When you listen to this clip it sounds to me that Wadell is kind of resigned to the fact that Marchenko does to be traded. Don mentions that he would want roster players and says "regardless of what the agent of Kirill wants", which pretty much tells you what Kirill wants. With that in mind lets look at some possible destinations that could work for the Blue Jackets and hopefully Kirill as he does have a lot of say since he has voice whether he will sign long term with whatever team is interested as his contract is up next summer.

Seattle has been looking for the big fish for a while now. They were reportedly heavily in on Panarin before he went to L.A., and they worked out a trade with Dallas with a 15 million dollar offer sheet for Jason Robertson that Robertson ended up rejecting.  The Kraken have shown that they are willing to pony up the assets and dollars so as long as Kirill is comfortable with signing long with them this could be a play.

Shane Wright has reportedly nudged Seattle management that he is not all that happy with his role on the team and, although he may never be what his high draft position suggested he might be, Shane has underlying numbers that show positive progression and will likely be at least a good middle six center throughout his career. Seattle could add Kaapo Kakko into the deal as well. Kaapo's playmaking ability blossomed after coming over from the Rangers in Seattle and is known for is strong two way play. would fill a whole on the right side that losing Marchenko would bring. I would look at Cale Fleury as well, the Saskatoon native has developed slowly but steadily into an NHL ready defenseman IMO. I feel the same way about Fleury as I did about Wotherspoon in Pittsburgh last year. Feels like Cale is ready to pop and I think he could be one of the surprises of 2026. Add a good scrapy prospect like and possibly Seattle's first next year and there could be a deal here