NHL Rumor Mill – September 11, 2026
In today’s NHL Rumor Mill, we have the latest on Blue Jackets winger Kirill Marchenko and Canucks winger Jake DeBrusk, plus an update on the Red Wings search for a new general manager.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Russell Macias cited Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who claimed the New York Islanders are “around that”, referring to Columbus Blue Jackets winger Kirill Marchenko.
Columbus Blue Jackets winger Kirill Marchenko (NHL Images).
During the 2026 NHL Draft, it was reported that Marchenko was unlikely to sign a contract extension. He’s slated to become a restricted free agent next July and is UFA-eligible in 2028.
Macias believes the cost of acquiring Marchenko is high now, but that price will drop as his RFA eligibility becomes closer on July 1.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Macias’ colleague, Stefen Rosner, believes the Islanders aren’t the only team interested in Marchenko. The Blue Jackets winger was frequently linked to the Montreal Canadiens this summer.
The Islanders did little during the offseason to address their popgun offense. A winger in his prime like Marchenko would provide a substantial boost among their top-six forwards.
Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell admitted he’s received trade offers but nothing yet that would entice him to part with Marchenko. That could change over the course of the season for teams that need additional scoring punch.
SPORTSNET: Iain MacIntyre reports Vancouver Canucks winger Jake DeBrusk is not as keen to leave his rebuilding team as originally believed.
DeBrusk, 29, raised eyebrows before the March 6 trade deadline when he said that a rebuild “is not something I would be OK with or accepting. My game doesn’t fit that.”
He pointed out that he clarified those remarks the following day, explaining that it had been an emotional season. He said that he still believed in the group of players, adding that he still would’ve signed with them.
DeBrusk said he never asked for a trade and still believes he can help the Canucks win.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: DeBrusk is signed through 2030-31 with an AAV of $5.5 million. He also has a full no-movement clause.
DeBrusk may not have asked to be traded, but several teams (including the Ottawa Senators) reportedly looked into his availability. Another difficult season for the Canucks could prompt some teams to renew their inquiries, especially if he plays well.
MLIVE.COM: Ansar Khan reports league insiders are questioning the lengthy process by the Detroit Red Wings to find a new general manager.
The Red Wings fired Steve Yzerman as GM in mid-July. Two months later, they appear to be no closer to finding a suitable replacement, with training camp opening next week.
On Monday, Detroit Tigers GM Jeff Greenberg withdrew from consideration. Khan indicated that’s often a sign that a hiring is imminent, but there’s still no word from the Red Wings.
Khan cited NHL insider Frank Seravalli’s recent appearance on Toronto’s The Fan 590 Morning Show, where he said he doesn’t know what’s happening, indicating that some of the rumored candidates haven’t even been interviewed.
Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Thursday that the Wings “asked for permission from some people and haven’t interviewed them.”
Khan claimed some within the Red Wings’ organization “describe this entire process as bizarre” and had no idea what is happening.
Some of the potential candidates reportedly include “assistant general manager Brett Peterson of Florida, Jeff Kealty of San Jose, and Scott White of Dallas.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Assistant GM Shawn Horcoff is handling the day-to-day duties. With training camp less than a week away, the Wings must address Dylan Larkin’s trade request and sign restricted free-agent defenseman Simon Edvinsson to a new contract.
The Red Wings ownership seeks someone who is “data and analytics-driven”, but it seems they haven’t found a suitable candidate yet. It’s becoming an unnecessary distraction for a once-proud franchise that is starting to resemble “The Dead Things” from the 1970s and 80s.
DET should go off the beaten path, hire Jim Hughes and get all 3 Hughes brothers to put on Red Wings sweaters.
Debrusk and Boeser would be great additions to any playoff/cup contenders so Vancouver should wait and let teams get into a bit of a bidding war for those 2.
Larkin was just stripped of his captaincy as he will not report to Detroits training camp.!
No surprise there.
Not sure where you got that from. Larkin’s post said he is going to report to camp.
Yup. He’s had the C removed and the team will reportedly enter the early stage of the season without anyone wearing the C. But Larkin will – by all accounts so far – report to camp.
Merzlikins on LTIR and that frees $5.4M to sign Fantilli, so there’s no crunch.
As a UFA he won’t be re-signed, between that and the cap increase, CBJ will be able to afford Marchenko’s expectations.
