The trade market for Arizona Coyotes defenceman Jakob Chychrun is heating up, with interest being shown by almost one-third of the league.
"I can confirm that at least 10 teams in the NHL have made enquiries about Jakob Chychrun," Sportsnet's Jeff Marek said during the 32 Thoughts segment on Hockey Night in Canada. "A couple of offers have given the Coyotes cause for pause."
Marek compared the return being sought by the Coyotes to be similar to that of when big puck-mover Brent Burns was traded by the Minnesota Wild in 2011 for Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle and a (2012) first-round pick.
"So what the Coyotes are looking for is a young player, a high-end prospect plus a first-round pick," Marek said. "Teams we believe who have the assets and could do that and might be interested include the Los Angeles Kings, the St. Louis Blues and certainly the Anaheim Ducks, who might be losing Hampus Lindholm to unrestricted free agency at the end of the season."
The puck-moving Chychrun, the 16th-overall pick in 2016, is highly sought after because he's predicted as having a dynamic upside if he were on a good team, is only 23 years old and is signed through 2024-25 with a bargain cap hit of $4.6 million.
This season, while playing on the perennially rebuilding Coyotes, Chychrun has two goals and five assists for seven points in 26 games, but is also an atrocious minus-29.
Marek added that there has also been interest shown in Coyotes scorer Phil Kessel and 2015 first-round winger Lawson Crouse, the latter of whom is being sought by Boston.
The trade deadline is March 21.
