Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: The Columbus Blue Jackets didn’t receive a Kirill Marchenko trade offer that involved anyone as intriguing as Matthew Knies. Some teammates believe that Knies had grow tired of the trade rumors. The Maple Leafs think so highly of Marchenko, they were okay with taking the contracts of Miles Wood and Elvis Merzlikins. There was talk several month ago that Marchenko would have been okay with a deal to Montreal, but was unsure about Toronto. That obviously changed.
The Montreal Canadiens were in the Marchenko trade talks until the end. They didn’t have someone like Knies. They were also trying to get a third team involved to take on salary. thinks that the Canadiens would have been okay to give Marchenko $12.5 million. The Bruins, Islanders, Seattle and Tampa were also interested in Marchenko, and there would have been others.
NHL Rumour Report: Chris Johnston on TSNs OverDrive on the Marchenko-Leafs trade: “The other team that really wanted him was the Canadiens; but didn’t have a roster player like Knies that they could send back or they were comfortable sending back.”
Aaron Portzline: Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell said that he never got a straight answer from Marchenko as to why he longer wanted to play for the Blue Jackets. All that Marchenko and Dan Milstein, he agent, would say is that he “preferred to play somewhere else.”
NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens, and the Vancouver Canucks
Stefen Rosner: The New York Islanders inquired about Kirill Marchenko, but the Blue Jackets didn’t want futures. The Blue Jackets ask would have likely been Cal Ritchie. The Isles would have also needed to know if Marchenko would even extend with them.
Eric Francis: The Calgary Flames were looking to be a third party broker in a Kirill Marchenko trade as they were looking to acquire an extra draft pick for taking on some salary.
Time was ticking, but Don sealed the deal with only seconds to spare!
Go inside the GM’s office for the moments before and after yesterday’s trade in this episode of Behind the Battle, presented by @PNCBank pic.twitter.com/UwUPbMsIJh
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 29, 2026
Thoughts on the Matthew Knies – Kirill Marchenko Trade
Breakdown of the Marchenko/Merzlikins/Knies trade:
-How does Merzlikins on LTIR impact TOR & CBJ
-Why did this trade need to happen before 5pm today
-How did TOR submit a cap compliant roster & utilize LTIRhttps://t.co/4XqMLr2LBF pic.twitter.com/iWObvNWdBk— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) September 29, 2026
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