Patient Sens win Chychrun trade, Caps retool underway, and 4 other NHL items

That's it?

That's all Jakob Chychrun fetched after more than a year on the trade market?

Really?!

The Arizona Coyotes traded Chychrun, a top-four, cost-controlled defenseman, to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday in exchange for three draft picks - a 2023 first-rounder, a 2024 second-rounder, and a 2026 second-rounder. (The 2024 second-rounder becomes a first in 2024 or 2025 in the unlikely scenario that the Senators make the conference finals this season.)

Jana Chytilova / Getty Images

Senators general manager Pierre Dorion emerges from this negotiation looking ingenious. Two firsts and a high-end prospect was the reported asking price from the Coyotes for several months, and Dorion cut that package roughly in half. By moving out Nikita Zaitsev's $4.5-million cap hit last week, Ottawa had the requisite cap space to absorb the entirety of Chychrun's $4.6-million hit.

Although slow-playing a negotiation for a player of Chychrun's caliber doesn't always pay off, it did this time. Dorion was incredibly patient. No matter how it's spun in Arizona, GM Bill Armstrong simply didn't get enough value back.

Chychrun, the best blue-liner available in the lead-up to the trade deadline, was such a desirable asset in part because he's under contract through the 2024-25 season. The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder has averaged 23 minutes a night the past three seasons for the Coyotes. He transitions the puck extremely well, boasts a booming shot, and squashes opposing attacks with physicality and stick work. In a nutshell, Chychrun is a modern two-way defenseman.

Norm Hall / Getty Images

Sitting out the past eight Coyotes games for "trade-related reasons," Chychrun last played on Feb. 10. He's recorded seven goals and 21 assists in 36 games after starting the year on injured reserve. The shot-generation machine ranks fifth among all defensemen in shots on goal per 60 minutes.

On the season, Arizona outscored the opposition 35-25 at five-on-five when Chychrun was on the ice. Without him patrolling the blue line at five-on-five, the 21-30-9 Coyotes were outscored 105-71 for an ugly minus-34 rating.

Chychrun, who turns 25 later this month, will be a major boost to Ottawa's playoff push. The Sens were five points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference heading into Wednesday's slate of games. They're in a six-team battle with the Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New York Islanders for the conference's two wild-card spots.

This trade injects yet another key contributor to the Sens' impressive 26-and-younger core. Chychrun joins Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson on the back end, while Brady Tkachuk, Alex DeBrincat, Drake Batherson, Shane Pinto, Tim Stutzle, and Josh Norris comprise a stellar six-pack up front.

Dorion deserves an "A" grade for his work on Wednesday. Well done, Pierre.

Capitals trying to thread needle The Washington Post / Getty Images

Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan didn't make a single trade for seven-plus months. Over the past week, with his club sputtering on the ice, MacLellan's flipped the script, trading away five NHL regulars in four swaps.

The Caps selling, while a rare sight, isn't shocking. The Eastern Conference is stacked, and Washington, lacking finish and crushed by injuries all season, is too far back in the playoff hunt. Standing pat or buying would have made zero sense.

MacLellan actually took concrete steps toward a retool, as none of his deals were half measures. He was aggressive. He focused his moves on nothing but the future, and he didn't get greedy. The Caps acquired four draft picks and two NHL players, and one of the players - forward Craig Smith - is a pending unrestricted free agent who'll likely walk this coming summer.

The GM's next steps will be extra intriguing.

John McCreary / Getty Images

Franchise owner Ted Leonsis has been on record saying the Caps won't be rebuilding during the tail end of Alex Ovechkin's illustrious career. Fair. With that in mind, MacLellan must continue reshaping the roster beyond this past week's activity, which has seen Lars Eller, Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway, Marcus Johansson, and Erik Gustafsson depart, and Rasmus Sandin arrive.

Washington has loads of cap space and term tied up in Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Tom Wilson, T.J. Oshie, Dylan Strome, John Carlson, Nick Jensen, and Darcy Kuemper. But the roster doesn't scream "imminent Stanley Cup contender!"

Perhaps Wilson and Oshie should be next to leave. Maybe top prospects and first-round picks can be flipped for more young NHLers like Sandin. These subsequent moves aren't necessarily urgent; they can wait until the summer. The main objective would be to enter 2023-24 with a younger, faster lineup.

It won't be easy, but MacLellan is trying to thread the needle with this retool.

Karlsson and the Norris

The description for the Norris Trophy is as follows: "An annual award given to the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position."

