It took 18 months, but Jakob Chychrun was finally traded – and arguably to a team that needs him more than any other team in the NHL.
It’s another big domino to fall in a wild few weeks as the defender trade market plays out.
Let’s go through all of this again.
The Bruins are believed to have expressed an interest in Chychrun about three or four weeks ago, but when it didn’t look like there was a way to a deal given the price, the B’s switched to Vladislav Gavrikov in Columbus. The Blue Jackets thought they pretty much had a deal with the Bruins about two weeks ago, but the Bruins told the Jackets they needed more time, presumably to lose room for the cap.
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Meanwhile, around Feb. 19, Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan sent a note to his peers saying he was ready to listen to upcoming unrestricted free agent Dmitry Orlov, and well, that obviously changed everything . Switching to what they felt was a better option, the B’s struck a deal on February 23. Great pickup for Boston.
This made Columbus angry. And crawl. There are only so many first round picks available.
The Jackets began resuming trade talks with previous applicants on Gavrikov last Friday, reaching Edmonton, Los Angeles and Toronto in the process.
The Maple Leafs were already engaged to Chicago defenseman Jake McCabe at the time, although that deal only went through last Monday.
The Oilers showed some interest in Gavrikov, but it was clear to Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen that Edmonton viewed Gavrikov as a plan B or plan C. Turns out it was definitely Plan C.
That’s because the Oilers had held ongoing talks with Arizona on Chychrun for two weeks prior to Tuesday. Talks between the Oilers and Coyotes got really heated on Sunday and Monday, and at one point both sides felt like they were pretty close to something. But that deal fell through, in large part because the Coyotes simply didn’t want to take any money back in the form of a player contract. Even after Jesse Puljujarvi’s move to Carolina Tuesday morning, the Oilers couldn’t make a chychrun deal work without returning at least one player contract.
My feeling is that Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong was willing to continue working with the Oilers on this, but Edmonton GM Ken Holland decided he couldn’t risk waiting until close to Friday’s deadline and the other defenseman to miss with whom he had conversations.
That would be Mattias Ekholm. Holland called Predators GM David Poile on February 23 to get the ball rolling. In that conversation, Poile told Holland that the award for Ekholm this year would need to include at least a first-round pick (with Nashville hosting the draft, that was important), as well as potential Reid Schaefer, who drafted 32nd last summer became. The Oilers weren’t thrilled about Schaefer being a part of things, but they kept the conversation going with the Predators while they’ve been in parallel talks with Arizona about Chychrun for the past week.
After Holland informed Armstrong on Tuesday that he was heading to Chychrun once and for all, he finalized the deal with Poile on Ekholm. It was also not an easy decision to include Tyson Barrie in this trade for cap reasons. Barrie was a key member of the Oilers’ power play and a popular teammate. But the overall price was worth it for Holland to get an experienced top-four defenseman like Ekholm, who the Oilers hope will help solidify their five-a-side game defensively.
Tuesday was also the last time the Coyotes and Kings spoke on Chychrun. I’d like to know how many times these two front offices have spoken out over the past 12+ months about the defender who always seemed destined for LA, with the Kings’ glaring need on the left. But it never happened. A Kings source told me Wednesday night that while there have certainly been many talks with Arizona about Chychrun, it has never felt like they were that close to a deal.
And of course, the reason the Kings last spoke with Arizona about Chychrun on Tuesday was because Los Angeles was trying to cement its deal with Columbus for Gavrikov (and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo) late Tuesday night.
The two clubs had actually been in talks for quite a while but things turned more serious on Monday and Tuesday when the idea of including both the defender and the goalkeeper in the deal was presented. Good job from Kekalainen, who ended up making his first choice, albeit a conditional one, given the circumstances of his failed deal with Boston. He banged quite well.
And there you have it. The Kings, Oilers and Bruins — all potential chychrun targets — went down one by one as options for Arizona as they met their defensive needs.
So it’s not surprising that things have been hot between Arizona and Ottawa for the last 24 to 48 hours.
There were also other teams that spoke to Arizona over the past week, including Washington, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Columbus.
But the big appeal for Arizona to gain a foothold with the senators was twofold in the end. First, Ottawa didn’t have to send any money back in a player contract. That was huge for Arizona. And second, the Coyotes found Ottawa’s first-round selection, despite being in the top five, to be more attractive than any other selection on offer. This pick could end up anywhere between No. 6 and No. 16 — unless of course Ottawa makes the playoffs, which is quite possible.
As others have reported, the Coyotes had a potential trade with Columbus that saw Chychrun fall apart in last summer’s draft in Montreal, which included the Jackets’ No. 12 pick in the first round. So in the end, the Coyotes are likely to get a similar first-round pick from Ottawa. But they don’t end up with two first-round picks, which has been part of the Coyotes’ question in a chychrun trade for well over a year.
From a senators perspective, the price has certainly been softened by previous discussions with Arizona, where the names of prospects like Ridly Greig and Tyler Kleven were part of the Coyotes’ request, in addition to the rest of the draft pick package. It was considered far too high a prize by senators, which is why the organization thought it was excluded from the Chychrun sweepstakes as recently as last week. Out, well, until the price fell.
And obviously it did. Sens GM Pierre Dorion showed a lot of patience and ended up filling a glaring hole on his blue line at a price he can live with. And while it’s a short-term boost for a team that plays great hockey, the real impact of the deal will be felt for the Senators in the years to come.
What a wild two weeks in the defender trade market, and it’s not even about Filip Hronek’s surprise trade to Vancouver from Detroit on Wednesday or Shayne Gostisbehere landing in Carolina; or Luke Schenn, Jake McCabe and Erik Gustafsson go to Toronto; or Jack Johnson on the way back to Colorado.
And we’re probably not done yet.
But imagine how different the past two weeks could have been.
Gavrikov was almost a bruin. And where would Orlov have gone? And Chychrun could easily have ended up in Edmonton or LA. What would that have meant for Gavrikov and Ekholm?
So many overlapping trade talks around a small group of blueliners. Let’s see how it goes in the playoffs.
(Top Photo by Jakob Chychrun: Zac BonDurant / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)