 In the summer of 2003, Marchant was signed by the Blue Jackets after he gained early unrestricted free agency from the Oilers.He played the full 2003–04 season with Columbus, along with fellow ex-Oilers Tyler Wright and Luke Richardson.Marchant then refused to waive his no trade clause, which would have allowed Columbus to send him to Anaheim as part of the Sergei Fedorov trade.