NHL Rumor Mill – September 22, 2026
Check out the latest on Blue Jackets winger Kirill Marchenko and Stars winger Jason Robertson in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
THE CHRIS JOHNSTON SHOW: During Monday’s episode, Johnston and co-host Julian McKenzie weighed in on winger Kirill Marchenko ducking questions last week about his future with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Columbus Blue Jackets winger Kirill Marchenko (NHL Images).
Marchenko, 26, reportedly isn’t interested in signing a contract extension with the Blue Jackets. He’s a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.
Johnston doesn’t believe those reports were misinterpreted or misconstrued. He thinks the Blue Jackets and the Marchenko camp will keep the peace for this season. However, he anticipates the Blue Jackets will see how things unfold, suggesting they could look at the trade market to see what Marchenko’s value could be.
THE ATHLETIC: Aaron Portzline noted that Marchenko’s deflating comments did nothing to explain or dispel the reports about his unwillingness to sign an extension when his current deal expires.
Portzline pointed out that Marchenko’s status as a restricted free agent gives the Blue Jackets more leverage than if he were unrestricted. They’ll still own his rights when his current contract expires. He also stated that Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness has had no issues with Marchenko’s attitude in training camp, nor have his teammates.
TSN 1050: During an appearance on “FirstUp”, Darren Dreger noted the offseason trade rumors linking Marchenko to the Montreal Canadiens. However, the problem for any club interested in the scoring winger is finding sufficient salary-cap space to sign him.
According to Dreger, it’s bad enough that a team must give up significant assets to acquire Marchenko. On top of that, his new club would have to come up with a significant salary to re-sign him. Dreger suggested it could be around $12 million per season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Yes, it’s fun to speculate about what teams might be interested in Marchenko and what the Blue Jackets’ asking price might be. However, paying the winger will be expensive.
The Canadiens have projected salary cap space of over $29 million, with 14 active roster players under contract. They must re-sign or replace UFA-eligible players like Chris Kreider, Phillip Danault, Josh Anderson, Alexandre Carrier, Kirby Dach, and Samuel Montembeault.
Oliver Kapanen, Arber Xhekaj, and Jayden Struble will be RFAs who must be signed or traded. Promising prospects Michael Hage and Alexander Zharovsky could also sign their entry-level contracts next year.
Assuming Dreger’s correct that it’ll cost $12 million annually for Marchenko, that’ll blow a big hole in the Canadiens’ cap space, potentially complicating efforts to retain some of those UFAs and RFAs, and could be an additional complication when trying to fit Hage or Zharovsky into the roster for next season.
That’s not to suggest that the Canadiens won’t make any significant additions. However, their preference could be a player with a contract that fits more comfortably within their salary-cap payroll.
THE ATHLETIC: Pierre LeBrun reports Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill considers re-signing Jason Robertson to be a priority this season.
Robertson, 26, signed a one-year, $12 million contract following contentious negotiations. At one point, he seemed on the verge of being traded to the Seattle Kraken, but that deal fell through when he refused to sign with the Kraken.
Nill said he met with Robertson and his family to mend the relationship. He remains hopeful of re-signing Robertson within the Stars’ salary-cap constraints.
The earliest the two sides can start extension talks is Jan. 1. LeBrun speculated the idea of reaching UFA status could weigh heavily on Robertson by then. It doesn’t make sense for the Stars to move him at the March trade deadline if they expect to be a Stanley Cup contender.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Stars have a projected $39.2 million salary-cap space for 2027-28 with 12 active roster players signed. They have sufficient room to re-sign Robertson, though the asking price could jump to $18 million if he has another 90-point season.
How this season unfolds could determine Robertson’s future in Dallas. If they’re still in Stanley Cup contention, they’ll likely hang onto him for the playoffs and try to work something out before July 1.
Why doesnt Columbus go all team USA in? Trade unhappy Fantilli to Detroit, Greaves for Helly……..
marketing would be great —- Werenski, Larkin, Helly………trade Kirill for a forward for Larkin.
ds. Thanks for stopping by. I’ve been suggesting Larkin, Hellebuyck, and Werenski together pretty much on a daily basis. Either in Columbus or Detroit.
ahh late to the party. i am not a consistent performer here right now ;-0
ds. All good. Ranger fans have nothing going on. No cap space. Full roster. No rumors.
yeah us Rangers fans fingers crossed Zib doesnt take a step back, Fox doesnt get hurt and JT returns somewhat to his past form. regardless of all the new additions(which i like) those 3 core players need to produce
Greaves for Hellebyuck ???? I guess your are joking this morning at least I had a laugh
Agreed. Young up and coming potential star for a middle-aged performance declining malcontent? Jackets would be nuts to do that.
yeah fair enough-
if CBJ found a way to bring in Larkin+resign Fantilli that is a solid 1-2 punch down the middle.
Yes up and coming and MAYBE will be there someday for an already there goalie for another 5 years as the best tender in the NHL
I thought we were talking about helly?
On no planet in the universe does a recent Hart trophy winner get traded straight up for a split start goalie who isn’t rated in anyone’s top 20 list for that position. Greaves will show up on several pre-season watch lists for sleepers, but he’s far from a match in value for a three time Vezina winner.
I think you gonna see that on no planet is helly gonna bring even close to the return you think he will. Peg ain’t getting a roy return. Sucks for their fans.
Who says Fantilli is unhappy? Just because he hasn’t signed a contract yet is not an indication that he’s unhappy. And why would anyone trade Greaves for Helly? Greaves is 8 years younger and had better stats last year.
