The long saga hanging over the Arizona Coyotes organization finally comes to an end. After years of speculation and rumors, the Coyotes have traded defenseman Jakob Chychrun.
The 24-year-old defenseman has not played since mid-February in anticipation of this move. Now that it has become reality, how did the Coyotes do? How does Chychrun's new team, the Ottawa Senators, come out of this deal? With no further ado, let's hand out grades for the Jakob Chychrun trade.
Full trade
The Ottawa Senators acquire defenseman Jakob Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes. In return, the Coyotes acquire a conditional 2023 first-round pick, a conditional 2024 second-round pick, and a 2026 second-round pick.
The 2023 first-round pick in this trade is top-five protected. If the pick lands inside the top five, the selection slides to the 2024 NHL Draft where Arizona will acquire the pick with no protections.
The 2024 second-round pick changes based on the Senators' performance in the playoffs, should they make it. If Ottawa advances to the Eastern Conference Finals, the pick becomes a top-10 protected 2024 first-round pick. If that 2024 first-round pick lands inside the top 10, the pick becomes an unprotected 2025 first-round pick.
Ottawa Senators acquire Jakob Chychrun
This is a home run for the Ottawa Senators. This trade certainly improves their defense now and in the future. And the team didn't give up much to make this move.
The Senators find themselves in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race out of nowhere. Back-to-back routs of the Detroit Red Wings have given them life in the Wild Card standings.
Adding a player of Chychrun's caliber is a massive feather in the cap for Senators general manager Pierre Dorion. The 24-year-old defenseman is a legitimate top-pairing blueliner. He prevents scoring chances better than most defenders in the league.
Chychrun can control play at both ends of the ice. He can break out of the defensive zone to push play up the ice, and then hammer opposing defenses in the offensive zone. The new Senators blueliner creates a devastating 1-2 punch with Thomas Chabot on the left side of the defense.
There isn't enough praise in the world to go around for how the Ottawa Senators did in this trade. They aren't in the playoffs yet, but their chances significantly improved with this deal.
Arizona Coyotes trade Jakob Chychrun
This trade feels like karma coming back to collect for the Arizona Coyotes. Arizona stalled for years when it came to trading Chychrun. They held him out for weeks in anticipation of this trade. And yet, this is all they get in return.
The Coyotes shot themselves in the foot in more ways than one with this deal. Arizona's insistence on prolonging this deal only to cave right before Friday's deadline is one thing. Their reluctance to take back salary in this deal is another.
The Coyotes originally demanded two first-round picks plus for Chychrun. Instead, they get one first-round pick and two seconds with no additional assets on top of it. No prospects, no roster players, nothing.
After all of the speculation, after all of the hardball the Coyotes played, after the “trade-related reasons” debacle. The market for their biggest trade chip completely implodes beneath them and they have to settle for a significantly inferior deal.
The Coyotes do well to finally put all of this to rest. However, Arizona does not get sufficient value in return for a legitimate top-pairing defenseman who is entering the prime of his career and will only get better as time goes on.
Grades and final thoughts
This is rather straightforward. The Senators receive high marks for adding one of the best defensemen in the league on a cut-price deal. The Coyotes receive low marks for shooting themselves in the foot and dragging this thing out until they lost every ounce of leverage they had.
Ottawa Senators grade: A+
Arizona Coyotes grade: D
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