Adam Fantilli Rips Ex-Teammate Kirill Marchenko As Blue Jackets Face Maple Leafs

Kirill Marchenko makes his return to Columbus Tuesday night as the Blue Jackets host the Toronto Maple Leafs. Fan reaction will tell you everything you need to know about how the Russian is viewed in Columbus these days. The boos will rain down. 

But after making it clear he did not want to be a part of the Blue Jackets' future, his former teammates are ripping him as well, starting with Adam Fantilli.

Adam Fantilli did NOT mince words when discussing his feelings about former teammate Kirill Marchenko being traded out of Columbus, and said he's glad the trade got done when it did 😳👀 (h/t @DMaetzMedia) https://t.co/uDX97UAKqR

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 20, 2026

"Happy we got guys who want to be here. It would have been a nightmare having a guy that didn’t want to be here all year. I’m glad we got that trade done when we did," said Fantilli.

“It was upsetting the way he left, the way he wanted to leave... Marchy not wanting to be here, like, it’s tough not to take it personally because I would’ve been playing with him all year and he didn’t want to be a part of that. But it is what it is. For whatever reasons, whether it was who he was going to play with, whether it was management, coaches, who knows, I haven’t gone in depth with him on that. He has his reasons."   

But Fantilli wasn't the only one making his feelings known. Mathieu Olivier also blasted his former teammate.

Mathieu Olivier made his opinions on the Kirill Marchenko situation very clear ahead of Marchenko's return to Nationwide Arena tonight. "He doesn't want to be here, and we don't want guys who want to go elsewhere. That's fine. Just go. We don't want you." (Via @Aportzline) https://t.co/ruBxsksQVg

— Chatterbox Sports (@CBoxSports) October 20, 2026

"He doesn't want to be here, and we don't want guys who want to go elsewhere. That's fine. Just go. We don't want you."

Marchenko has made plenty of comments since the trade about how talented his new teammates in Toronto are, and Fantilli and others in Columbus are taking that personally, as in, 'What, so we're not?'

Marchenko hasn't quite hit his stride 100% yet in his new surroundings, and yet he still has 10 points in 10 games going into Tuesday night, including his first hat trick in Blue & White. 

Matthew Knies, who went the other way in that blockbuster on the eve of the regular season, had a bang-up start with the Jackets, with two goals in his first game. He's gone pointless, however, in his last five, and has four points in the first seven games.