The key phrase there, especially within the context of this season's Norris discussion, is "greatest all-round ability." Erik Karlsson, a two-time winner who has an eye-popping 77 points in 61 games, is firmly in the running for defenseman of the year, yet he falls way short of being a well-rounded player.

Kavin Mistry / Getty Images

Karlsson is an offensive wizard - one of the best creators from the back end in NHL history, in fact - but his defensive play leaves something to be desired. Two stats help illustrate: The San Jose Sharks have scored 78 goals with Karlsson on the ice during five-on-five action - tops in the NHL. They've also surrendered 63 goals with No. 65 on at five-on-five - tops in the league, too.

Karlsson's extreme numbers raise a philosophical question, though: At what point is the offensive value so overwhelming that contributions on defense are more or less unimportant? Brian Leetch was the last defenseman to hit triple digits in points, way back in 1991-92, and Karlsson's on pace for a tidy 103.

Put another way, is Karlsson's "defense" actually his ability to generate offense for an 18-31-12 team? He's been everything to the Sharks, not only leading the club in ice time (25:34), assists (58), and points but also managing to pace every NHLer - even Connor McDavid - in even-strength points (53).

The Sharks have accounted for 53.7 of the expected goals during Karlsson's five-on-five minutes, which means he's more than offsetting his goals against with positive offensive impact. (That said, he's not exactly a world-beater in xGF%, ranking 47th among the 183 defensemen who've played at least 500 five-on-five minutes.)

Cale Makar, Rasmus Dahlin, Josh Morrissey, and Adam Fox are Karlsson's main competition, with roughly a quarter of the season remaining. If his production falls off, one of those other four could swoop in as the Norris favorite. If his production doesn't fall off, we've got a hot debate on our hands.

Parting shots

Ken Holland: I have no rooting interest in the NHL, but there are situations I feel passionately about. For example, the Oilers needing to do something significant ahead of the deadline. With McDavid and Leon Draisaitl at the peak of their powers and the Western Conference wide-open, general manager Holland most notably had to improve his blue line. On Tuesday, the famously conservative executive acquired Mattias Ekholm from the Nashville Predators. Does this trade solve all of Edmonton's issues? No, but it's a start for the Oilers to add a 6-foot-4 defensive defenseman who isn't a liability with the puck on his stick and has term left on his contract. So I'm happy to give Holland a thumbs up. Anxious to see what he has in store in the final days.

For the past, forever, Edmonton's main weakness has been defending 5x5. They added a very good defender, who also is very good puck mover.

Losing assets is never easy, but acquiring Ekholm addressed biggest weakness. This trade is a win for EDM.

They should add another D.

- Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) March 1, 2023

Mike 'Suitcase' Sillinger: Every year around this time, Sillinger's name surfaces as a historical reference point. The former forward played for 12 teams over a 17-year NHL career, getting traded a record nine times (twice at the deadline). Yeah, there's no mystery surrounding the "Suitcase" nickname. Sillinger's son, Columbus Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger, says while he either wasn't born or doesn't remember any of his dad's trades because he was too young, he still gives it to Mike every now and then. "I always bug him," Cole said Tuesday in an interview. "It's like, 'Oh, no one wanted you!' And then he goes, 'Well, that's where you're wrong - everyone wanted me!'"

Twenty years ago, this guy was part of our Opening Night roster. Tonight, Mike Sillinger's son, Cole, makes his NHL debut as a Blue Jacket. First father-son duo in club history and can't think of two better guys to have the honor. #TheOriginalSilly #CBJ pic.twitter.com/92XRh02vMZ

- Todd Sharrock (@ToddSharrock) October 14, 2021

Jake Walman: What a glow-up 2022-23 has been for the 27-year-old Detroit Red Wings defenseman. Walman, who earlier this week signed a three-year contract extension carrying a $3.4-million annual cap hit, is flourishing in a top-pair role alongside Moritz Seider. An effortless skater with a bullet of a shot and good hockey sense, Walman's broken out in his sixth pro season. Most notably, the Wings have outscored the opposition 32-20 and own 54.7% of the expected goals in Walman's 653 five-on-five minutes this season. Walman, a 2014 third-round pick of the St. Louis Blues, was sent to Detroit in the Nick Leddy trade at last year's deadline. Nice find by GM Steve Yzerman.

Jake Walman wanted to talk about his family after signing his extension: "They've been with me the whole time ... My mom, my dad and my brother especially, those are the three that really believed in me, like I did. ... I love them and I owe this to them big time."

- Max Bultman (@m_bultman) February 28, 2023

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John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

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