NHL Rumors: 3 Canadian Teams Likely Out Of The Chychrun Sweepstakes

Jakob Chychrun is healthy and playing for the Arizona Coyotes. A trade may finally be coming and there is lots of speculation as to which teams are in the race for the defenceman and who will actually land him. Among some of the top candidates rumoured to have interest in Chychrun was the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Ottawa Senators, but that may not be entirely true.

Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek spoke on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast about the situation regarding teams who are in the running for the defenceman. Friedman said, "I think at times Edmonton has kind of taken a look at it (Chychrun trade), but I don't get the sense they've ever really been in it. I'm not convinced Toronto is there either...I think Ottawa will look at it but there hasn't been a match and I'm not convinced there's a match"

The Oilers have had their fair share of struggles on the back-end this season as there have been collapses defensively almost every game costing them goals. Trading for one big-named player won't fix what has gone on as a team in the defensive zone this season and Ken Holland has always been a conservative general manager when it comes to making trades.

The Maple Leafs have had almost no problems since their top-three highest paid defencemen have all been out of the lineup. The team is on a five game winning streak and more than one of their defencemen have stepped up in a big way. They will likely still be looking to acquire a defenceman, but maybe one who doesn't have a history of injuries.

As for the Senators, Friedman also stated, "Ottawa is just determined not to make a bad trade." A Chychrun deal could potentially be a trade that turns out bad if he can't stay healthy. The Senators don't need any more reasons why they can't turn things around and make the playoffs and also don't need anymore injuries or injury-prone players.