It took 18 months, but Jakob Chychrun finally got traded — and arguably to a team that needs him more than any other team in the NHL.
It’s yet another big domino falling in what has been a wild couple of weeks as the trade market for defensemen plays itself out.
Let’s walk through it all again.
The Bruins are believed to have shown interest in Chychrun about three or four weeks ago, but when it didn’t look like there was a path to a deal given the price, the B’s shifted gears toward Vladislav Gavrikov in Columbus. The Blue Jackets thought they pretty much had a deal with the Bruins around two weeks ago, but the Bruins told the Jackets they needed more time, presumably to shed cap space.
The Athletic has live coverage of the NHL trade deadline with the latest news, deals and analysis.
In the interim, Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan sent a note to his colleagues around Feb. 19, saying he was ready to listen on pending unrestricted free agent Dmitry Orlov and, well, that obviously changed everything. The B’s pivoted to what they felt was a better option and got a deal done on Feb. 23. Great pickup for Boston.
That left Columbus fuming. And scrambling. There are only so many first-round picks available.
The Athletic: Blue Jackets’ trade involving D Vladislav Gavrikov falls through … so now what?#NHLBruins swing big deal with #ALLCaps for Dmitry Orlov leaves #CBJ at square one with a week to go before the NHL trade deadline.https://t.co/ugY6UmSndn
The Jackets last Friday began re-establishing trade talks with previous suitors on Gavrikov, reaching out to the likes of Edmonton, Los Angeles and Toronto.
The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, were already engaged by then with Chicago on defenseman Jake McCabe, although that deal didn’t come together until this past Monday.
The Oilers showed some interest in Gavrikov, but it was clear to Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen that Edmonton viewed Gavrikov as Plan B or Plan C. Turns out, it was certainly Plan C.
That’s because the Oilers had been engaged in on-again, off-again conversations with Arizona on Chychrun for a two-week period leading up to Tuesday. Talks really heated up between the Oilers and Coyotes on Sunday and Monday, and at one point, both sides felt they were pretty close to something. But that deal fell apart, in large part because the Coyotes simply didn’t want to take money back in the form of a player contract. Even after moving Jesse Puljujarvi to Carolina on Tuesday morning, the Oilers couldn’t make a Chychrun deal work without sending at least one player contract back.
My sense is that Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong was willing to keep working at it with the Oilers, but Edmonton GM Ken Holland decided he couldn’t risk waiting until too close to Friday’s deadline and miss out on the other defenseman he was having conversations on.
That would be Mattias Ekholm. Holland phoned Predators GM David Poile on Feb. 23 to get the ball rolling on that one. In that conversation, Poile informed Holland that the price for Ekholm would have to include at least a first-round pick this year (with Nashville hosting the draft, that was important), plus prospect Reid Schaefer, drafted at No. 32 last summer. The Oilers weren’t enamored with having Schaefer part of things, but they kept the conversation going with the Predators while also having parallel conversations going with Arizona on Chychrun over the past week.
Once Holland informed Armstrong on Tuesday that, once and for all, he was out on Chychrun, he closed the deal on Ekholm with Poile. Having to include Tyson Barrie in that trade for cap reasons was not an easy decision, either. Barrie was a key member of the Oilers’ power play and a popular teammate. But the overall price tag was worth it for Holland, to get a veteran top-four defenseman like Ekholm, who the Oilers hope will help stabilize their five-on-five game defensively.
Why Mattias Ekholm is a big addition for an Oilers team that needs to win now – The Athletic https://t.co/LTFW7ibdrV
Tuesday was also the last time the Coyotes and Kings spoke on Chychrun. I would love to know how many times those two front offices chatted over the past 12-plus months on the defenseman, who always seemed destined for L.A., with the Kings’ glaring need on the left side. But it never happened. A Kings source told me Wednesday night that there certainly had been many discussions with Arizona about Chychrun, but it never felt like they were that close on a trade.
And, of course, the reason that Tuesday was the Kings’ last conversation with Arizona on Chychrun is that Los Angeles was looking to cement its deal with Columbus for Gavrikov (and goalie Joonas Korpisalo) late Tuesday night.
The two clubs had actually been talking on and off for quite a while, but things got more serious Monday and Tuesday when the idea of having both the defenseman and the goalie in the deal got introduced. Good job by Kekalainen, in the end, getting his first-round pick, albeit a conditional one, given the circumstances around his failed deal with Boston. He scrambled pretty well.
And there you have it. The Kings, Oilers and Bruins — all potential Chychrun destinations — one by one went by the wayside as options for Arizona as they filled their defensive needs.
That being the case, it’s no surprise that over the past 24 to 48 hours, things heated up between Arizona and Ottawa.
There were other teams that talked to Arizona over the past week, as well, including Washington, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Columbus.
