Boston Bruins Continue To Be Linked To Jakob Chychrun

With the countdown on until the March 3 NHL trade deadline, the Boston Bruins continue to be one of multiple teams linked to 24-year-old Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun.

In the latest episode of TSN Insider Trading, NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun dropped another nugget confirming that Bruins general manager Don Sweeney has showed increased interest recently in what it would cost to acquire arguably the best defenseman on the NHL trade market. After, honing in on the bidding war for Chychrun between Pacific Division rivals in the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings, LeBrun made a point of including the Boston Bruins as well.

“It’s an interesting subplot when it comes the Edmonton Oilers and L.A. Kings, the Pacific Division rivals who faced each other in the first round of the playoffs last year,” LeBrun explained. “They’re calling a lot of similar left-shot D. Jacob Chychrun at the top; both teams have expressed interest but you can also go down the list when it comes to Joel Edmundson, both teams have talked to Montreal about. …[Vladislav] Gavrikov. So, that’s the fascinating part here is that if you’re a Columbus or a Montreal or Arizona, are you trying to pit teams like the Oilers and Kings against each other, and believe me, the Kings and the Oilers want those prices to come down. They’re not gonna let emotion take part in this here.

The other thing by the way that I should mention on Jakob Chychrun – who a lot of people around the league still feel like L.A. makes the most sense given their need on the left side – the Boston Bruins are among the contenders of late that have also inquired with the Coyotes on the young defenseman. So something to keep an eye on.”

This comes less than a week after Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman did the same in his weekly 32 Thoughts Column.

“Boston is also believed to be in the left-defense market. Would not be surprised if they’ve checked in on Jakob Chychrun and Vladislav Gavrikov, among others,” Friedman opined.

An NHL pro scout then had this to say to Boston Hockey Now with regards to what it may cost the Bruins to acquire Chychrun, who has two more seasons after this one left on a six-year contract that carries a $4.6M AAV:

“If the Bruins want Chychrun, they’re moving a roster D,” an NHL source told BHN on Thursday. “I’d be surprised if they do go after him right now even though he improves them now and in the future. They would need to move a current guy on their defense to make it happen, whether it’s to the Coyotes or another team. You look at what happened with Horvat, and I think Sweeney’s goal is to add without an impact subtraction.”

As stated here last Thursday, the feel here is the same but if he is talking roster players, Sweeney has let it be known that Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk is completely off-limits and will remain that way until at least after this season. However, sources have told BHN that defensemen Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk could be in play and could be the roster player Sweeney would need to trade – along with a first round pick and top prospect – if he truly wants to acquire Chychrun on the NHL trade market.