The Blue Jackets didn’t hold back in their public criticism of Kirill Marchenko

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
The Blue Jackets didn’t hold back in their public criticism of Kirill Marchenko
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

Kirill Marchenko is currently in Toronto. He arrived last night.

Will the Russian be able to start his season at the same time as the others—that is, tonight against the Montreal Canadiens? It's hard to say.

Right now, we know the Maple Leafs are still waiting to see if he'll get his work visa in time. But aside from that, he's ready and available to help his team.

Meanwhile, the Columbus Blue Jackets are moving on. The Ohio-based team is happy to welcome Matthew Knies, who had long been a target for them.

But they also need to close the Marchenko chapter.

Don Waddell, speaking to the media, admitted he didn't know why the Russian didn't want to stay. He only received a note from his agent stating that he'd like to be somewhere else.

He told reporters covering the Blue Jackets that they can ask him when he returns to town.

This means the Blue Jackets' GM chose not to go easy on Marchenko. He could have protected him by, for example, refusing to disclose that information.

But I'm not saying he did the wrong thing. On the contrary…

After all, it's clear that the split between the team and the player wasn't exactly amicable. If Waddell really doesn't know why his player wanted to go play elsewhere, he has every right to say so in front of the cameras.

I imagine we'll never get to the bottom of this whole story.


In a nutshell

– Ouch.

– Florian Xhekaj and Adam Engstrom won't be playing tonight.

– The Habs are confident.

– Read more.

– Good old Lou was offended. Being offered Nail Yakupov in exchange for Adam Larsson—he didn't like that.

– For more details on the new agreement.

– The Red Wings want a younger Dylan Larkin in exchange for their former captain.

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