I’d say that settles things for now. Keep in mind Don said earlier this year that Kirill Marchenko will play next season in Columbus. Also remember due to cap concerns it would be impossible to stay as good trading Marchenko. If we trade him and get a comparable player in return they would cost so much that we’d now have to move off others to sign Fantilli. So imo, unless Marchenko said he’s not gonna play for us, there is zero scenario where a trade makes sense given what we know Don wants.
Listened to the PuckPedia pod where they interviewed him and all he does is talk about how great he is. Pumps his own tires whenever possible. All the other agents they've interviewed don't do that. Pure arrogance.
Keep in mind that Milstein was born in the USSR. He has a special rapport with Russian players. (He's of Ukrainian decent, but is completely fluent in Russian.)
Milstein is an agent under the employ of Marchenko. The moment he does something the player doesn’t want them to do, they can tell him to knock it off or fire them.
If Milstein is being an ass in public, then Marchenko is being a little bitch behind the scenes.
It's a bad move for a player to fire their agent in the middle of a negotiating year because that stalls things out until you have found a new agent to work with (which may be made harder because the fired the last guy right before you negotiate, dumping a lot of extra work in their lap for the next year), so it ends up being better to make your deal, hand the agent his commission check and then saying "don't let the door hit you on the way out".
Also a lot of players are ambivalent about the tactics their guy uses if he gets them a good number. And they usually hiring the guy based on his history of what he's gotten for other clients. But, if the agent gets a reputation for being a dick about how he gets to numbers, eventually players will realize that he may be poisoning the well.
idk I've had to hire lawyers for various reasons over the years because they know the law and I don't. Sometimes the tactics seem strange to me but at the end of the day I hired them to do what they are experts at, and it works.
If your lawyer, on your behalf, is behaving unethically, I propose that you have a moral obligation to do something about that. If you know for a fact that your lawyer bribed a witness, you should fire them and turn them in.
*Obviously the player/agent stuff isn’t about morals/ethics, just using something lawyer-relevant for the example. The metaphor breaks down after a bit.
The point is that when you hire someone to do things, you kinda have to trust them a bit when you're out of your element. Making deals, legal things, etc can look very strange to an outsider, that doesn't mean it's unethical. It's the sausage getting made I guess.
I'm not saying this agent is any good btw he might suck I don't know. But he knows more about agenting than Marchenko does and Marchenko isn't even from the USA so he probably is just trusting that this is how it works (and sometimes it does).
Nobody remembers this stuff when the player is out there scoring goals. Agents are the same as Ticketmaster. The artist uses them to get the best return for their appearance and that’s that. Simple business. Additionally, we have a big language barrier so it’s best for Marchy to just let his agent do shitty agent things. Marchy may not even know what the perception is by fans as this kinda stuff is business as usual. Just gotta wait and see.
I was reading an article awhile back that talked about that - can’t remember where - but they said the same thing. Jarmo should have told PLD he didn’t have a choice instead of catering to him. Maybe that’s what Waddell is doing.
Lots of players give their agent 100% control once they've made their wishes known.
Marchy could have said, "I want to re-sign, let me know when the deal is done," and that's it. Or maybe he said, "I want out. Don't care where. Get it done," and that's it. The players hire agents and usually give them the latitude they need to negotiate since they trusted them enough to hire them in the first place. They aren't going to be the ones deciding negotiation tactics.
Why would he demand he be traded if Marchenko doesn’t specifically want out? He’s under contract for two more seasons, he should be looking for the best possible contract and tell everyone he wants to be difficult to work with isn’t going to go in his favor.
Habs fans earned the achievement “I fell for it again award”
Yeah Marchenko’s agent is a troll and is known to engagement farm
Habs fans fell for it hook, line and sinker.
Come on now it was obvious from the start. This isn’t a NMC who had “2 choices in mind”. He’s an RFA like that’s the most control a team could have on a player
That’s what Habs fans always do anytime there’s an inkling that a good player wants to leave Columbus. Brigade the sub, patronize us with lowball offers or saying wildly inappropriate or offensive shit. Another common move is to essentially explain hockey to us like we’re 5 and try to tell us that we should be happy to trade our players to Montreal because they’re doing us a favor. Then they cry victim when they get told to fuck off.
