To address roster and cap balance, the Senators will likely move on from one of these defencemen this summer.
In an offseason that's going to be crammed with decision-making, one of the biggest is going to be who to keep between veteran Thomas Chabot, the longest-serving active Ottawa Senator, and the relative newcomer, Jakob Chychrun.
Jake Sanderson is now universally regarded as the Senators' best defenceman and will go from a cap hit of $925 thousand this season to over $8 million this fall. Almost as an acknowledgment that he's surpassed Chabot on the depth chart, Sanderson's deal is worth $50K more per season. Chabot still has four years left on his deal.
Meanwhile, Chychrun will be eligible for a contract extension as of July 1st this summer. If the Sens have plans to re-sign him (a big if), they'll be asking him to forego the open auction of unrestricted free agency next summer, and they can expect to pay a sizeable premium for that. And that probably means he'll command Sanderson/Chabot money.
While Ottawa is Chychrun's second hometown, the hopes of an extension seemed to go right out the window on Thursday when Chychrun told the media he hadn't even thought about his hockey and living plans beyond next season. That's a little odd, considering he's eligible to sign an eextension in just 71 days.
But that's okay. We'll think about it for him. For now, let's operate under the assumption that Chychrun is still open to re-signing here.
It would be unwise for the Senators to pay these three defencemen in the neighbourhood of $8 million per season when all of them – at varying levels – bring the same things to the table. They're all left-shot defenceman, who aren't as good on defence as they are on offence, and aren't particularly physical.
You need those types of slick, puck-moving defencemen, especially to quarterback your power play. But factoring in Erik Brannstrom, you don't need four of your six to be that guy.
Since Sanderson is here to stay, the Sens probably have to make a decision on keeping either Chabot or Chychrun (and their money). One of the big fish will have to be thrown back into the pond to re-balance things and also help to bring in the ingredients they lack.
The biggest needs include a couple of rock steady defencemen, who specialize in defence-first, and play a physical style that opposing teams don't look forward to playing against. From a physical standpoint, no one fears anyone on Ottawa's blue line right now.
Chabot and Chychrun both have their virtues, but let's look at what separates them from each other.
Why you keep Chabot over Chychrun:
- better skater
- already under contract
- beloved leader in the room
- wants to be here
- at $8 million for four more years (and injury prone), he's technically tradeable, but he's a sell-low option. He won't bring in nearly as much as Chychrun, who makes $4.6 million next season and is coming off a full, healthy season.
Why you keep Chychrun over Chabot
- bigger body
- better shot
- less expensive (for now)
- put his injury concerns behind him this season
All the signs point toward parting company with Chychrun this summer. His apparent lack of enthusiasm on Thursday for thinking beyond next season only serves to further galvanize the theory.
It's not an easy decision. Some might suggest there's a case to be made for moving both defencemen. If you're forced to invest around $8 million in a player, that comes with huge expectations. This past season, neither player's performance aligned with that level of compensation.
Whomever they keep, there's big room for improvement, just based on a probable change of circumstances. Get that player on their natural left side, get that player properly paired with an insulating stay-at-home defenceman, and get better defensive support from the forwards (over to you, new coach) and both players will be in a much better position to shine this fall.