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September 29, 2022 by Ryan Lotsberg
Darren Dreger of TSN reported that the Edmonton Oilers are one of the teams interested in Arizona Coyotes defenceman Jacob Chychrun On Thursday.
Dreger added that the Coyotes are more willing to take back a contract or contracts in addition to receiving a first-round pick and a prospect. Chychrun dealt with multiple injuries last season, but still put up 21 points in 47 games. The 24-year-old had a fantastic output the previous campaign when he led all NHL defencemen with 18 goals. He’s a 6-foot-2, 220-pound blueliner with scoring chops and a mean streak.
Chychrun wants out of Arizona, and the Coyotes have been patient in holding the asset while trying to maximize their return for him. However, they won’t find a buyer if the price is too high, and that might be where they currently stand.
The Oilers are in a position where they could conceivably make a trade with Arizona here. They’re a contender that has every one of its last ten first round picks in their system. They could part with a first rounder and a prospect without putting a significant dent in their prospect pool. They might have to be careful with their picks because they are already without a fourth-rounder in the 2023 draft, a third and a sixth-rounder in the 2024 draft, and a second-rounder in the 2025 draft.
Dmitri Samorukov is the defensive prospect that the Oilers could most easily afford to sacrifice in a Chychrun deal. Samorukov is a fine prospect; but the reality is that he has Darnell Nurse, Brett Kulak, Philip Broberg, and Markus Niemelainen ahead of him on the depth chart on left defence and there are only so many chairs at the table.
The cap would be a big issue in any potential Chychrun deal. Chychrun carries a cap hit of $4.6 million for each of the next three seasons, and the Oilers will have approximately $167 in cap space once the season starts barring any unforeseen moves. Tyson Barrie and his $4.5 million cap hit would have to be a part of the deal, and the Oilers would still have to move more money out to make a Chychrun trade happen.
Chychrun is an attractive piece and the Oilers could use an upgrade on defence, but I don’t think it makes sense for the Oilers to go after Chychrun. He led the league in goals by a defenceman two seasons ago and had 41 points in 56 games that season, but that’s the only season in his six year career where he has finished over a half point per game. He has also never played more than 68 games in any season in his career. He has always had injury issues, and he just had surgery this offseason. I don’t think it would be wise to give up a first round pick, a quality prospect, and multiple roster players for Chychrun. I could understand giving that up for an elite top pairing defenceman, but Chychrun would be a second pairing defenceman on this team.
The other big reason that I don’t think that trading for Chychrun makes sense right now is because it would block Broberg. Broberg hasn’t made the team yet, but the expectation from everyone around the organization is that he will make the team. He was taken one year after Evan Bouchard. Bouchard was where Broberg is now at this time last year. Bouchard had only played twenty one NHL games before last season, and the expectation was that he would begin to contribute last season. He contributed 43 points in 81 games without any significant powerplay time. He was a second pairing defenceman last year.
Broberg has the same opportunity this year. Broberg was taken eighth overall in his draft year, and Bouchard was taken tenth. Broberg has 23 NHL games under his belt right now. He’s a better skater than Bouchard. Kulak proved that he can play in the top four when he was with the Montreal Canadiens, but he’s likely best suited on the third pair. Broberg could pass him on the depth chart at some point this season. I’m not saying that Broberg will score 43 points this year like Bouchard did last year, but I could definitely see Broberg playing in the top four later this season. I don’t understand why the Oilers would give up four or more assets to fill a hole that could be filled internally within the year.
They would also be robbing from another position on the roster to fill a hole that’s likely to be filled by Broberg. They would lose some scoring from the back end with Barrie, and then they would lose another roster player from another position. I don’t think the addition of Chychrun’s defending for 65 games would be enough to offset the loss of the two roster players in question.
Training camp isn’t the time to make a move like this. Holland has built a contending team here, and I expect that he will allow this group to play together for a while before making any sort of significant move if he’s going to make one at all this year.