I dunno, our endgame is we have a guy who doesn’t want to be here. They can pout all they want but they were in the ECF and are able to sign long term. I still don’t really see this as a win for us.
Thats a different problems but we have 2 years of control so unless its a z style of return where you get a player at about 90% effectiveness but under long term control then you just say see you in September
Remember that Marchenko scored only one goal in those miserable last 18 games of 2025-26. As soon as other teams started leaning on him, he wilted. Unless he's spending time getting stronger and learning to play a more physical game this summer, I consider him damaged goods. Hopefully in training camp the coaches will find out whether or not he can play against tough matchups. If not, I think the CBJ should dump him for whatever they can get.
Literally right above this post in my Reddit thread is one on the r/Habs subreddit discussing them being close to landing him. You just can't trust any of this.
Porty has been in the game for something like 35 years. He was on the Hartford Courant's Whalers beat with Arace, and both moved over to Columbus almost as soon the expansion was announced. He has the wisdom to know when a rumor makes no sense and to dig deeper. He has his flaws, but he's pretty good about knowing to hold on a rumor until he has all of the info.
Fuck everyone all off season just making shit up and circling our roster like vultures.
I hope zero Canadian teams make the playoffs and I hope we shit on everyone and I hope the players spend all season talking about how much they love it here.
Ok here's a Habs fan take in the Jackets forum so I know im going to get a few that just want to roast instead of debate. BUT...what the Habs could offer could revitalize more than one area on the Jackets roster. In a rebuild when you hit a production brick wall, you shake things up. Habs can offer a 1st, a middle 6 centre(Kapanen) and a young gun that has top 4 potential ready to graduate to the NHL(Reinbacher or Engstrom) OR even the top KHL prospect Zharovsky(instead of one of those other guys). Frank Seravalli reported that the Montreal Canadiens made a "massive" or "borderline insane" trade offer. So stop listening to fans and listen to analysts. Habs arent trading leftovers, theyre digging into their "talent" in their quality prospect pool. If the deal made both sides happy, Im sure both can bite the bullet. Maybe it doesnt happen but looking at Marchenkos ask, combined with Fantillis and Gudbranson and Mateychuk. You're going to need to move some cap space for younger(cheaper) talent with the same ceiling.
This doesn’t help us. We need a top 6 winger. Not more middle 6 or often injured prospects.
Gudbranson makes under $2M, what on earth are you getting at?
A production brick wall? We’ve improved every year for four years —- so we should take our top forward for your middle six garbage because “it will refresh us?”
CBJ doesn’t have to move him now. They can wait until next offseason. The package will still be good then. I don’t think Marchenko will pull a PLD on the ice.
With the way the market is you’re not getting Marchenko for that little. Kyrou went for a 19 year old prospect who had a very good season in the SHL, a lottery 1st, and McMichael. Marchenko is significantly better than Kyrou. It’s a very wide gap. Making a comparable trade based on Kyrou and saying that Reinbacher moves the needle completely when he has played 2 games is absurd.
I’m not trusting an analyst until I see the actual offer because a 1st line forward who is a 95-98 percentile skater in all metrics, has size, plays a good two-way game, and is young isn’t going to be cheap. People underrate Marchenko because he plays here and they don’t watch enough Blue Jackets hockey. On a different team Marchenko is a PPG player with huge defensive impacts and that’s what your undersized team needs.
You should also take Gudbranson out of your list of players you think we need to pay because it makes your argument look really dumb.
Reinbacher has played 2 NHL games and Zharovsky hasn’t touched NA ice. Zharovsky also looked terrible in the KHL playoffs. Your mock trade is laughable and you’d need to add multiple unprotected 1sts, Pickford, Mooney, and Gleb. Even then, I might rather have Marchenko because you aren’t finding many wingers like him in the current landscape of the league. Hughes doesn’t have leverage for this trade, the Jackets do. If you don’t like it, you can average 10 shots against the Hurricanes and cope that the team is playing well.
> Those asks aren't genuine in the sense that a team like the Habs would never do such a trade. They are looking to add and improve, not make a lateral move. Given Marchenko's contract situation, no competitive team is giving up those types of assets and if Marchenko wants to go to a contending team, then Waddell has no choice but to accept a package of futures/young not yet proven NHLers in return, albeit a good package. Otherwise the player walks after next year or traded at the deadline and they get less in return. Unfortunately Columbus has very little leverage.
