SKA was not needed, and now it is torn into the basis of the NHL club. Marchenko’s breakthrough could harm another Russian

Dmitry YerykalovHe scores points in every game for Columbus One of the main characters of the pre-season in the NHL quite unexpectedly became Kirill Marchenko. He left for North America after a not very successful season. Despite the fact that the coaches of the Russian national team called the striker to the home stage of the Eurotour, and participation in the Olympic Games was quite real, Marchenko was not favored at the club. In the spring, he took part in the playoffs, but not in the KHL, but in the VHL. In total, Kirill played 14 matches for the St. Petersburg farm club. And now he is doing everything not to play for the Columbus farm club. When Marchenko went to Columbus, this was perceived with a certain skepticism. And it’s not just the not very successful season for SKA. The Blue Jackets, though a team in the process of rebuilding, have talents no less caliber than Marchenko. For example, Yegor Chinakhov. But he, chosen by the Jackets in the first round of the draft, adapted with great difficulty to the new league for himself. Whereas back in 2018, Columbus drafted Kirill in the second round. In fact, Marchenko was considered as a direct competitor to Chinakhov. They are formal and play on the same flank – the right. There are not so many places at the base, most of them are occupied by hockey players with unilateral contracts. However, in the first control match, the coaches identified two Russians in one link. Coming out in the third three with the center of Del Bellusa, our guys showed themselves well, took part in the power play, and Marchenko even scored an assist. He gave an assist to Blankenburg’s defender. Marchenko could score in the first match for Columbus, in total he made two shots on Pittsburgh’s goal, but like Chinakhov, he finished the meeting with “-1” in terms of utility. It cost Yegor a place in the squad for the game with Buffalo. Whereas Marchenko not only came out, but also scored! And he did it with a biting wrist throw in the style of Chinakhov. Kirill was given only 42 seconds in the majority, but he took advantage of this chance and realized a numerical advantage. In total, Marchenko is scoring points in five games for Columbus! True, we are talking not only about control games, but also about the beginners’ tournament. There he went out in the first link and, being older than most of his partners and rivals, he felt completely confident. His team also played games against Pittsburgh and Buffalo with not the most optimal line-up, but these are some similar outlines to what will happen in the season. And despite the fact that Marchenko did not rise above the third link, 14-16 minutes and time in the majority is a good sign. And the fact that during this time Kirill also manages to consistently score points is a great sign. One quality pre-season alone is not enough to gain a foothold in the NHL, of course. To be successful there – even more so. But it seems that this is already a trend that players who are not particularly in demand in SKA are causing a stir in America. It all started with Vasily Podkolzin, Marchenko’s former teammate. Now Kirill himself, as well as goalkeeper Yaroslav Askarov, who hardly played last season for the Army Men, are storming the best league in the world. Does this mean that they were not seen in St. Petersburg? Or that NHL clubs are better at developing players? In fact, everything is much simpler: in the Northern capital, those who are already sleeping and see themselves in America and refuse to sign a new contract with SKA are written off. It remains only for Ivan Morozov to start rocking for Vegas and the theorem will be proven.