NHL Trade Rumors: Latest Buzz on Logan Brown’s Future, Jakob Chychrun

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

The start of the 2021-22 NHL season is little more than a month away, with the first games scheduled for Oct. 12. After an offseason that has featured plenty of notable trades and free-agent signings, the pucks will be dropping before we know it.

However, it’s still possible that some noteworthy moves could occur before then. That’s especially the case on the trade market, where some players could be dealt to new teams prior to the start of the season.

Here’s some of the latest trade buzz from around the NHL.

Brown Unlikely to Return to Ottawa?

Logan Brown was selected by the Ottawa Senators with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft. Since then, he hasn’t gotten a ton of opportunities with them, having played in only 30 games over the past four seasons.

Now, it seems the 23-year-old won’t be returning to Ottawa, even though he is a restricted free agent and the Senators still hold his rights.

According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, Brown wants to be traded before training camp begins later this month. He hasn’t signed a qualifying offer, but Senators general manager Pierre Dorion seemed optimistic about the situation.

“I’m sure we’ll come to some kind of compromise at some time,” he said, per Garrioch.

However, that may not end up being the case. Shawn Simpson of TSN 1200 has reported that Brown would play in Sweden before returning to Ottawa for the 2021-22 season. Brown is still young, so he has a long career ahead of him wherever he decides to go.

But the Raleigh, North Carolina native has dealt with numerous injuries to this point, so it’s unclear how much trade interest there would be in him. He played only one game with the Senators last season, and he has one goal and eight assists during his brief NHL career.

There’s potential for Brown to become a great player in the future, so it will be interesting to see where he heads next, or if the Senators can somehow convince him to come back.

Coyotes Not Looking to Deal Chychrun

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

The Arizona Coyotes are in full rebuild mode, and that’s been evident with several trades they’ve made this offseason.

They’ve sent goaltender Darcy Kuemper to the Colorado Avalanche, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and forward Conor Garland to the Vancouver Canucks and, most recently, forward Christian Dvorak to the Montreal Canadiens.

With all these moves, there’s been plenty of speculation over whether Arizona is done dealing. However, Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider disputed one rumor on Twitter on Monday.

Apparently, there had been some speculation that the Coyotes may be looking to trade defenseman Jakob Chychrun next, but Morgan noted that isn’t the case.

“I can confirm (I shouldn’t have to) that Jakob Chychrun is not on the trade block. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has been following the Coyotes. They want to build around him,” he tweeted.

So, that makes at least one Arizona player who is safe from the trade block as the organization continues to overhaul its roster ahead of the 2021-22 season. And as Morgan indicated, it makes sense why the Coyotes would want to keep him.

Over his first five NHL seasons, Chychrun has 46 goals and 75 assists in 290 games while also providing solid defensive play. The 2016 first-round draft pick is still only 23, so he has plenty of productive years ahead of him.