Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast when asked about Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun and if the St. Lous Blues are involved.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“You know what, someone said to me, Elliotte, you get on these podcasts with Jeff and he asks you a question and you talk in circles and eventually get back to the question. And I said to that person, ‘you’re right.’ Now, I’m going to do it again.
I think the short answer is, I do think the Blues are around there. They’ve been.”
Marek: “They’ve been around a long time on him.”
Friedman: “I think they would still be. I don’t think they’re out.
But the team that’s been hot in the Jakob Chychrun rumor mill all summer, is been Ottawa. I don’t think it’s wrong. I think I’ve said before that I’m not convinced it’s ever really been close. I’ve had some people say that it’s never been as close as it’s been hinted at times.
But, you know, the conversations have been there off and on, and I mentioned on Saturday during the early game of the Ottawa-Toronto doubleheader, that I think one of the players Arizona liked is Shane Pinto from Ottawa. And I think Ottawa has made it very clear that they’re not doing that.
For example, we’re going to do our Ottawa podcast sometime soon, and as you know Jeff, when we asked DJ Smith if there was player he was hoping really pushed to make roster decisions difficult for him, he said Pinto. He said look, everyone knows what our first and second lines are, but he thinks there is an opportunity for Pinto to show that he deserves more top-six opportunity. When Dorion heard Smith’s answer, he said that’s the guy I was actually going to say.
So, I think this is a player Ottawa really values. And somehow this got twisted. I don’t know what was on social media or what was said, but somebody apparently twisted it as, that I said that Ottawa can have Chychrun as long as Pinto is included. Which is not even close to what I said on the air.
So, I don’t know what the path is with the Senators and the Coyotes, but I do think the Blues are interested and have been interested.
The other thing there is, I’ve had another team me, it’s tough getting a handle. He’s had a lot of injuries and he’s hurt again right now.
I had one team tell me that is whole Ryan Ellis situation is sending a chill throughout the league. Like, everyone is looking at what happened with Ryan Ellis. No one is accusing anyone of any skullduggery or anything like that, but they’re saying that, that is a buyer-beware situation.
One team just said to me, looking at Chychrun and seeing he’s hurt again, the biggest fear that they would have, is that you give up the assets that are necessary to get this guy, and then you get what happened with Ryan Ellis.
Marek: “Now, let me know if you’ve heard otherwise, but I’m of the belief that, and I believe this was all throughout last season as well, that what the Coyotes are looking for is essentially the Brent Burns Minnesota-San Jose deal. Which was Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle, and a first. So essentially three first-round picks when you break it right down. Setoguchi was an established player. Charlie Coyle was a prospect, and then you throw in a first-round pick as well. I believe that is what Arizona was, and were all through the season looking for. Do you have any reason to believe that’s not the case now?
Friedman: “For argument’s sake again, if you’re asking for a guy like Pinto, I think that’s kind of the expectation. I don’t know if it’s changed much, but I know there’s teams out there saying, what happens when Chychrun gets healthy, how is this all going to work?
If you’ve watched him, and you listen to everything that said last week when the Coyotes opened camp, it’s clear it’s uncomfortable, right? So I think some teams are just wondering, how’s this all going to play out once he’s ready to go?
Marek: “I always wonder, which is the surprise teams that jump in? We’ve heard a number of teams interested, and there’s always that one. Just like we say with Johnny Gaudreau and the Columbus Blue Jackets, boom, they jump in right away. I always wonder about the surprise teams. I think we all do”
Friedman: “I do too.”
** NHLRumors.com transcription