We continue to wait for word from the Blue Jackets on their next head coach. While we thought they were close to hiring Todd McLellan two weeks ago, they were unable to come to terms and are circling around some other names.
Due to the head coaching search, other important business has been set aside by Don Waddell. Somewhere at the top of his to-do list is signing a handful of remaining restricted free agents. One of those guys - Kirill Marchenko - has a hard deadline that is rapidly approaching.
Marchenko is the only remaining Blue Jacket RFA who has arbitration rights. This means he and his agent can walk into a negotiation with an independent party and argue their case for his next contract.
That's not an ideal situation for team nor player, so it's pretty uncommon for cases to actually make it to the arbitrator. In most situations, the team and player both benefit by coming to terms before that date actually approaches.
The Jackets haven't gotten Marchenko's deal done, and in fact, they don't even seem close at this time. Reports out of Russia are that the team hasn't given him any real offers to this point.
Kirill Marchenko told me he's never had a worthy offer from the @bluejacketsnhl and haven't had a conversation with Don Waddell #CBJ pic.twitter.com/THUSIzCMHl
— Daria Tuboltseva (@DariaTuboltseva) July 20, 2024
I'll admit that this is somewhat puzzling, considering the fact that the player and his agent have spoken about wanting to get him signed long-term with the Jackets. But, when you step back and look at the whole situation, it's not all that surprising.
Waddell has been pretty busy looking for his new bench boss. And, let's not forget that he was just hired to be this team's GM less than two months ago. There's a likelihood here that he has never even spoken to Kirill Marchenko, and he's only seen him play from an opposition perspective.
Marchenko is probably the only RFA on the roster who is positioned to sign a long-term deal. Every other player will be looking at signing for a shorter term, to prove themselves and earn more later.
The wise play here would be to gather as much information about the player as possible, before making any long-term contract offers. This means talking to the scouts, the staff, and probably some of the other players from the roster.
All of this has likely been going on behind the scenes. So, while Kirill's July 31st arbitration case is rapidly approaching with no deal in place, I'm pretty confident that they'll come to an agreement and avoid that hearing altogether.
Really, common ground shouldn't be too hard to find here. Marchenko has been a standout player on and off the ice since coming to Columbus. When you find young, talented, personable guys like this; it's wise to lock them up long-term early on. He has that star power you're looking for.
If the Jackets can find common ground with him on a 5 or 6 year deal, he'll likely be well worth the money and term. Don Waddell will hear that from a lot of different people in the organization, so I expect a deal to come together this week.