Kirill Marchenko hasn't gone anywhere yet, and Oilers fans already have the trade built. A mock deal circulated overnight.
The package ships the Columbus winger and Charlie Ceulemans to Edmonton. Columbus collects Isaac Howard, Ty Emberson, Beau Akey and a 2028 first.
This is a trade machine. No insider, no source, no phone call to Don Waddell.
The situation underneath it is real enough. He stood in front of the Columbus media this week and refused to discuss his future there.
And the production explains why anybody bothers drawing it up. He scored 27 goals and added 40 assists over 76 games last season.
All of it on a $3,850,000 cap hit. Contracts shaped like that don't move for spare parts.
Waddell would hang up before that sentence finished. He'd be right to.
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Oilers land Kirill Marchenko in massive five-player trade proposal
Start with the centrepiece going back. Isaac Howard has 5 points in 29 NHL games.
Ty Emberson managed 12 points across 72 games from the back end. Useful depth, nowhere near a top six scorer.
The pick does the heavy lifting in that proposal, and a 2028 first is a lottery ticket dated two summers from now. Columbus needs help sooner.
Edmonton's actual hole isn't on the wing. Tristan Jarry played 33 games last season and finished with a .882 save percentage.
Frederik Andersen is expected out until at least October 20, which leaves that crease thinner than anybody there wants to admit.
Then there's the cap sheet. Leon Draisaitl eats $14,000,000 and Connor McDavid takes another $12,500,000.
Evan Bouchard sits at $10,500,000. Squeezing in another contract means something useful walks out the door first.
Columbus has its own math. The Blue Jackets finished 40-30-12 last season and landed 18th overall, so this isn't a fire sale roster.
The two clubs split their meetings last season. Edmonton needed overtime to take a 5-4 win at home before dropping the rematch three nights later.
So why does this one keep spreading? Because building a trade on a website costs nothing, and hope is the cheapest currency in September.
Marchenko will get moved eventually, and the price will have almost nothing in common with what a graphic said overnight. Somebody is going to be disappointed.
Would you trade a 2028 first round pick for Kirill Marchenko?
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