The Boston Bruins made one major move in the NHL offseason by acquiring top-six winger JJ Peterka in a trade with the Utah Mammoth at the 2026 NHL Draft in June.
The B’s gave up two first-round picks to get the speedy German forward.
It sounds like Peterka wasn’t the only talented young forward the Bruins had interest in over the offseason.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported last week on his 32 Thoughts podcast that the Bruins made a trade offer for Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko. Friedman didn’t specify when the offer was made or which trade assets were involved.
“Montreal, everybody knows about, the Islanders I mentioned a couple pods ago,” Friedman said. “Toronto I think has really tried to keep their interest secret, but it’s kind of seeped out. I think Winnipeg at one point kind of looked into it.
“I heard Boston made an offer at one point. I had some people say Vegas, I had some other people say they weren’t sure it was Vegas. I have to think Seattle is around this. They’ve really been looking at trying to grab a top-end player and they could make this deal.”
Marchenko is 26 years old and will be a restricted free agent when his current contract expires after the upcoming 2026-27 season.
Marchenko and the Blue Jackets haven’t been able to reach an extension, and when recently asked about his future in Columbus, the veteran forward was non-committal.
Should the Bruins pursue Marchenko via trade? He would be a good fit offensively.
It should be noted that we don’t know if the Bruins made this reported Marchenko offer before or after the Peterka trade with Utah. It’s possible they wouldn’t want to part with the assets needed to get Marchenko after giving up two first-rounders for Peterka.
But the B’s still need additional top-six forwards. Marchenko remains in the early stages of his prime, so he could help the team contend with its current veteran core (David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, etc.) and what could be the next core (James Hagens, Fraser Minten, Peterka, etc.).
Marchenko is an impressive offensive player. He has scored 21-plus goals in each of his four NHL seasons. He posted career highs in goals (31) and assists (47) in 79 games during the 2024-25 campaign. He scored 27 goals with 40 assists in 76 games last season. He has not been surrounded with a lot of high-end talent in Columbus, so it would be fair to assume that on a better team, such as the Bruins, he could score 30-plus goals and post 70-plus points pretty consistently.
In addition to his scoring prowess, Marchenko has very good size at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds.
The cost to get Marchenko would likely be massive, especially if a bunch of teams have interest. The B’s still have all of their own first-round picks in upcoming drafts, plus an unprotected Toronto Maple Leafs first-rounder in 2027 or 2028. Boston’s prospect pool was ranked 19th in the league by The Athletic in March, and young players such as Matt Poitras and Mason Lohrei still have upside. Would Columbus have interest in Pavel Zacha? He’s entering the final year of his contract and can become a UFA next summer.
What kind of assets would the Blue Jackets be looking for?
“We don’t want draft picks and prospects,” Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell told The Athletic. “We want the best player possible to replace him.”
Marchenko is not a center, and you could certainly argue that if the Bruins are going to spend their remaining premium trade assets on an impact player, then it should be for a No. 1 or No. 2 center, or perhaps a top-four defenseman. If a team does trade for Marchenko, signing him to an extension wouldn’t be cheap, either. But the salary cap is expected to rise quite a bit in future seasons, and the B’s don’t really have any burdensome contracts on their books (aside from Elias Lindholm’s deal).
Hagens or Minten could eventually slide into a top-six center role some point soon. In fact, Minten might be a top-six center on Opening Night depending on how the lineup shakes out.
The bottom line is the Bruins desperately need more high-end offensive players to take some of the scoring burden off Pastrnak. Marchenko can score goals and play a physical brand of hockey. He’s also just 26. He’s the type of player worth taking a chance on, but only at the right price, of course. Overpaying for another winger would be a mistake.