The Ottawa Senators announced they have acquired star defenseman Jakob Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes in a trade.
While the Senators get Jakob Chychrun, the Coyotes get a 2023 conditional first-round pick, a 2024 conditional second-round pick that was previously acquired from the Washington Capitals and a 2026 second-round pick.
The 2023 first-round pick is top-5 protected, and if met it would become an unprotected 2024 first-round pick. The 2024 second-round pick becomes a 2024 top-10 protected first-round pick if the Senators reach the Eastern Conference Final. If that condition is met, the pick becomes a 2025 unprotected first-round pick. All of this was announced by the Senators.
The trade comes as a shock to many, as the Senators are technically in the playoff race, but it is unlikely that they get in. They currently have 64 points, and sit five points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The good part of this for the Senators is that they get a star defenseman for a playoff push this season, if they can chase down the Penguins, but Chychrun is under contract for two more seasons after this. The Senators have a core in place that could contend soon.
Claude Giroux is getting up there in age, but he is still producing at a point-per game pace this season, and is under contract for the next two seasons as well.
Young players like Alex DeBrincat, Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk have shown promise, even though the Senators are not real contenders to make a run just yet. Adding Claude Giroux and Chychrun to that group supplements the team's young talent with proven commodities.
From the Coyotes point of view, this was a matter of time. Chychrun had been sitting out multiple games to keep him healthy ahead of this trade. However, some might be surprised that there were no players included in the package.
In the end, the Senators secured one of the better defensemen in the NHL to build around for the next two seasons.
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