Kirill Marchenko made an immediate impact in his debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs after being traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Despite landing in Toronto late at night and playing just over 20 minutes, he earned an assist early in the game against the Montreal Canadiens and received enthusiastic support from fans and teammates alike. The Leafs celebrated his arrival despite losing Matthew Knies in the deal, praising Marchenko’s skills and work ethic. The team formally announced a six-year, $75 million contract extension for him shortly before the game.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-30,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
It would have been fair to give Kirill Marchenko a little slack in his Maple Leafs debut Tuesday night.
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It → give → debut
The speedy Russian got one of the bigger ovations in the pre-game introductions at Scotiabank Arena, played the opening shift on left wing with Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic, and earned an assist in the first minute.
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Russian → get → minute
He fed Morgan Rielly, Rielly fed William Nylander (who had hopped the boards to replace Roslovic) and the Leafs had a 1-0 lead.
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Leafs → feed → lead
The crowd loved it even more after some hard work along the boards later in the period, making Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj look silly.
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Xhekaj → love → period
“I had some chances, but not what I want to see from myself,” Marchenko said after a 3-2 loss to the Canadiens.
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Marchenko → have → Canadiens
“I can play better.”
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I → play → ?
All that said, it was a whirlwind day.
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it → say → ?
After a blockbuster trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Marchenko landed in Toronto at 1 a.m. with agent Dan Milstein working on immigration paperwork immediately to get Marchenko into the season opener.
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Milstein → land → opener
“It’s a dream for everybody, being a Toronto Maple Leaf,” Marchenko said.
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Marchenko → ’ → everybody
“It happened so quick.”
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It → happen → ?
There were some nerves: “Everything was new, but you’re happy when you go on the first shift, get a few touches of the puck and you’re on your way.”
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you → be → way
He played 20 minutes and eight seconds, including 3:25 on the power play, with four shots on net and was plus-one.
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He → play → net
While Leafs teammates lamented the loss of Matthew Knies in Monday’s shocking deal, they heralded the arrival of Marchenko.
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they → lament → Marchenko
“It’s a sh—-y part of the business,” said veteran Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev.
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Tanev → ’ → business
Columbus is getting a horse, but we’re welcoming in an amazing player.
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we → get → player
“You never want to see guys go, but you look forward and you’re happy to get a deal done with an elite player,” said Roslovic.
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Roslovic → want → player
I mention that with all great players, and he’s now of those.
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he → mention → those
“I like him as a guy, and he’s off-the-charts skilled.
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he → like → charts
He’s got a lot of strength, he’s very stable.
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he → get → strength
He does all the right things in the gym and he’s got a will to get better.
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he → do → will
The things that irk him don’t get in his way.
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that → irk → way
He brings some juice and some life.
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He → bring → juice
Sounds like a dream come true for a team that sees itself in win-now mode.
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that → sound → mode
“There’s a lot of good players in the NHL, very few that can impact winning and can single-handedly dictate outcomes to games, and we believe that Kirill is one of those players for us,” said Leafs general manager John Chayka.
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Chayka → ’ → us
“You’ve got to give up quality to get quality.
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You → get → quality
We gave up some quality people and quality players, but my job is to always make the team (better).”
The Leafs formally announced Marchenko’s six-year, $75-million (U.S.) contract extension just before the game.
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Leafs → give → game
It kicks in next season.
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It → kick → ?
“You get a top scorer on a team in his prime, and to be able to lock him up through those prime years, at a number that we think is effective for us, you can put that all together.
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you → get → that
We thought it was special opportunity,” said Chayka.
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Chayka → think → ?
Chayka added that he apologized to Knies “for the noise” over the last several months.
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he → add → months
“I don’t think it was necessarily fair to him,” said Chayka.
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Chayka → think → him
“This was the only thing we seriously considered as a management group.
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we → consider → group
These things happen, he understands.
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he → happen → ?
He’s a professional athlete and he’s a smart kid, but he took the news well.
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he → ’ → news
It’s a good young team he’s going to.
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he → ’ → ?
I think it’s a good fit for him.”
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it → think → him
Columbus GM Don Waddell said Marchenko was available because he had made it clear he would “rather play some place else.”
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he → say → place
Marchenko said he would keep his reasons for wanting to move “private,” adding that he thanked Columbus for his time there and for trading him to Toronto:
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he → say → Toronto
“For me, this is a good opportunity to show how I can play.
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I → show → me
I can help these guys and they can help me.”
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they → help → me
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
