The Columbus Blue Jackets have a lot to do this July, with four restricted free agents still unsigned.
New GM Don Waddell is focused on hiring a new head coach, but the slow pace of negotiations is worrying Kirill Marchenko. He told Daria Tuboltseva from Responsible Gaming, “I haven’t received any worthy offers yet… I’m considering both a long-term and a bridge contract, but I prefer the process to move faster.”
Marchenko described the 2023-24 season as full of ups and downs. Despite mixed feelings about his performance and the team , he scored 23 goals and had 42 points in 78 games. This was his first full season with the Blue Jackets after splitting his time between NHL and AHL last year. As a rookie, he scored 21 goals in his first 59 NHL games but only had four assists.
Fans might think that Marchenko’s future is hard to predict because while he’s shown great potential with two 20-goal seasons early in his career, he’s also shooting at an unusually high rate of 13.6 percent over 137 games, tied with Patrik Laine for the highest among active Blue Jackets.
Prospects and Future Challenges:
At the end of the season, Columbus signed several prospects to entry-level deals like Gavin Brindley and Luca Del Bel Belluz who made their NHL debuts. This growing pool of young talent presents Waddell with a unique challenge: balancing ice time for promising forwards while still needing to sign core players like Kent Johnson, Cole Sillinger, and Marchenko.
What do you think about these developments?
