Jakob Chychrun's Latest Move Makes a Trade to Toronto Seem Most Likely

As the NHL's March 3rd Trade Deadline quickly approaches, dozens of storylines hang in the balance. Some teams are actively tanking, seeking to sell off their best players for parts.

Meanwhile, others are gearing up to seize their Stanley Cup windows and start an arms race of sorts. Additionally, numerous players await their fates as prized trade chips.

Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun rests near the top of that list. The 2016 16th overall pick has appeared in trade rumors for a couple of years now, but at this point a trade is as likely as it's ever been. Recently, Chychrun took the Arizona Coyotes tags off of his social media pages, which is never a good sign in today's day and age.

That's not all.

If you comb through his recent activity and new mutuals, one will notice that Chychrun recently followed several Toronto Maple Leafs players. Which - if nothing else - is interesting.

There are a couple of things to consider here:

1. Per CapFriendly, Chychrun does not have any no-trade protection in his current contract; signed at $4.6 million through '25-26.
2. The Toronto Maple Leafs - even with $7M+ in long-term injured reserve savings - still have $0 in cap space. Something needs to give in order for this trade to go down.

Still, all things considered, Toronto has been linked to Chychrun by more than one outlet over the course of this season. He came up through the OHL with the Sarnia Sting, so his familiarity with the region could play a factor.

With 25 points in 34 games for the Coyotes this season, a contending team could absolutely benefit from the addition of Chychrun. Arizona's asking price is - expectedly - high, though. Other teams to whom Chychrun has been linked are the Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, and the Florida Panthers (he's from Boca Raton, FL for what it's worth).

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