Photo: THN
The Washington Capitals acquired defenseman Jakob Chychrun from the Ottawa Senators on Monday in exchange for defenseman Nick Jensen and a 2026 third-round pick. The 26-year-old can become an unrestricted free agent after the 2024-25 season, where he counts $4.6 million against the NHL salary cap.
Washington has poked around him for the past three seasons whether Chychrun, who earned 14 goals, 41 points, a -30 rating, .5002 five-on-five Corsi-for, .4755 expected goals-for, and .4858 scoring chances-for percentages in 82 games during 2023-24, has been on the Arizona Coyotes or Ottawa. This past season, he averaged 22:23 per game (third among Senators defensemen), including 2:41 on the power play (second).
Jakob Chychrun, acquired by WSH, is a two-way defenceman who’s strong on the puck, has a big shot, and an active defensive stick. Fit was never there in Ottawa, but he has plenty of tools. #AllCaps pic.twitter.com/cbkv0Saaqm
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 1, 2024
Chychrun, the 16th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, led all NHL defensemen in goals (18) during the truncated 2020-21 season when he set a career-high in points (41), which he tied this season, in 56 games. He has averaged 21:18 per game over his eight-season NHL career, including 2:09 on the power play and 49 seconds on the penalty kill.
At five-on-five, Chychrun has a .49 Corsi-for, .4808 expected goals-for, and .4691 scoring chances-for percentages in his career but has been on rebuilding teams throughout his career.
Jensen and Rasmus Sandin both missed three games and Trevor Van Riemsdyk another due to injury last season. John Carlson finished the regular season with an NHL-high 25:53 average ice time-per-game, further demonstrating Washington’s thin blueline.
The team finished the regular season with an average of 3.07 goals-against per game (tied with the Colorado Avalanche for the NHL average), .79 penalty-killing efficiency (19th), 30.5 shots-against per game (tied with Boston Bruins for 21st), 177.49 expected goals-against at five-on-five (25th), 1844 scoring chances-against at five-on-five (21st), and 102 high-danger goals-against at five-on-five (tied with New Jersey Devils for 27th).
Jensen, who will turn 34 on September 21, finished the season with a goal, 14 points, -9 rating, .4467 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4449 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4632 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage while averaging 19:48 per game (fourth). After the team signed Bear, it makes sense for Washington to part with Jensen, the team’s third-highest paid defenseman who received some interest at the trade deadline, to clear space under the salary cap.
Nick Jensen, acquired by OTT, is a veteran top four defensive defenceman who can move the puck and draws over twice as many penalties as he takes. #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/qFrZGaBP5D
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 1, 2024
Jensen has two years left on a contract that counts $4.05 million against the salary cap.
The Capitals currently have $3,718,333 in NHL salary cap space with Nicklas Backstrom (hip) expected to remain on long-term injured reserve next season.
Graphic: @CapitalsPR
By Harrison Brown
