What Would the Oilers Be Willing to Trade for Jakob Chychrun?

There is no guarantee that the Arizona Coyotes trade defenseman Jakob Chycrhun. At best, the only news being reported on the situation comes from Elliotte Friedman who reports the Coyotes are “gauging the market” on the player to see what he might be worth in a trade and that the ask is massive.

All that said, if the Coyotes to move the blueliner, expect the Edmonton Oilers to be a team that kicks tires, perhaps even shows serious interest.

Related: Coyotes “Gauging the Market” on Jakob Chychrun

The moment word leaked that the Coyotes would take a look at what return might be out there for Chychun, the Oilers were almost as quickly tied to the storyline. It’s been out there that Edmonton is keen on adding to the left side of the defense corps and has been most of the season. It’s an area where the Oilers don’t have the depth they’d like and speculation is they’d be willing to move this year’s first-round pick to acquire the right piece. Consider Chychrun a player who falls under that category.

He’s only 23 years old, which puts him at the perfect age for this core. He’s already played 316 NHL games and scored 48 goals and 128 points, and he garnered a handful of Norris votes. Running him in the No. 2 spot behind Darnell Nuse would be a no-brainer for GM Ken Holland and it would give Edmonton a No. 1-B if injuries or other scenarios required a bit of line shuffling. That the Oilers could get this type of player at a cost of $4.6 million over the next three-plus seasons only makes him more attractive.

The issue is cost and whether or not paying the asking price helps the team in the long run or hurts their ability to fill other holes.

What Would the Oilers Have to Give Up?

For starters, Edmonton would have to move the first-round pick and a high-end prospect like Philip Broberg or Dylan Holloway. From there, the team might need to include Kailer Yamamoto, plus they’d need to throw in salary to make the deal work financially. If the Coyotes aren’t interested in that package, things change. There’s a better-than-good chance the Oilers would also have to move an early-round pick next year then things get interesting.

Are the Oilers a team that is one top-tier defenseman away from serious contention? There’s still chatter the Oilers badly need to improve their goaltending and acquire a third-line center if the plan is to keep Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as a winger. Moving that many picks for Chychrun would limit what GM Ken Holland can do to improve those other areas.

Not only would the Oilers have to give up a number of assets just to land the defenseman they want, but they might also have to be willing to give up the chances of using those same assets to add other important key pieces.

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