Bad news emerges on Kirill Marchenko after Leafs trade - is this why Columbus wanted him out?
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Kirill Marchenko reportedly showed up to Blue Jackets camp out of shape, per Andrew Raycroft, but his agent is firing back hard right after the Leafs trade.
Kirill Marchenko has barely unpacked in Toronto, and the noise around him is already loud.
Hours after the blockbuster with Columbus, former NHL goaltender Andrew Raycroft said on NHL Radio that Marchenko was one of the players who showed up to Blue Jackets camp out of shape.
The timing is awkward. The Maple Leafs sent Matthew Knies, Steven Lorentz, Emil Andrae and a conditional 2027 second-round pick to Columbus.
Marchenko, Miles Wood and Elvis Merzlikins came back the other way.
Marchenko's agent pushes back hard
Dan Milstein did not let it slide. He responded on social media, insisting his client's conditioning has never been a topic and taking a shot at how relevant Raycroft really is these days.
That's a pretty direct way to shut a story down.
It's worth remembering this is one radio comment, and nothing from the team backs it up.
Still, it landed at a sensitive moment.
Marchenko spent the entire summer at the center of trade talk, and plenty of fans are already wondering whether that saga played a part in how he arrived in Columbus.
What it means for Toronto
The Leafs are betting big.
Marchenko signed a six-year, $75 million extension with a $12.5 million cap hit that kicks in for 2027-28.
He's coming off 27 goals and 67 points in 76 games, so Toronto clearly believes in his ceiling.
Right now the bigger question is availability.
He's still working through visa paperwork, and it's unclear whether he'll be in the lineup for Tuesday night's opener against the Montreal Canadiens.
If he suits up and looks sharp, this whole conversation will fade fast, and Leafs fans will happily move on.
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