When the Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off the Kirill Marchenko trade, some fans were not quite convinced it was the right idea.
Criticism grew even louder when Matthew Knies seemingly exploded in his debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Indeed, Knies had a three-point night in his first game in Columbus. But that’s been it for him. He’s got just one assist in his last four games, and hasn’t looked nearly as dominant.
Marchenko, meanwhile, started off rather quietly. He had registered just one goal in seven games heading into Thursday night’s clash with the Buffalo Sabres. He had a respectable six points in seven games.
But it was nothing like what fans saw at Scotiabank Arena against the Sabres. Marchenko torched Buffalo, scoring three times in the Maple Leafs 5-4 OT loss.
In particular, his first goal was a highlight-reel tally.
Scored by Kirill Marchenko with 06:50 left in the 1st. Assisted by John Tavares and Darren Raddysh.
TOR: 2 | BUF: 1
#BUFvsTOR #PassionNeverSleeps #LetsGoBuffaloThe power play tally looked even better on the scoresheet.
So, that’s four points in five games for Knies on a Columbus team that’s lost two straight and has a 2-3-0 mark. Marchenko, for his part, has nine points in eight games, for a Toronto team that’s not looking nearly as bad as it did a year ago.
Change of Scenery Benefiting Marchenko
There is no question that the change of scenery has really helped Marchenko turn things around. He was clearly not welcome in Columbus anymore, particularly with head coach Rick Bowness railing off about how some players were out of shape and not being accountable.
With the Maple Leafs, it was evident that the Russian forward got a breath of fresh air. And while he got off to a slow start, he now seems to be hitting his stride.
That’s a huge situation moving forward, especially when considering that the Maple Leafs are still very much struggling in various aspects of the game.
If anything, the blown lead against Buffalo prove the club still has a long way to go. But one has to think that Marchenko’s contributions have at least kept the Maple Leafs in games thus far this season.
Would Maple Leafs Have Been Better off Keeping Knies?
One question that will invariably come up from time to time will be if the Maple Leafs would have been better off keeping Knies.
The bottom line is no. The relationship between Knies and the Leafs had become fractured thanks to the botched trades at the deadline by former GM Brad Treliving. As Knies admitted following the trade to Columbus, the chatter had come far too much.
That’s why Toronto did the right thing by moving Knies and bringing Marchenko in. Sure, Knies would have been a good marine, but he wouldn’t have excelled quite like Marchenko has to this point.
Moving forward, the goal will be for the Maple Leafs to unlock the potential everyone knows is there with the former second-round pick from 2018. After Thursday night’s showing, there’s a very good chance that Marchenko could be looking at surpassing his career high of 31 goals. If that’s the case, Toronto can feel good about the deal it made this season.
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