Jakob Chychrun has finally been traded! The Ottawa Senators have acquired defenseman Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a conditional first-round pick in 2023, a conditional second-round pick in 2024 and a second-round pick in 2026.

The Senators receive:

A potential first-pair defenseman who can bring some offense and size (6-2, 220 lbs.) Chychrun led NHL defensemen two seasons ago with 18 goals in 56 games. Even though Chychrun turns 25 later this month, we perhaps haven't seen his full upside beyond that 2020-21 season because of injuries (ankle/wrist) and playing for the rebuilding Yotes. The Senators are one of a bunch of teams pushing for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, and Chychrun will help with that.

The Coyotes receive:

More draft picks! The Coyotes continue to collect picks, particularly in the second and third round. No team has been as committed to a long rebuild as the Coyotes.

Fantasy players impacted:

Ottawa might be a better place for Chychrun points-wise simply from having a better group of scores around him. There's a chance that Chychrun could take Thomas Chabot's spot on the first-unit power play, but that's far from a guarantee because he's not a natural puck distributor. For what it's worth, Chychrun and Chabot have scored at similar rates over the past three seasons, but Chabot has been the superior defenseman in the power-play points category. Jake Sanderson has also been knocking on the door for that PP1 spot, so this trade has to be considered a bit of a setback for those waiting on Sanderson.  

Compare Players – Chabot/Chychrun

After also trading Shayne Gostisbehere earlier in the day (Fantasy Take here), the Coyotes will need to lean on some younger defensemen more heavily. Deemed expendable by the Flames, onetime top prospect Juuso Valimaki has received first-unit power-play minutes over the last few games and seems like the favorite to continue in that role for the 24^th-ranked Coyotes power play (19.0 PP%). J.J. Moser has also received power-play time and should continue to do so, while Victor Soderstrom (another former first-round pick) could also be up for some power-play minutes while likely remaining in the NHL for good after the Chychrun and Gostisbehere trades.

Players this helps, in order:

Valimaki

Chychrun

Moser

Soderstrom

Players this hurts, in order:

Chabot

Sanderson

Erik Brannstrom

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Discuss this trade in this thread on the Forum.