The conditions are improving by the day for Jakob Chychrun and the Arizona Coyotes. Or, more specifically, for facilitating his departure from the Coyotes.
He’s undeniably available as a trade commodity. He made peace with the idea of leaving before the 2022 NHL trade deadline. It didn’t happen, but he publicly confirmed in September that wants to “get moved to a situation with a chance to win and a team that’s fighting for the Cup.”
So you have a 24-year-old Clydesdale of a defenseman, 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, having led the NHL in goals at his position two years ago, carrying a criminally reasonable $4.6 million cap hit for three more seasons including this one. And he wants to be traded. And his surgically repaired wrist is healing up to the point he can practice with the Coyotes, so he’s theoretically not too far from a return to game readiness.
On top of that? Many of the league’s wannabe contenders are bleeding scoring chances and/or weathering injuries to their D-corps, meaning their desperation to acquire an impact player like Chychrun might soon peak.
The conditions are thus starting to feel optimal for Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong to explore a trade. We know the Ottawa Senators have been Chychrun’s most aggressive suitor to date. They’re one of the franchises best equipped to pursue him. But who else has the right mix of (a) urgent need and (b) prospect capital to offer Arizona right now?
These five destinations make the most sense to me.
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OTTAWA SENATORS
The Sens activated playoff-aspiration mode in the summer with a slew of aggressive transactions, trading for Alex DeBrincat, signing Claude Giroux and trading for Cam Talbot. The enthusiasm around GM Pierre Dorion’s moves was legitimate but came with the caveat, “What about the defense?” The young blueline, led by Thomas Chabot and works in progress like Artem Zub, Erik Brannstrom and Jake Sanderson, badly needs a veteran in his prime to stabilize it.
Well, the Sens have one of the most obviously bursting prospect cupboards in the NHL. Whether it’s Ridly Greig, Tyler Boucher or, heaven forbid, Sanderson, they could concoct plenty of permutations to interest the Coyotes. They have the cap space – not that $4.6 million is a backbreaking AAV to inherit anyway. There’s a degree of hometown connection for Chychrun, too, as his father, former NHLer Jeff, grew up in Nepean in West Ottawa. The fit makes sense on many levels.