86 Days Until The Opening Night At Nationwide Arena

Kirill Marchenko made his NHL debut on December 6^th, 2022. He only played 12 shifts, had 10:03 of ice time, two hits, and a blocked shot, but he never looked back.

The 22-year-old Russian winger was drafted 49^th overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. He’s a big guy, standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing 197 pounds, he’s also really nimble for a guy his size. He’s able to turn right on a dime, creating room for his forehand and making it look easy. Marchenko is fun to watch when he’s on the ice.

In May of 2022, he signed a 2-year entry-level contract clearing the way for his debut in North America. He would start the season off in Cleveland of the AHL, getting used to the NHL ice size. Marchenko played in 16 games for the Monsters and absolutely lit it up. He would go on to score eight goals and have 19 points in those 16 games. It’s safe to say he had adjusted to the North American ice and style of play fairly quickly. The Blue Jackets had no choice but to call him up to Columbus.

After making his NHL debut on December 6^th, he would go scoreless in his first three games, mustering only one shot on net. Four games in, he would finally break through and score his first goal against the Kings. From then on, Marchenko would keep scoring. He would go on to score nine goals in his first 20 games, including his first NHL hat-trick against the Carolina Hurricanes on January 7^th.

He would go through a six-game scoring drought in mid-January, and then on January 23^rd, he got hot again, scoring four goals in three games. In Marchenko’s first 29 games, he had scored 13 goals. But even with him scoring 13 goals in 29 games, there was something that was eluding him, an assist. Marchenko had yet to record an assist in his first 29 games. His stat line read 13-0-13 and it was rare to see that kind of stat line. How rare you ask? Well, the NHL record for the most goals to start an NHL season without recording an assist is 16, a record set by Pit Lepine of the Montreal Canadiens in the 1926-27 season. With his 13 goals, he was tied with John McKinnon, who also scored 13 goals without an assist, that’s 3^rd all-time. And then on February 11^th vs the Toronto Maple Leafs, Marchenko would record his first assist, ending the chase for the record, tied for 3^rd with 13 goals to start a season without an assist.

Fans were conflicted on how to view Marchenko’s run of goals without assists. Some fans were saying that they were concerned about his lack of passing and having a shoot-first attitude. While most fans were praising him and begging him to shoot more. This franchise has never really had a player who just wanted to score goals, so people were excited to see him shooting a lot. The hat-trick game he had saw him fire eight shots at the Hurricane goalie. Who cares about assists when you have a sniper who can seem to score whenever he wants? Shoot more Kirill.

As the season wore on, most people could only think of one thing, Can Kirill Marchenko beat former CBJ center Pierre-Luc Dubois’ rookie scoring record of 20 goals? The answer was yes. On March 28^th he would tie the record and then on April 2^nd against the Senators, he would score his 21^st goal of the season. Everyone was excited that the record set by Dubois was finally broken. The record stands at 21 as Marchenko went scoreless in the last six games of the season. He would finish the season with 21 goals and 25 points.

His sophomore season started rough. He went scoreless in his first seven games which caused him to be a healthy scratch. He came back on November 2nd and immediately scored. He scored a hat trick on December 9th against the Buffalo Sabres and then went ice cold. He would only score 10 goals the rest of the season after scoring 13 goals in a 24-game stretch. He would end the season with a line of 23-19-42.

Now we're waiting on a new contract for Marchenko. He's a restricted free agent who chose arbitration. His arbitration case is set for July 31st and it's safe to say that Marchenko has a very good case should it get there. He broke the CBJ rookie scoring record and then backed it up with another 20-goal season last year. 

Regardless of whether it goes to arbitration, or he gets a new deal, this should work out in Kirill Marchenko's favor. Hopefully, his contact negotiations won't drag on too much longer. 

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