Frank Seravalli has the Hurricanes in the Jakob Chychrun sweepstakes

It’s the time of the year that throws everything into the rumor mill. Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun is one of the hottest commodities on the NHL trade market. With some of the latest reports suggesting that the Carolina Hurricanes could be in the market for a defenseman when the NHL trade deadline comes to pass, Frank Seravalli of Dailyfaceoff.com has linked the Canes with the Floridian.

Rumors have surfaced suggesting that the American is unhappy in the desert and wants to move to a team that could provide him with a chance at playoff hockey as the desert dogs look to rebuild their rebuild. Being just 23 years old with a cap hit of around $4.6 million per year for the next 3 seasons after this one, he’s being considered an extremely valuable commodity. There are not too many defenders with multiple years left on their deal on the market right now.

Carolina has been looking for a defender to add to their ranks and to quote Seravalli directly “Carolina don’t nibble around the edges”. Trying to land the big fish is something Carolina has done a lot this season. If they’re going to get one, this is certainly one that makes logical sense. You can never have enough defensemen for a deep playoff run and that’s the goal for this team.

Capable of moving the puck without conceding too much defensively, Chychrun has become a very highly rated player in the desert. To some extent, I do believe the hype precedes the player’s ability to some extent. He’s very good, but you’ll see people call him a top 50 defenseman, which I personally have a hard time agreeing with due to his extreme struggles recently.

While he has started to get back to the game he normally plays recently, for the first 30 games or so, Chychrun was on pace to put together the worst season ever tracked in terms of underlying numbers. He’s a very capable puck-moving defenseman who’s not a pylon in his own zone. At the age of 23, there’s a lot of services left in this player too. There’s a lot to like with Chychrun.

Elliotte Friedman has also suggested on the 32 Thoughts podcast that the Arizona Coyotes are eager to move on from the Florida native. If the Coyotes want to move this player, there are certainly a lot of reasons the team could go and get him. He’s young, cost-controlled, and he’s a player that Arizona wants to move on from.

“What the Coyotes are looking for is a young player, a high-end prospect plus a first-round pick” is the rumor from the other member of the 32 thoughts podcast Jeff Marek. When the Coyotes do eventually move on from this player, that’s the kind of return they’re asking for. Yes, it seems like a lot, but young cost-controlled defensemen do not grow on trees.

From Carolina, if you can use Ethan Bear, Scott Morrow, and the 2023 first-round pick, that’s not an overly dump price to pay for someone with the skill of Jakob Chychrun in the long run. That might be an offer that is beaten out by other teams, but at the end of the day, Chychrun improves this defensive core majorly. If you have the chance to land him, why not take a run at him?

If you put Chychrun on the 2nd pairing, this team suddenly gets a lot better in transition. It means the blueline is deeper, and you’re now removing some of the issues you have on that backend. Yes, it could be difficult to find a good mix for lefties and righties, but there are multiple defensemen capable of playing both sides in the absence of Bear, and it does make a lot of sense to me.

Question for Cardiac Cane readers: Do you think the Canes should pursue Chychrun?