Tampa Bay Lightning Trade Deadline Target: Senators Top Defender

The Tampa Bay Lightning trade deadline and any potential targets will be interesting to watch this season. Over the last several seasons, they’ve been active with deals. It started with Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow. More recently, it has been Tanner Jeannot and Michael Eyssimont. This season, there is a question of what the Lightning should do; buy or sell? Here at Last Word, Kyle Pereira and Jack Pallotta will start a series where they look at some potential trades. Let’s say they buy, who do they get? What do they give up? Today, we look at defenceman Jakob Chychrun of the Ottawa Senators.

Disclaimer: The players featured in these articles aren’t always linked to the Lightning but have been made available in some capacity this season. These pieces are observing whether Tampa should target them and what the cost would be if they did.

Who the Tampa Bay Lightning Checked On at the Trade Deadline: Jakob Chychrun

The 16th overall pick of the 2016 NHL entry draft is available for trade for the second straight season. Last year, the Senators acquired Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a conditional 2023 first-round draft pick, a conditional 2024 second-round draft pick, and a 2026 second-round pick. This season, the Senators continue to shop Chychrun’s name in the trade market. According to David Pagnotta, the Lightning have checked in on the top defenceman today. In other words, the Lightning can potentially add Chychrun before the trade deadline on Friday. Let’s analyze Chychrun’s game and discuss if he’s a possible fit in Tampa Bay.

Chychrun Scouting Report

The Florida native is an elite all-around defenceman. Chychrun possesses superb skating abilities and edge control to build his talented offensive skill set. The 25-year-old has a rocket of a shot and can play on the power play. With the right coaching, his defensive game is above average. However, at times, Chychrun ends up lost in his own end. We would not worry about Chychrun’s defensive question marks playing for Jon Cooper and the Lightning.

In 59 games this season, Chychrun has nine goals and 22 assists for 31 points. He’s projected to finish the year with a respectable 13 goals and 31 assists, totaling 41 points in 82 games. Chychrun has roughly 450 games of NHL experience, recording 71 goals and 135 assists for 206 points in 444 games played. His career-best production came during the 2020-21 season, where he notched 41 points in 56 games. With that, why would Tampa Bay target a young stud like Chychrun?

Chychrun’s Strengths

As mentioned before, Chychrun plays a dynamic offensive game. He performs consistently well in offensive production, analytics, and microstats. Data from All Three Zones has Chychrun in the 93rd percentile of one-timer assists per 60 amongst defencemen this season. Also, the Lightning abuse one-timers in their offensive scheme. Chychrun fits the mold perfectly, as he can feed the Lightning forwards one-timers all day from the blue line. 

Chychrun also jumps in the rush as a mobile defender. He ranks in the 77th percentile of rush offence per hour this season. Tampa Bay must improve their shot generation off the rush to make noise come playoff time. Right now, the defenders on the roster do not activate frequently enough to open up space on rush. Acquiring Chychrun’s services can help fix that issue. Now, what are some weaknesses of Chychrun’s game?

Chychrun’s Weaknesses

While Chyrchun has minimal weaknesses in his game, his rush defence has never stood out. However, with the proper partner, he won’t be a defensive liability. Say the Lightning did make a move to acquire Chychrun. We could see a player like Erik Cernak alongside him on the second pairing. With Cernak as a defensive net for Chychrun, the young defender can jump on the rush and help provide the Lightning with that secondary wave of scoring they desperately need.

What It Would (Likely) Take To Acquire Chychrun

With Mikhail Sergachev placed on long-term injured reserve, the Lightning can utilize $8.5 million in cap space to bolster the roster for another playoff run. Julien BriseBois will put every dollar to use at the trade deadline, as the Bolts General Manager continues to be active with deals every season. BriseBois has until Friday to pull the trigger on Chychrun, and we imagine the price tag to be relatively similar to the Chychrun’s trade from the last deadline. Approximately a first-round pick, a second-round pick, and another significant asset should get the deal done. Below is a hypothetical trade offer for Chychrun with the assets the Lightning has to work with.

Tampa Bay acquires: Jakob Chychrun (D)

Ottawa acquires: 2026 first-round pick, 2025 second-round pick, Nick Perbix (D)

How Both Sides Benefit From the Trade

The Lightning have an opportunity to add a young defenceman to an aging core with an additional year on his contract. Chychrun’s contract runs through the 2024-25 season at a cap hit of $4.6 million per season. His cap hit allows the Lightning to be flexible with their money long-term, and the team grabs a weapon on the back end. In addition, Chychrun can play anywhere in the lineup and impact special teams. Ottawa sells an asset they won’t have to deal with in two years. After all, the organization already has cornerstones Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson to build the defence core around.

Tampa Bay Lightning Trade Deadline: In Or Out On Chychrun

Chychrun is another enticing trade target for the Lightning at the deadline. He will provide another layer of offence for the Bolts from the blue line, and the Lightning can work with him on an extension. The Lightning don’t have to worry about losing Chychrun to free agency this summer. Tampa Bay is not grabbing a pure rental in Chychrun, similar to William Borgen. 

The 25-year-old is one of those names on the trade bait board that can push the Lightning over the edge this year in our opinion. While the team likely won’t capture Lord Stanley, Chychrun can help get Tampa Bay very close. Despite the high price tag, a player like Chychrun will be impactful beyond this season, unlike several other targets we covered over the past few weeks. For our last trade target of the series, we give BriseBois the green light to acquire Chychrun before Friday, even though it probably won’t come to fruition. 

Advanced percentiles via AllThreeZones and HockeyViz (paid subscription required)

Raw stats via NaturalStatTrick & EvolvingHockey

Lightning tracked stats via Last Word (Kyle Pereira and Jack Pallotta)