The Three Front-Runners For Jakob Chychrun Have Been Revealed

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Aaron Itovitch
February 8, 2023 (9:31 PM)

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It was revealed this week that the Arizona Coyotes' price on Jakob Chychrun has stayed solid as two first round picks, and a good prospect.

This isn't an easy deal to swallow for teams looking to acquire Chychrun, but for a young defender with term at a reasonable cap-hit, it can only be expected.

This asking price has clearly scared off some teams, such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers, but it has equally led to the narrowing down of serious contenders.

Per insider Pierre LeBrun, barring a big shift in the market, the three teams still in the sweepstakes are the Edmonton Oilers, LA Kings, and the Boston Bruins.

«It's an interesting sub-plot when it comes to the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings, Pacific Division rivals who played each other in the first round last year: they're calling for a lot of left-handed shot defensemen,» LeBrun said on Insider Trading on Tuesday. «Jakob Chychrun is at the top, both teams have expressed interest, but you can go down the list when it comes to Joel Edmundson, both teams have talked to [the Montreal Canadiens] about, [Vladislav] Gavrikov [of the Columbus Blue Jackets], so that's the fascinating part here if you're Columbus or Montreal or Arizona if you're trying to pit these teams against each other. But believe me, the Kings and Oilers are waiting for these prices to come down, they don't want to let emotions take control.

»Another thing I should mention on Chychrun, who a lot of people in the league believe Los Angeles still makes the most sense [as a landing spot] given their need on the left side, the Boston Bruins are another contender of late that have also inquired with the Coyotes on the young defenseman.»

All three teams have a deficiency on the left side of the ice, and all are in a tight window to win. For the Bruins, despite their incredible regular season, the aging of their core is an inevitable reality. The Kings have the same issue, especially with Drew Doughty's large contract still having so much term. Finally, the Oilers only have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl signed at their reasonable cap-hits for another 3 years. This effectively closes their window.

All three teams could put up the right package, the only question is, who makes the move first?

Source: Hockey Feed