Kirill Marchenko’s quiet Instagram move has injected fresh tension into the already simmering conversation around Rick Bowness and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
On April 8—before the 2024-25 season had even ended—Marchenko stopped following the Blue Jackets’ official account. He also unfollowed the NHL’s official page. Several months later, he still has not followed either account again. That timing has taken on new significance now that his name continues to surface in trade rumors involving the Montreal Canadiens.
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An unfollow does not confirm a trade request. Professional athletes, particularly in the NFL, have long used social-media gestures to signal frustration or apply quiet pressure behind the scenes. Screenshots make the change unmistakable: neither the Blue Jackets nor the NHL appears among the accounts Marchenko currently follows.
The decision arrived as Columbus struggled through the closing stretch of its schedule, raising a legitimate question about whether something had shifted between Marchenko and the organization.
Marchenko’s Timing Puts the Bowness Relationship Under the Microscope
Bowness later challenged his locker room publicly, stating that some players had become too comfortable with losing. That message placed accountability at the center of his coaching approach. There is no direct evidence those comments were aimed at Marchenko. Linking the unfollow to Bowness remains speculation, and the timeline alone does not prove a breakdown in the relationship.
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Still, the combination is difficult to dismiss. Marchenko stepped away from the team’s social account, has stayed away for months, and is now repeatedly discussed as a possible trade candidate. The second wave of reporting has added to that wider conversation rather than establishing any formal request from the player.
The source of the noise also matters. Recent speculation has been connected more closely to the player’s side than to the Blue Jackets, with at least one person from his camp expecting movement soon. That does not mean a deal is guaranteed. It does suggest Columbus may eventually need to decide whether Marchenko remains part of Bowness’s long-term plan or has become a trade asset.
For now, the confirmed part is simple: Marchenko unfollowed the Blue Jackets and the NHL on April 8 and never reversed the decision. On its own, that gesture is only a social-media detail. But with Marchenko now repeatedly linked to the Montreal Canadiens in trade rumors, it carries far more weight than it did when the season was winding down.