It may not be what Chevy is looking for but it’ll absolutely be more of a return than just Greaves. You are right that regardless, Jets fans will be disappointed, that said, many of them just want this done. He’s losing support and love daily.
I wonder if Columbus would pay a premium for knies and Marchenko trade. Knies signed at $7.75M until 2030.
Knies and Dakota for Marchenko and 1st round pick
I think Knies is Austons running mate no matter the rumor chatter
i dont think he is available
Columbus has $11.6 million in cap space with Fantilli still unsigned. If anything, the Blue Jackets need to dump Marchenko’s $3.85 million, not take on a bigger contract.
I think the best move for Columbus is to wait til next summer to move Marchenko. It is unlikely that teams will offer a suitable pkg right now unless they are confident they can sign him.
Robertson…the extension must be at least 15m a season right. 12 wasnt enough and Cutter got 13.5.
Open question – why is it that healers have such a difficult time retaining players ?
what can Dallas afford next summer for Robo?
they will need to sign 3 defenseman, backup goalie and 6 forwards with 39million. and saying Robertson takes up almost half of that? I dont know how many of their signed prospects would be replace the missing current roster players who are UFA
Right now his trade value should be at his highest with a 3.85 contract for this season.
TB seems to keep most of their core players, moving 1 or 2 in and out to acquire additional assets and lower their cap
Tampa should have considered that a few years back. They missed the boat on that opportunity by letting Stamkos walk and re-signing Hedman.
Their core is rotting out and aging.
Outside of Kucherov (who’s getting long in the tooth but still a fantastic player), Hagel and Guentzel this team is in bad shape.
Not to split hairs, Captain, but they let Stamkos go to sign Guentzel, which is one move that actually worked out.
Where they went wrong is trading Sergachev to re-sign Hedman (35, three years left) then acquiring McDonagh (37, three years left) and signing Carlson (36 two years left). Cernak, the remaining top 4 D, is 29 with 5 years left.
While your comment about the core rotting out is too harsh, you are certainly correct about an aging roster: 9 players 30 or older. Difficult to see how their D is competitive over the next couple of years.
I think they were loyal to Hedman,although Stamkos might disagree and they do have the best goalie when healthy in the NHL!They are a couple of injuries from being in big trouble.
I wasn’t really clear Lj,
I meant they could have received a great return for both Stamkos and Hedman and still signed Guentzal.
Definitely agree on Sergachev.
Point hopefully rebounds from a very down / mediocre year. But overall I think this roster won’t be chasing anymore cups as constructed.
All that being said, throwing in the towel when you are good enough for the playoffs but not good enough to really compete is a tough decision.
Larger markets, Toronto, NY , Boston they’ll chase you out of town with pitchforks and torches for making that call. But ultimately, I think it’s the right call.
With regard to Lyle musing that the Habs would prefer a player who fits more comfortably in their salary cap payroll, it can’t be overlooked that what the entire NHL considered to be their salary cap structure six months ago no longer exists.
The Habs are looking for a top six player. Preferably a center but a winger will be acceptable if no center is reasonably available. We’re at the point now where any decent goal scoring winger will cost at least $10m. per season. So the Habs options are to either trade for a guy like Marchenko and pay him big or hope that Kreider fits the bill for a couple of years and that Zharovsky will develop into a solid goal scorer after that. The days of signing a young goal scoring winger to a cap hit in the range of what the Habs top players are making seem to be over.
The Habs have salary they could trade away if needed to open up space. It seems quite likely now that Marchenko will be with a new team by next summer and the Habs will likely be in on the bidding.
Hard to argue generally, Howard, except I don’t think the Habs have to trade cap space away. The Habs have 6 UFAs after this season and the only one I see re-signing is Anderson.
Of their there RFAs, only Kapanen may be retained. Loose math says that is about 26 million in cap space left in 2027.
How do they use it? There are no useful UFA centers for them in 2027. But why trade for Marchenko with Kreider in the line up?
Why get into a bidding war for Marchenko at all? Have a look at his stats. Let’s call him a 30 goal scorer, which is good, but is he really worth a hefty chunk of the cap?
Could it be all the hype about Montreals interest predates Kreider, and as you note, the sky rocketing cost of contracts. If Marchenko wants to go to Montreal he’ll need to favour the Cup over the cash.
Habs will have Hage in the spring who looks on par with Will Smith/Ryan Leonard with better wheels.
not sure they need to tinker any more unless an injury
Speaking of the Habs, it’s been a few days since the latest Hellebuyck update so let’s have at it.
Steve Simmons is reporting that Helly would absolutely accept a trade to Montreal.
I consider Simmons to be Toronto’s answer to the late Larry Brooks. A clickbait clown throwing out all sort of outlandish stuff in the hopes of getting lucks every so often.
Maybe Helly would accept a trade to Montreal, maybe not. Few people saw Kreider as a reasonable option.
Regardless, the Habs would not trade for Helly. I think Hughes and Gorton are satisfied with their young goalies and would prefer to use their trade capital for areas of more urgent need. Like a second line center or a top six goal scoring winger.
I for one have 0 interest in Hellebuyck in Montreal though I was one of those guys that thought Kreider was a good option for the Habs once the Carlsson thing happened.
This team doesn’t need any additions from the outside at this point, it has to decide who to drop and what to get for them.
Reinbacher, Beck and an improved skating Florian Xhekaj are ready to push people out of the way.
Guhle, Struble, Dach are expendable and Danault is done at the end of the year.
Steve Simmons is so far past his best before date its laughable, some would question if he was ever relevant. Run to the bank with the opposite of whatever he posts.