Columbus Blue Jackets rookie forward Kirill Marchenko has shown that he is capable of playing at the NHL level.
The 22-year-old, in his first season in North America, has played in nine NHL games, tallying 3-0-3 (G-A-PTS). In 16 AHL games before that, he posted an 8-11-19 in 16-game statline that suggested that he was too offensively gifted to keep out of the big leagues.
In the nine games since his recall, head coach Brad Larsen has shown some willingness to give his young forward more ice. Some of that can be contributed to Marchenko's quick and steady improvement. Some of it is a plethora of injuries that have forced the Blue Jackets to ice that which amounts to a de facto AHL lineup in recent games. In his first game, he skated just 10:03 in a loss to Pittsburgh. In his second, the Blue Jackets were blown out by the Sabres, and he skated 17:14, a season-high that can be attributed to the shellacking (why match lines at that point?). And his third game saw him back at 9:16, a season-low. In all, he's averaged 12:22 of ice, a fair but still low number given that he's looked, well, pretty good.
The Russian winger has played primarily with Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger on a "kids line" that was surprisingly effective as a third line. Since Sillinger went down with an injury a few games ago, Marchenko has found himself skating with Gus Nyquist and Jack Roslovic on the second line.
The goals have come in different ways, but all show his offensive gifts. On the first goal, he smartly trailed the play, purposefully not striding hard into the teeth of the defense. He was rewarded with a sublime pass by Johnson for what amounted to an empty-netter.
Kent Johnson forces the turnover and sets up Kirill Marchenko for his first goal in the NHL!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/GGjlwwgVpb
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) December 11, 2022
The second goal was a bit of luck, in the sense that his shot redirected off the defender's stick, but again he was well-positioned to set up the play. Here, Sillinger finds Marchenko on a cross-ice feed. On both goals, we see Marchenko's ability to find soft space and get off a quick shot.
Kirill Marchenko blasts home Sillinger's nifty feed, getting Columbus on the board and tying the game at 1!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/2cb05k4tyJ
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) December 16, 2022
His last goal was a different story, a beautiful redirect on a point shot from Jake Christiansen. Marchenko put himself in the shooting lane, and swiped down on the puck in mid-air, a difficult read for goalies.
Kirill Marchenko knots the game up at 1 for the Jackets with a nifty redirect on Christiansen's point shot!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/CfFveAG35U
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) December 21, 2022
One thing that has impressed me about Marchenko is his play down low in the offensive zone. He uses his 6'3", 187 lb frame to shield the puck from opponents, and, having played over 100 games in the KHL, he doesn't seem intimidated by going against NHL defensemen. Put simply, he already looks the part of a top-nine NHL winger, and he's just nine games into his career.
Sure, it's still a small sample size, but Marchenko has shown that he can hang (and then some) at the NHL level. In an otherwise lost season, seeing their young import take a major step in the right direction is a nice silver lining.