But the great appeal in the end for Arizona in gaining traction with the Senators was two-fold. First, Ottawa didn’t need to send money back in a player contract. That was huge for Arizona. And second, the Coyotes felt Ottawa’s first-round pick, while top-five protected, was more appealing than any other pick offered. That pick could end up anywhere from No. 6 to No. 16 — unless, of course, Ottawa makes the playoffs, which, well, is possible.
As others have reported, the Coyotes had a potential trade with Columbus involving Chychrun fall apart at the draft in Montreal last summer, which included the Jackets’ No. 12 pick in the first round. So in the end, the Coyotes end up probably with a similar first-round pick from Ottawa. But they don’t end up with two first-round picks, which was part of the Coyotes’ ask in a Chychrun trade for well over a year.
From a Senators’ perspective, the price certainly softened from earlier conversations with Arizona, in which the names of prospects like Ridly Greig and Tyler Kleven were part of the Coyotes’ ask, on top of the rest of the draft-pick package. It was deemed way too high a price by the Senators, which is why the organization thought it was out of the Chychrun sweepstakes as late as last week. Out, well, until the price dropped.
And, obviously, it did. Sens GM Pierre Dorion showed good patience, and he ends up filling a glaring hole on his blue line at a price he can live with. And while it’s a boost in the short term to a team that’s been playing great hockey, the real impact of the deal for the Senators will be felt over the next few years.
Pierre Dorion has tried to preach patience to the Ottawa fan base.
He used that same attribute to pry Jakob Chychrun out of Arizona.
By acquiring the star defenceman, the Sens can actually dream about the playoffs next year.
What a wild two weeks on the defenseman trade market, and that’s not even delving into the surprising trade of Filip Hronek to Vancouver from Detroit on Wednesday, or Shayne Gostisbehere ending up in Carolina; or Luke Schenn, Jake McCabe and Erik Gustafsson going to Toronto; or Jack Johnson heading back to Colorado.
And we’re probably not done.
But imagine for a moment how differently the past two weeks could have gone.
Gavrikov was nearly a Bruin. And where would that have left Orlov? And Chychrun easily could have ended up in Edmonton or L.A. What would that have meant for Gavrikov and Ekholm?
So many overlapping trade conversations around a small group of blueliners. Let’s see how it pans out come playoff time.
(Top photo of Jakob Chychrun: Zac BonDurant / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome an early double-digit deficit and extend their National Football League winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory Monday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their top two receivers to injuries.
The two-time NFL MVP improved to 23-1 against NFC teams, the best mark by a quarterback against an opposing conference in NFL history. He’s 3-0 against the Bucs (4-3), who faded after taking a 10-0 lead with help from the 100th TD reception of Mike Evans’ career.
Evans departed with a hamstring injury after Baker Mayfield tried to connect with him in the end zone again, and late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, leading Bucs receiver Chris Godwin was carted off the field with a left ankle injury. ESPN declined to show replays of Godwin’s injury, which appeared to be severe.
Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes without an interception, including TD throws of nine and four yards to Mark Andrews. He also tossed scoring passes of 49 yards to Rashod Bateman, 18 yards to Justice Hill and 11 yards to Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards on 15 carries. Bateman had four catches for 121 yards.
The Ravens (5-2) rebounded from a slow start on defence, with cornerback Marlon Humphrey turning the game around with a pair of second-quarter interceptions — one of them in the Baltimore end zone. Jackson led a four-play, 80-yard TD drive after the first pick, and the second interception set up Justin Tucker’s 28-yard field goal for a 17-10 halftime lead.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
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CARDINALS 17 CHARGERS 15
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray ran for a 44-yard touchdown and led the Cardinals on a drive that set up Chad Ryland’s 32-yard field goal as time expired, and Arizona rallied for a win over Los Angeles.
Cameron Dicker kicked his fifth field goal of the night — this one from 40 yards — to give the Chargers a 15-14 lead with 1:54 left. But the Cardinals (3-4) quickly moved into field goal range, aided by an unnecessary roughness call on Cam Hart that cost Los Angeles (3-3) 15 yards.
Arizona followed that with a bruising 33-yard run by James Conner, who finished with 101 yards on the ground. That eventually set up Ryland’s short field goal and a Cardinals celebration.
It was a frustrating night for the Chargers’ offence, which gained 395 yards but couldn’t find the end zone. Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 349 yards.
Dicker booted field goals of 59, 50, 28, 47 and 40 yards, the first of which tied a franchise record for distance.
Murray ran for a spectacular touchdown early in the fourth quarter, rolling to his left before turning on the jets, beating safety Junior Colston to the sideline and then coasting into the end zone for a 14-9 lead.
It was Murray’s second long touchdown run in three weeks after he scored on a 50-yard sprint against San Francisco. It was also Murray’s 20th career game with a touchdown pass and run.
Murray completed 14 of 26 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have been here before — literally and figuratively.
With the season hanging in the balance, the ‘Caps were dealt a blow last week when the club learned it wouldn’t be able to play a post-season wild-card game in its home stadium, B.C. Place, due to a scheduling conflict.
