Kirill Marchenko has become one of the Columbus Blue Jackets' most valuable assets, and his importance to the organization continues to grow as time goes on.
Before we get into what Marchenko has become, it's important to look back at what he was.
A Unique Beginning
When Marchenko broke into the NHL in the 2022-23 season, his stat line created buzz around him. Even if a player is labeled as a “pure goal scorer”, there is usually not much difference between his goal and assist numbers in a large sample. It occurs occasionally, especially in small sample sizes.
There are a few examples of this type of imbalance so far this season, Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Cole Caulfield of the Montreal Canadiens. Point currently has a stat line of 16 goals and nine assists; had 16 goals and five assists until a four-assist game against the San Jose Sharks. Meanwhile, Caufield's average, but not much, with 16 goals and seven assists. An extreme example would be Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers, who scored 10 goals yet just recorded his first assist on December 6. All three have played 26 games or less, and looking at their historical play they will find balance. sometimes.
When a rookie enters the league that way, it makes waves in a different way. In Marchenko's rookie season, he scored 21 goals but only recorded four assists in 59 games. He quickly showed his scoring talent, scoring his first NHL goal in his fourth game against the Los Angeles Kings in a 6-5 Blue Jackets win.
It has become history that there are players who started the same but most of them were in the early days of the league. Joe Malone, in the 1917-18 season, for example, had 44 goals and four assists in 20 games, however, the rules of the game were very different at the time, and as a result, assists were not very uncommon. numbers to be lower. The most similar season to Marchenko's rookie season in recent memory would be Denis Gurianov's with the Dallas Stars in 2019-2020 when he had 20 goals and nine assists, but it wasn't as mind-blowing as Marchenko's debut.
New-Found Parity
Things changed a bit in Marchenko's second season. While he still excelled as a goalscorer, he allowed his playmaking ability to shine a bit. He reached the 20-goal mark for the second time in a row, scoring 23 points.
So far in the 2024-25 season, Marenko has continued in the same vein. He still leads the Blue Jackets with 10 goals, but is second on the team in assists. Trailing only Zach Werenski, the 24-year-old forward currently has 15 assists, slightly ahead of Sean Monahan and Cole Sillinger who have 14 apiece.
Despite Marchenko's increased play, he still shoots at the same rate. He is averaging 2.4 shots per game, matching his performance from last season. During his rookie campaign, that number dropped slightly to 2.2 shots per game. His shooting percentage is almost identical to his rookie season, as it is currently at 15.9% compared to 16% in 2022-23. He finds ways to improve his game, without sacrificing what made him successful in the past.
The Blue Jackets also don't give up many goals, or chances like that, when Marchenko is on the ice. According to Natural Stat Trick, they have scored 28 goals with him on the ice while conceding only 13 goals to the opposition. Marchenko has spent most of the season so far paired with Sean Monahan and Yegor Chinakhov. In the 12 games they played together, they scored eight goals and conceded only three. They also created 59 scoring chances, while giving up 33. They drive very badly and keep their opponents away from the defensive zone.
Related: Werenski's Green Jackets Enter Norris Trophy Discussion
Marchenko is playing more minutes than ever for the Blue Jackets and is playing better than ever as well. The former goaltender has turned into a complete player who is on the verge of becoming famous in the NHL. As the team continues to improve, he will quickly develop into a global household name if he can continue his development path. In the meantime, he will have to settle for becoming one of the organization's most important, and most complete, players.
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