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Montreal Canadiens: Alexey Marchenko is an upgrade over Christian Folin

By Omar L

Russia's Alexei Marchenko (R) tries to score as Czech Republic's Pavel Francouz blocks it in the men's semi-final ice hockey match between the Czech Republic and the Olympic Athletes from Russia during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Gangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung on February 23, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / JUNG Yeon-Je (Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)
Russia's Alexei Marchenko (R) tries to score as Czech Republic's Pavel Francouz blocks it in the men's semi-final ice hockey match between the Czech Republic and the Olympic Athletes from Russia during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Gangneung Hockey Centre in Gangneung on February 23, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / JUNG Yeon-Je (Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens Alexey Marchenko (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images) /

The Montreal Canadiens are one of the teams in on defenceman Alexey Marchenko, and if signed, his presence would be a solidifying presence on the back-end.

It seems as if the Montreal Canadiens are in on many European free agents these days. Alexey Marchenko‘s name has been tied to the Habs for some time now, and the fact that it’s now confirmed he will hit the open market brings the possibility closer to reality.

Marchenko has been playing with CSKA Moscow for the last three seasons after forgoing the NHL for the KHL. Similarly to his time in the minors with the Grand Rapids Griffins before getting the initial call-up, the defenceman saw a decent amount of minutes with CSKA. He played averaged at least 18:40 in his three seasons (18:42, 18:43 and 18:59), which was bumped up to 20 minutes in the playoffs (21:24, 20:26 and 21:01).

The 28-year-old had a career-year putting up 6 goals and 15 assists in 60 games (0.35 points-per-game), and what made things more interesting was the spread of his production. Three of his goals were at even-strength, two short-handed while the remaining one was on the power play. Marchenko was an all-situation player for CSKA Moscow, and it’s clear he and the team benefitted from the responsibility.

His skating has always been one of his strongest suits, and Marchenko makes good use of it positioning wise as well as staying with his man to get in front of shots and block shooting lanes.

What does bring a dark cloud over the possibility of Marchenko coming over was his latest run in the NHL. After getting that call-up to the Detroit Red Wings, he bounced up and down between the AHL and NHL before being placed on waivers and claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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