The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed right winger Kirill Marchenko (pronounced MAH-L-Chen-Ko) to a three-year, $11.55 million contract (average annual value of $3.85 million) through the 2026-27 National Hockey League season, Don Waddell, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, announced today.
“Kirill Marchenko has been a valuable player for the Blue Jackets during his first two seasons in the NHL and it was important to us to come to an agreement to keep him in Columbus,” Waddell said. “He has the size, skill and goal-scoring ability to continue to be a valuable part of our core team.”
Marchenko, who turned 24 on July 21, has appeared in 137 career NHL games since making his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets in the 2022-23 season, averaging 16 minutes and 19 seconds of ice time, 30 penalty minutes, 16 power play goals (PPG) and 324 shots on goal, scoring 44 goals, 23 assists and 67 points. He was selected by Columbus with the 49th overall pick in the second round in the 2018 NHL Draft.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound winger set career highs in a season, led the team in goals and points per game and ranked second in shots and third in points with 23-19-42, nine goals and 193 shots in 78 games played in 2023-24. He is just the second Blue Jackets player (Pierre-Luc Dubois) to score 20 or more goals in two consecutive seasons to start his NHL career and went 35-14-49 in his first 100 games, tying him with Rick Nash for the most goals in the first 100 games of an NHL career in franchise history.
Marchenko began the 2022-23 season with the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League, recording eight goals, 11 assists and 19 assists in 16 games before making his NHL debut with Pittsburgh on December 6, 2022. He then appeared in 59 games with 21 goals, four assists and 25 assists for seven points, setting franchise records for most points scored by a rookie and power play goals (tied), while also tying for the most points scored by an NHL rookie (with Anaheim’s Mason MacTavish) and ranking third in goals.
A native of Barnaul, Russia, Marchenko recorded 34-30-64 with 33 penalty assists, 7 PPG, 235 shots on goal and a cumulative plus-minus rating of +31 in 114 games with HC Yugra and SKA St. Petersburg of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League from 2017-2022. He played for Russia at the 2019 (bronze medal) and 2020 IIHF World Junior Championships, as well as the 2018 IIHF U-18 World Championship.
Kirill Marchenko’s complete statistics
