The Toronto Maple Leafs are adding some offensive firepower to their roster ahead of the 2026-27 NHL season with the addition of right winger Kirill Marchenko. After NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported on Monday that the Maple Leafs were in “deep” trade talks for the Columbus Blue Jackets right winger, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that the deal was coming together and also involved Matthew Knies: Friedman reported on the additional players and noted that Toronto will also extend Marchenko with a new deal: The trade was the conclusion of an ongoing process on Monday: This comes after Columbus and Marchenko were unable to come to an agreement on an extension of contract. He was also quite evasive about his status with the franchise when asked about his future in Columbus earlier this offseason: Marchenko was scheduled for restricted free agency after next season, so there was likely motivation on Columbus’ part to trade him if he had no interest in returning with an extension. At least he gets something in return with this move for someone who seemed to have no shortage of suitors, as Friedman recently reported on his 32 Thoughts podcast (h/t NBC Sports Boston’s Nick Goss). “Montreal, everyone knows, the islanders I mentioned a couple groups ago,” Friedman said. “I think Toronto has really tried to keep their interest under wraps, but it’s kind of leaked out. I think Winnipeg at one point looked into it.” I heard Boston made an offer at one point. Some people said Las Vegas, others said they weren’t sure it was Las Vegas. I have to think Seattle is close to this. They’ve really been trying to get a top player and could get this deal done.” So much interest, even from his eventual posting to Toronto, wasn’t particularly surprising, as Marchenko is 26 years old and coming off back-to-back impressive seasons. He scored 74 points, 43 assists and 31 goals in 2024-25 and then followed up with 67 points, 40 assists and 27 goals in 2025-26. Given his age and the reality that he was playing for A Blue Jackets team that missed the playoffs in both seasons, it’s reasonable to expect it to be even more productive in the future if surrounded by more talent in Toronto. The Maple Leafs certainly looking to return to the postseason after missing out on a streak of nine consecutive seasons making the playoffs in part due to a mediocre offense that ranked 16th in the league in goals per game could help improve those numbers and perhaps lead to a return to the postseason. Jackets, will continue to rebuild with the addition of the Knies, 23 years old. The forward scored 66 points, 43 assists and 23 goals last season.
