The Ottawa Senators provided a more specific update Monday on an injury that is expected to shelf defenseman Jakob Chychrun for the foreseeable future.
Speaking to reporters, head coach D.J. Smith indicated that Chychrun’s injury, suffered last week in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, is to his hamstring and will keep him out for two to three weeks. Chychrun had already missed Saturday’s game with the New Jersey Devils as a result. There had been speculation that Chychrun was hurt when tangled up with Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman on March 23, but Smith said the injury happened later in the game when Chychrun crashed into the boards.
The Senators acquired Chychrun, 24, in a blockbuster March 1 trade with the Arizona Coyotes. They sent a 2023 top-five-protected first-round pick, a conditional 2024 second-round pick and a 2026 second-round pick to Arizona in the deal. Chychrun has functioned primarily in a top-four role for Ottawa since the trade, notching two goals and five points in 12 games while averaging 21 minutes of ice time. He has the second-best five-on-five on-ice shot attempt share among Ottawa defensemen since arriving in the trade.
Injuries continue to hound Chychrun early in his NHL career, however. He played all 56 games in the shortened 2020-21 season but, other than that has yet to exceed 68 games in one season. An ankle injury cost him the last 24 games of his 2021-22 season, and the start of his 2022-23 campaign was delayed by a wrist injury. His hamstring injury may end his debut run with the Senators, too, given they have just nine games left on the schedule and sit seven points out of a playoff spot. They’ll have little motivation to rush Chychrun back unless they find themselves still in the hunt.
Chychrun is under contract for two more seasons after this one at a $4.6 million cap hit. Despite his health concerns, his upside is undeniable; in the past three seasons, he sits fourth among all NHL defensemen in goals per 60 at 5-on-5.
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