Jakob Chychrun has been one of the most impactful offseason additions for any team around the NHL. The Washington Capitals acquired the 26-year-old blueliner from the Ottawa Senators over the summer, and he has delivered 30 points (12g, 18a) in his first 39 games for the club.
Chychrun, however, is in the final year of the defender’s contract, meaning he’s set for unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career come July. Until then, Washington will have exclusive signing rights, and Chychrun expressed to 106.7 The Fan’s Grant & Danny that he loves playing in DC.
“We love it here, we really do,” Chychrun said. “We love the group, we love the staff – there’s a lot of familiar faces throughout my time in the NHL in this organization who I’ve been with in the past, and that made the transition a lot smoother – and we’ve loved living here. We’ve loved living in Virginia, and driving by the White House every day on your way to work is really cool. I just think it’s been a blast.
“The contract stuff, for the most part, I’m not the one on the phone. So, I just try to focus on preparing each night and just helping this club win hockey games. As long as we’re doing that, I know all the other stuff will take care of itself, but we have loved our time here so far, and hopefully, all that other stuff gets taken care of soon.”
As Chychrun notes, Washington has ties to his past throughout their roster. His childhood friend, Brandon Duhaime, is under contract with the Capitals for the 2025-26 season, he previously played and roomed with Dylan Strome and worked with assistant coach Scott Allen while with the Arizona Coyotes, and is family friends with assistant coach Kirk Muller.
The immediate level of comfortability must be working wonders, as Chychrun’s 12 goals are the third most among NHL defensemen, behind just Cale Makar (13) and Zach Werenski (15). The three top scorers from the backend are also the only three NHL defensemen to reach double digits in goals.
Chychrun is on pace for 59 points (24g, 35a) if he keeps up his current point-per-game rate (0.77), smashing his previous career-high of 41 points. His offensive style has been an instant fit with the new-look Capitals that are taking advantage of head coach Spencer Carbery’s faster, more open system this season.
“It’s been a great fit,” Chychrun said. “I think it’s definitely been really good. To start the year with Carly and then since we’ve kind of bounced around partners a little bit, but I just think the fit’s been really good in terms of we have a lot of depth on our backend, and we’ve been able to kind of distribute the minutes pretty evenly. I think we got six defensemen on the ice at any given time that can play in all three situations, all zones on the ice, and really join the attack.
“I think just having contributions up and down the lineup has been huge for us, but I think for me personally, the fit has been really good, and I think the power play has done a really good job of contributing at times and in big moments. For me, offensively, I’ve been contributing throughout the league for a number of years now. I think it’s a big part of my game – trying to help offensively when I can and being able to bear down on opportunities.”
In the last year of his contract, Chychrun is making $4.6 million against the salary cap. If the Capitals wish to keep him in their group long-term, he will be due a significant raise.
Per AFP Analytics, an outlet focused primarily on player valuation, Chychrun’s next deal is projected to be an eight-year, $66.8 million commitment. The two closest comparable contracts are Darnell Nurse’s eight-year, $74 million extension signed with the Edmonton Oilers in 2021 and Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s eight-year, $66 million extension signed with the Coyotes in 2018.
A deal of that size would see Chychrun’s annual cap hit rise to $8.35 million per season, which would currently be the third-highest among active Capitals behind just Pierre-Luc Dubois ($8.5M) and Alex Ovechkin ($9.5M). Washington will also need to factor in how much they’ll need to spend on other upcoming UFAs like Logan Thompson, Charlie Lindgren, Andrew Mangiapane, Taylor Raddysh, Lars Eller, Nic Dowd, and Jakub Vrana.
The NHL salary cap is expected to rise by at least $4.5 million for the 2025 offseason. However, per reporting from Elliotte Friedman, it is still possible that the cap will leap even higher after discussions about strong league-wide revenues.
