The contract picture is part of why this is such a tricky one. Marchenko is in the final year of his deal at $3.85 million per season, and the note attached to the situation says he is looking at Pavel Dorofeyev’s $11.5 million AAV as a starting point.
That changes the math for any team interested in him. A club would have to give up assets to acquire him and still have the space to sign him, and if he’s aiming for $11 million to $12 million a year, some teams may need to part with roster players just to make it work.
That’s why this has the feel of a money-in, money-out type of trade if it happens at all. And that’s also why Waddell is waiting. Columbus wants the right price, the right team, and the right fit before it pulls the trigger.
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