The Whitecaps ceded home field advantage to their regional rival, the Portland Timbers. The two clubs will battle for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference in Oregon on Wednesday.
The winner will face No. 1-seed Los Angeles FC in a best-of-three first-round series, starting Sunday.
An unforeseen hurdle like a change of venues is nothing new for the ‘Caps, said defender Ranko Veselinovic, who was part of the team that was forced to relocate first to Portland, then Utah during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It feels that always something happens for us, but it is what it is. So far, we’ve managed to always find solutions for those situations,” said the Serbian centre back. “But I hope this team can find it one more time, because we need it this time. And it will be a really nice feeling in those circumstances to go in, win and go face L.A. in the next round.”
Vancouver (13-13-8) heads into the post-season winless in its last seven MLS games and with losses in four straight after dropping a 2-1 road decision to Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
The skid followed a run that saw the club go 4-1-3 across all competitions between late August and late September.
There’s just one way to return to that level, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini.
“The work is the only way to do it. Try to put the work in and try to put the team in a way that they’re going to regain the form and the way that they were in the past,” he said.
Despite the final score, Sartini has seen positives in the way his team played in its two most recent losses.
“I think already we turned the corner,” he said. “And we start from there to build and build and build.”
Facing challenges together can help a team build, whether it’s a winless skid or an unexpected hurdle, said Vancouver’s captain Ryan Gauld.
“When you’re going through adversity, that’s when people start to raise their voice a little bit. You get good when the problems arise, you get a lot of people coming together to make sure we get out of it,” said the Scottish attacking midfielder.
“And we’ve had a tough time the last few games, but everyone’s aware of the fact that we’re a much better team than we’ve shown, and we need to find a way to get back to doing what we’re good at.”
The ‘Caps face a familiar foe in the Timbers (12-11-11).
The two sides have already met three times this season, with each coming out of the series with a win, a loss and a draw.
Portland has also struggled in recent weeks and are winless in their last five MLS outings (0-1-4).
The Timbers boast one of the league’s top offensive units, though, with threats such as Evander. The Brazilian midfielder notched 15 goals and 19 assists during the regular season.
To earn a win on Wednesday, the Whitecaps must be solid defensively, Gauld said.
“They must be one of the best attacks in the league. They have a lot of good players, and they can hurt you if you switch off,” he said. “So just being concentrated from the first whistle, and just being hard to beat, being stuffy. Just being on it for the full 90 minutes.”
A victory in the wild-card match would guarantee Vancouver at least one home playoff game, a factor that Sartini said would be a big reward for his group.
The entire team relished the experience of playing post-season soccer in front of more than 30,000 fans last year, the coach said, and the desire to repeat the feat is high as the club heads to Portland.
“Everyone is happy to be in the playoffs. So we don’t have to be moody to be in the playoff. And we go in there, we’re play one of our rivals. So it’s gonna be a nice game to show up and to play our best game possible.”
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (13-13-8) AT PORTLAND TIMBERS (12-11-11)
Wednesday, Providence Park
HISTORY BOOKS: This will mark the seventh all-time post-season meeting between the Timbers and ‘Caps, dating back to 1975. The last time the two clubs squared off in a playoff game was during the Western Conference semifinal in 2015. Portland won the two-game aggregate series and went on to hoist the MLS Cup.
ROAD WARRIORS: The ‘Caps boasted a 7-6-4 record on the road during regular-season play — better than the 6-7-4 showing they posted at B.C. Place.
POST-SEASON PARTY: Wednesday will mark the first time the Timbers have hosted a post-season game since 2021.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Scotland conceived rugby sevens in the 1880s yet it will not feature in the scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games hosted by Glasgow.
Other sports that have also been dropped include field hockey, triathlon, badminton, Twenty20 cricket, squash, and diving.
The Games will have a 10-sport program in four venues. Athletics and swimming are compulsory while there will also be track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and 3×3 basketball.
There will also be integrated para events in six of those sports: Athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, bowls and basketball.
The Games will take place from July 23-Aug. 2 after Glasgow stepped in when the Australian state of Victoria withdrew last year because of rising costs.
It was not easy to decide which sports to include, Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Ian Reid told the BBC on Tuesday.
“I think everybody recognises that these events need to be more affordable, lighter and we would have loved to have all of our sports and all of our athletes competing but unfortunately it’s just not deliverable or affordable for this time frame,” Reid said.
Athletes and support staff will be housed in hotels. Around 3,000 athletes are expected to compete from up to 74 Commonwealth nations and territories representing a combined total of 2.5 billion people, a third of the world’s entire population.
More than 500,000 tickets made available for spectators.
The Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Katie Sadleir said: “The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow, an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact. In doing so, increasing the scope of countries capable of hosting.”
Glasgow hosted the event in 2014 at a cost of more than 540 million pounds.