If anything CBJ should trade Voronkov and his $4.175M contract for picks, use THAT money to sign Fantilli.
Instead of LTIR, leave Merzlikins on IR and accrue cap space for a potential TDL move.
As for Detroit, Scott White isn’t a data driven guy but working alongside Jim Nill for twenty years some might say if there’s a divergence between his eye test and the data you might want to re-check the data collection.
Is Marchenko’s supposed unwillingness to re-sign about money? It’s hard to see that is the issue as CBJ is unlikely to have said this far out: final and best offer.
It’s foolish to speculate too much given we never know the full picture but if Marchenko wants out of Columbus other factors must be at play.
I doubt CBJ will put Merzlikins on LTIR to get room to sign Fantilli. If Merzlikins were projected to be out all year then maybe they would use LTIR, but from what I’ve read he’s going to miss significant time but will be back this season. So if they have to activate him in say Dec or Jan then then will be in a situation where they will have to make a trade right away. Plus that trade will not be easy as every other GM will know the situation and will offer less than market value for any player and for some players if CBJ wants to dump their salary other GMs will force them to include a sweetener. It will not be a good situation for CBJ.
They would be much better off to clear salary now so Merzlikins doesn’t have to go on LTIR and they get room to sign Fantilli too.
Would think GM candidates would be lining up in Detroit. Original 6 team. A top prospect pool. Lots of cap space and a team close to making playoffs.
Vancouver isn’t horrible on paper but, if your 27 year old star player can’t be the player he’s expected to be, you’re in trouble. Will be interesting to see how new coach does. Also how his son plays at BU and will he be NHL ready after a year of college hockey.
Hire Horcoff already.
Does Flo have an analytics guy ? Does Carolina did Edmonton with their back to back finals ? What about Vegas ?
Detroit is using that as an excuse
Yes, Florida did, apparently. It was the guy that went to NJ as their new GM.
I don’t recall the name, but remember because when Treliving was fired from Toronto, and it was reported that they were interested in him, NJ seemed to hit the NOS button, fired their GM, then hired the new GM the next day.
Every team has an analytics department usually 2 or 3 people.
Waddell said he would sign Fantilli before camp starts. That 1 week. Fantilli and Marchenko were no-shows at per camp golf outing at the owner’s course. I live on hope I have too I’m a Jackets fan.
Hey Fred as a jackets fan I’d like to have your take on a deal I’ve been saying my Habs should make with CBJ.
To Mtl:
Marchenko @ $3.85M
Gudbranson @ $1.75M
3rd round pick
To CBJ:
Kapanen @ 0.942M
Struble @ $1.412M
Montembault @ $1.575M (50% retained)
2nd Round pick
By demoting Copley and Christiansen to make room for Montembault and Struble it fees up and additional $1.825M. With a 22 man roster CBJ would now have an extra $3.5M to go along with their current $12.6M, so basically $16M to sign Fantilli and they don’t have to worry about Merzlikins going to LTIR.
My justification or sales pitch is:
Kapanen gives CBJ a C with top 6 potential but a 3rd line C floor. This season they could move Coyle or Voronkov into the wing vacated by Marchenko. Kapanen can play 3C behind Fantilli and Monahan. Monty would be a better backup than Copley who has only played two NHL games in over two years. Struble is a legit 3rd pair (upgrade over Christiansen) and has 2nd pair potential because he did play some 2nd pair with Hutson last year. Gudbranson would be included only if the $1.75M salary is needed to be dumped to make cap room for Fantilli’s new deal.
I know as a CBJ fan it would be hard to part with a legit top line winger but with the contract situation being what it is if he’s not going to re-sign then the longer you wait the lower the price becomes. Basically like with Hughes getting traded from Vancouver last year, Minnesota gave up more because they were getting two playoff runs with him, would be the same with Marchenko as he’s under team control for two more years until he becomes a UFA.
I would take it. Marchenko doesn’t want to extend here I guess. The pain would stop if this is done quickly Elvis is done I can live with it. I can’t get a read o Marchenko not sure he would extend with the Habs either.
Send Boeser to the bruins any old day, be glad to have him. There is your number one centre hoss. And hey he’s only 29.
He plays wing.
Two ex-Oilers have now retired John Klingberg
and Connor Ingram