Will Jakob Chychrun Get Traded to Toronto Maple Leafs This Week?

Jakob Chychrun was a healthy-scratch on Saturday night, which made everyone speculate that he could be traded this week, potentially  to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been linked to Jakob Chychrun all year and it’s easy to see why.

The 24-year-old fits the Leafs style of play, but even more enticing is his small contract that has term. Chychrun is locked into a contract worth $4.6M AAV until the end of the 2024-25 season, fitting the Leafs window perfectly.

Since returning from injury, the offensively-gifted defenseman has been one of the best defenseman in the NHL, points-wise. He has seven goals, 28 points in 36 games and is continuing to be one of the bright spots on an Arizona Coyotes team that is very bad this year.

After getting drafted 16th overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Chychrun has only played in the playoffs once in his career and has grown unhappy with his situation in Arizona. Playing in a college arena, plus being uncompetitive every year would drive any good player nuts, so it feels like it’ll only be a matter of days before he’s traded.

So, what would it take for the Leafs to acquire a player of Chychrun’s talent?

Could Jakob Chychrun Join the Toronto Maple Leafs This Week?

Well, the word on the street was that the Coyotes were looking for two first-round picks and/or a high-level prospect for Chychrun, which seems like a fair package.

If you’re the Leafs, I think you seriously have to consider trading two first-round picks, and a prospect for Chychrun, just because of how long you’ll have control of him. If you think about it, will either of those first-round picks be as good as Chychrun?

Probably not, and if they are, they’re not going to be NHL-ready until Chychrun’s contract is finished anyways, so you wouldn’t be sacrificing much.

Toronto has little depth-scoring, but even worse, has virtually no scoring from the blue-line. Sure, the defensive-group can rack up secondary assists and put up decent point-totals but there’s no defenseman on the roster that scares the opposition.

Morgan Rielly used to be that player, but his offensive scoring touch has declined over the past few years. Ever since he had that 20-goal and 72-point season in 2018-19, he hasn’t been able to put up great numbers, proving that, that year was probably a fluke.

Besides Timo Meier, I think that Chychrun has be the best available player and someone who can legitimately make a difference.

The Leafs desperately need a defenseman who can eat up minutes, but they also need someone who can provide offense from the blue-line. Chychrun can be that player and the Leafs need to make a big splash and acquire him.

Stay tuned, but hopefully it happens this week.