3 reasons the St. Louis Blues must trade for Jakob Chychrun
Surprise trades happen all the time in the NHL, and Jakob Chychrun to the St. Louis Blues makes sense on many levels.
The St. Louis Blues may have maxed out what they can do with an older roster, so while logistics say it’s time to promote prospects while continually improving what is a mid-tier pipeline, there is always another option: To trade for established but younger talent.
Jacob Chychrun is one player who is still young enough to become part of an organization that is brewing a young core of players that includes Jordan Kyrou (26), Robert Thomas (24), Alexey Toropchenko (24), and Jake Neighbours (22). This doesn’t include those who ended the year with the Springfield Thunderbirds plus more exciting prospects, but as you can see, Chychrun (26) fits right into that age group.
The Blues could also trade for Chychrun and get younger while simultaneously trading away older talent should they get a good deal for them. Doing so would make the Blues younger, better, and it would improve their prospects pool, but they’re also still in a good position to roll with their current lineup and add someone like Chychrun.
St. Louis Blues would get serious help if they acquired Jakob Chychrun
It’s tough to say the Blues enjoyed a good season, but they still came close enough to earning a playoff berth that an addition like Chychrun could supplement the team to push them back into a wild card spot for 2025. Chychrun may be a defenseman, but his offensive game is one major reason he would make sense for the Blues.
But let’s break that one reason into two, as Chychrun’s offensive game would help St. Louis in multiple ways. It was something he’s been doing since his days with the Arizona Coyotes, and if he’s on the move again this year, it will also be something he will do with whomever his next team may be.
So let’s start with how well Chychrun has performed in the past in what was one of the weakest areas on the Blues last season - the power play.
Jakob Chychrun would dramatically improve the Blues power play
With such a bad power play, the Blues need to find someone who can do a better job navigating it. This past season, the Blues power play sat nearly three percent below the NHL average, and it ranked 25th in the league.
Sure, it ranked just one spot under the Senators man advantage, who converted just 18.02 percent of their chances, but it’s also worth noting that Ottawa also scored 51 times at 5-on-4, which tied the Vegas Golden Knights for 17th in the league. By contrast, the Blues logged 45 goals and tied for 22nd in the NHL.
But here’s the real kicker regarding the Sens: Chychrun was on the ice for over half of those 51 goals, and his on-ice shooting percentage on the power play was a glowing 14.4 percent, his best since the 2020-21 season. The 27 on-ice goals for were the highest of his career, and he scored seven of them.
Chychrun added another nine assists, giving him 16 power play points out of the 41 he registered this season. Overall, Chychrun proved himself on the man advantage long before he came to Ottawa during his days with the Arizona Coyotes. But if you put him onto at least a halfway decent team like the Blues, that unit would soar in 2024-25.
Chychrun would give the Blues more chances in the offensive zone at 5-on-5
Jakob Chychrun has long been a two-way player in the NHL, and that started becoming evident in the 2020-21 season when he put up 18 goals and 41 points. It led to a 10th-place finish for the Norris Trophy, and despite struggling through a pair of injury-riddled seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23, the 2023-24 campaign proved Chychrun hadn’t lost a step as he tied his career-high in points, albeit while playing all 82 games.
But Chychrun doesn’t need to put up 0.732 points per contest to make a team like the Blues more effective in the offensive zone at 5-on-5. He just needs to be a puck mover and help create opportunities for teammates to be effective. And considering the Blues numbers at 5-on-5 this past season, they need a lot of help.
Here are some of the more interesting statistics: They scored just 151 goals at 5-on-5, or 6.5 fewer than expected. Their xGF of 157.5 sat over 10 goals below the NHL average, as did their 45.9 Corsi For, their 7.7 shooting percentage, and their 543 high-danger chances for.
Chychrun’s Senators weren’t a good team in 2023-24, but he still helped them finish the year 18th in the league in goals scored. Of the 255 that went in the net for Ottawa, Chychrun was on the ice for 99 of them, or 38.8 percent. He was a puck mover, and he was also on the ice for more shots for than shots against at 5-on-5, all while playing for what was one of the NHL’s worst teams.
Chychrun would give the Blues a younger and established blueliner
When the 2023-24 season ended, the Blues blue line boasted an average age of 30.3, and it would have been higher had it not been for Scott Perunovich and Tyler Tucker ending the year with the big club. Jakob Chychrun is just 26, and he will also be eligible for a contract extension come the 2024-25 season.
Since he’s already an established talent, the Blues should have zero issues trading for a player who will be due $7 million for the upcoming season. They’re basically getting Chychrun on a one-year “prove-it” deal, with the exception being that the blueliner has already proven himself when healthy.
If Doug Armstrong made such a move, he would, in a worst-case scenario, have a blueliner capable of putting up between 0.5 and 0.73 points per game. Chychrun graced the lower number this past season, and while the Blues had a pair of players reach the same milestone, they’re 33 and 32, respectively, with the latter seeing time in just 60 games.
The duo also combined for just six goals, less than half of what Chychrun managed to score on his own. Overall, Chychrun would give the Blues a much younger option than what they already have, and one who, if Armstrong makes the right roster moves, could also remain in a place like Gateway City on a high-end, long-term deal starting in 2025-26.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)