The Columbus Blue Jackets have acquired winger Mason Marchment from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for Columbus’s 2027 second-round pick and the New York Rangers’ 2026 fourth-round pick. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the move. There is no salary retention in the trade, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic.
It’s been exactly six months since Marchment originally joined the Kraken in an offseason trade. Seattle used a combination of a 2025 fourth-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick at the time. Despite Marchment’s play leaving much to be desired, they were able to improve their draft capital somewhat.
Outside of some mild injury concerns, Marchment never looked fully at home in the Pacific Northwest. Before the trade, the 30-year-old winger was tied for eighth on the team in scoring with four goals and 13 points in 29 games with a -4 rating. Seattle was likely looking for much more offense since Marchment was averaging nearly 17 minutes of ice time per night.
In fairness, Marchment had been averaging a 13.4% shooting percentage since the 2021-22 season, meaning his 8.7% mark this year was likely going to increase at some point. His possession metrics and on-ice save percentage at even strength have each stayed fairly consistent.
Still, there was no sticking around in Seattle for the long haul this year. The Kraken started relatively well this year, managing an 11-5-5 record through their first 21 contests. At the time, Seattle was second in the Pacific Division and only one point back of the division-leading Anaheim Ducks.
Unfortunately, it has been an unmitigated disaster since, winning only one of their previous 11 contests, falling to a tie of last place in the entire league. That made Marchment and the rest of the Kraken’s pending unrestricted free agents obvious trade candidates.
The trade is somewhat peculiar from the Blue Jackets’ perspective. While the Kraken are tied for last place in the Western Conference (and league), Columbus can say the same in the Eastern Conference. At the time of writing, the Blue Jackets are six points back of the final wild-card spot, and seven points back of a Metro Division playoff position.
Furthermore, they aren’t having many issues regarding offense. Columbus is currently 21st in the league, averaging 2.88 GF/G and an 18th-ranked power play (18.07%). It’ll help if Marchment can return to the 55-point average he enjoyed from 2021-22 to 2024-25, but the Blue Jackets needed much more help on defense.
The Blue Jackets are 32nd in the league in GF/G (3.50), 30th in penalty kill percentage (72.04%), 21st in SV% (.887), and 30th in shots against (1056). Marchment is a perfectly capable winger on the defensive side of the puck, but there’s no guarantee he’ll garner enough ice time in Columbus to make a real difference in that aspect. Assuming he’s placed in a familiar middle-six role while at even strength, the Blue Jackets may continue to struggle regardless of adding Marchment to the lineup.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.
PHR’s Brennan McClain contributed significantly to this article.
Blue Jackets can definitely benefit here, Seattle didn’t seem to be a fit for Marchment and his success in Florida and Dallas we’ll see if he can be a solid middle 6 in Columbus
Wonder if the Kraken are about to start selling off other veterans.
It’s not as if they’re going anywhere this season, so maybe.
God I hope so. Can we trade the ownership and management too?
Seattle sucks because they can’t hire a decent coach, And, The fact that Ron Francis is a terrible executive.
This might be more of a long-term play for CBJ. They are really struggling to find consistent goaltending, with Greaves playing *okay* and Merzlikinz making an argument for AHL demotion.
Taking on Marchment does a few things.
– Trade asset.
– Someone who can competently fill a role if another middle 6 forward is traded.
– Someone who can, potentially, be flipped for a higher return at the deadline.
– Merzlikinz + Marchment + futures for a better goalie in the offseason.
It doesn’t solve their immediate problems, but Marchment is absolutely the sort of player teams tend to overpay for. It’s a forward-facing move IMHO.
Adin Hill to Columbus.
“Merzlikinz + Marchment + futures for a better goalie in the offseason.”
Marchment is a FA after this season.
He has no trade value after this season’s trade deadline and it’s very unlikely he will be part of any deal for a goalie upgrade in the offseason.
No GM is trading for Marchment after the season ends (but before June 1st) to secure his negotiating rights.
Should have stopped after your first two bulletpoints, last two are redundant or flawed, first two made sense.
He can be a huge upgrade in the middle 6, but is it enough to push them in the playoffs??
Just look what dubas did he gave away Marchment for an iddy biddy guy who is in Europe. All the time poured into Marchment was lost because he was too tall and didn’t play in the Sault.