With 86 days to go until opening night at Nationwide Arena, there's only one person to talk about - Kirill Marchenko.
Kirill Marchenko had a breakout season for the Blue Jackets in 24-25. Everyone knew he would score a bunch of goals, but to add 43 assists caught a lot of people off guard.
Marchenko tied Adam Fantilli with 31 goals and totaled 74 points while having a plus-29 rating. He turned into a complete playmaker last season and was arguably the best player all year alongside defenseman Zach Werenski.
He totaled 19 power-play points, but only scored two goals. If there was a knock on him last season, it's that he didn't pour in enough power play goals. A player with his shot should be shooting a lot more while the other team is a man down.
He managed to play 79 games, even after breaking his jaw while seated on the bench. Thanks to the 4-Nations Tournament, he was able to rehab and rest and came back ready to play on February 22, just 20 days after his injury. He admitted that playing with the bubble affected his play, but he sure didn't act like it, as he scored 5 points in his first three games back.
He will be counted on next season to continue his upward trend and continue to pile up goals and points. But if the CBJ wants to improve their historically bad power play, he will need to score 10-15 goals on the power play.
I expect 80 points from Kirill Marchenko next season.
Shoot more Kirill.
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