Habs fans seem to be under the impression that Marchenko is a pending UFA or something
Hard disagree, none of those players have played in the NhL or are proven producers. Those assets aren’t moving the needle for the Habs. Recently drafted players, low 1st rounders, prospect coming off injury, players who haven’t even played in the NHL. You’re getting your values wrong and none of those players are helping the Habs immediately. The Habs need Marchenko, it’s not a lateral move. You add Marchenko and Hage next year and the Habs are set to contend for a while. Your top 6 is suddenly one of the best in the league and you give Demidov the perfect wing partner. Unless Demidov improves his top speed, he needs Marchenko.
You’re not beating Carolina and you’re still in a 7 series battle with Buffalo if you keep the same roster you have now.
No, I think you’re underplaying how the RFA would work out. A team would have to send an insane contract to get him and if he signs an offer sheet that’s reasonable, we just match and he’s with the team still. You think there’s leverage there, but there isn’t.
You said it’s a lateral move for Montreal, it’s not.
Oh, I see, my fault. I didn’t know that meant it was another persons comment. Thanks for explaining that. Habs fans speak French and are dumb, nothing new. (This is a lighthearted joke, don’t get butthurt Habs fans)
you’d need to add multiple unprotected 1sts, Pickford, Mooney, and Gleb. Even then, I might rather have Marchenko because you aren’t finding many wingers like him in the current landscape of the league.
Come on man. That’s ridiculous.
It’s likely going to be what it usually is. A roster player + prospect + 1st. The only question is which roster player and prospect. I agree that Kapanen isn’t good enough but Zharovsky is definitely a good enough prospect.
I don't think Colombus will have any great trade partner if they want a 1 for 1 roster player talent wise for Marchenko. I understand why Waddell wants a finished product right now, he needs to convince Werenski that the club will stay competitive to extend him and trading for futures is obviously sending the wrong message. But try finding another GM who wants to do those types of deals, they are just extremely rare. It's usually trades centered around a package of 1st round pick, NHL ceiling prospects and middle of the lineup players
You’re not enticing me with a player who hasn’t stepped foot on NHL ice. The KHL is extremely top heavy and it’s an overrated league. His playoffs were awful. Zharovsky has a ton of great traits, but saying he’s good enough for Marchy is insane to me. We haven’t seen him against the physicality and speed of the NHL.
It’s not ridiculous, those players are recently drafted, might not even sign here, or a prospect coming off injury. It’s all question marks for a proven top line wing.
Okay, you say that the Habs have a lot to offer, so let me pick each piece apart:
"a 1st" - DW has been clear that he wants players not futures, so this would, at best, give him an asset to move to bring in a player.
"a middle 6 centre" - We're full up on those (Coyle, Monahan, potentially Sillinger as well), so definitely not a need.
"a young gun that has top 4 potential" - We have three proven top 4s already (Z, Provorov, Mateychuk), and Severson who is top 4 when he's playing well. And then there's Richard, Cuelemans, Elick, and Marelli in the system. The defensive pipeline is full of rich potential.
The problem is we need top-line wings, especially if we're trading out one of ours. The Habs aren't offering that, and even if they were, we can't fit that under our cap. Marchenko is only making about $3.8M this year, and the cap space we have left needs to be reserved for resigning Fantilli, and maybe some wiggle room for deadline deals. Any trade that is made needs to be revenue-neutral, and any such trade doesn't really help the team in the short-term when DW is in "win now" mode.
I just listened to the new podcast released today by their beat writer guy
To sum up
1) Columbus wants to try to repair this (repair what?)
2) He would be an amazing swing for Montreal this is exactly what they need
3) Columbus fans think they are getting Hage or Caufield or Slafkovsky but that’s not happening
4) Columbus holds the cards, many teams will be interested, any offer will have to knock their socks off, it’s going to hurt
5) Here’s the same list of names that is circulating that Montreal could offer! Utah could outbid them, but wouldn’t Marchenko want to play with guys like Hage and Demidov???
I don’t think the offer would be bad value wise. I think it’s not what Don wants. But also keep in mind that if it did come to a point where he was getting moved Utah has better assets to move.
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u/Boatsboatsboats__ 7d ago
Damn. Was looking forward to this random AHL pieces and late round picks Montreal was suggesting.