“If I were the Blue Jackets, I’d suspend Kirill Marchenko.”

Jonathan Di Gregorio
“If I were the Blue Jackets, I’d suspend Kirill Marchenko.”
Credit: Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images

The Kirill Marchenko saga in Columbus has been the subject of much speculation. The Russian player, who has been linked to the Canadiens in numerous rumors throughout the summer, no longer seems to want to play in Columbus—at least not in the long term.

For his part, his coach, Rick Bowness, no longer seems to want him on the team, preferring to play those who want to be in Columbus.

Add to that the numerous—and often cryptic—messages from his agent, Dan Milstein, regarding Marchenko over the summer, and it's a situation that's generating a lot of buzz throughout the NHL.

Yesterday, when a reporter asked the player if he enjoyed playing in Columbus, he replied that he enjoyed playing hockey, and then, after a hesitant pause, added, “here.”

Let's just say that's not a very convincing answer that's going to reassure Blue Jackets fans.

In fact, the topic was discussed on the show Les amateurs de sports, and Mario Langlois was quite categorical in his response: he would outright suspend Marchenko.

Éric Hoziel and Geneviève Tardif seem to find this solution a bit extreme, but for Langlois, the forward's attitude is an insult to the Ohio team.

Let's just say it takes a good reason to suspend a player, and I don't think the Players' Association would let this slide.

What's certain is that this has clearly become a major distraction that the Blue Jackets will want to resolve quickly.

One really has to wonder if there isn't a cultural problem in Columbus, especially since Zach Werenski also cast doubt on his future with the team earlier this summer.

Or whether young NHL players have been given too much power before they've achieved full autonomy.

In fact, this whole situation could very well dampen the enthusiasm of teams looking to acquire him, particularly a franchise trying to build a winning culture with players willing to give their all for one another.

On paper, acquiring a 26-year-old, big-framed winger who tallied 67 points last year and 74 the year before—with one year remaining on his contract that pays him $3.385 million annually—might seem like a good deal.

However, he could also be the kind of player who disrupts the chemistry in the locker room if he becomes dissatisfied with his new team, and one might wonder, in such a case, whether it's worth the risk.


In Brief

– Players are arriving at the Bell Centre.

– Signing in Anaheim.

– MLB in brief.

– Back on Monday.

– Again…

– AJ Schaaf's first goal in the QMJHL.

– And for Julien Nadeau.

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