Jakob Chychrun ( ; born March 31, 1998) is a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

defenceman and alternate captain for the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mul ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He was drafted sixteenth overall by the Coyotes at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

Early and personal life

Chychrun was born and raised in Boca Raton, Florida, when his father,

Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

, was a member of the Florida Panthers organization.Boca Raton's Jakob Chychrun selected 16th by Arizona in NHL draft – Sun Sentinel
/ref> He is also the nephew of Luke Richardson. Both his father and uncle are former

defencemen. His mother is Nancy Chychrun, and he has a sister, Taylor. He is a dual American-Canadian citizen of Ukrainian and Jewish descent. He attended American Heritage School in Boca Raton from Pre-kindergarten to ninth grade.

Playing career

Minor hockey

Chychrun started playing hockey in his home state of Florida with the Junior Everblades and the Florida Jr. Panthers organizations. When Chychrun was 13, he joined the Little Caesars hockey organization in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, where he played very well during his major bantam season. At the time, he continued living and practising in Florida, travelling to Michigan on the weekends to play. The following season he remained with Little Caesars, playing for their U16 team. In 2013, Chychrun was drafted by the

Youngstown Phantoms The Youngstown Phantoms are a Tier I junior ice hockey team that plays in the Eastern Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team plays home games at the 5,200-seat Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio. The team was co-owned by ...

in the USHL draft.

USA Hockey USA Hockey is the national ice hockey organization in the United States. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for organized ice hockey in the United ...

implemented a rule requiring 15-year-old players to receive a special exemption to play junior hockey. Chychrun applied for one but was denied. As a result, Chychrun moved to Toronto and played his minor midget season for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens in the

Greater Toronto Hockey League The Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), formerly known as the Metro Toronto Hockey League, is a minor level ice hockey organization based in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. The league was founded in 1911 as the Beaches Hockey League by ...

Major junior

Chychrun was selected first overall by the

Sarnia Sting Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron fl ...

in the 2014 OHL Priority Selection. He had a strong rookie season for the Sting and at the end of the season was nominated for the OHL rookie of the year award, i.e. the

Emms Family Award The Emms Family Award is presented annually to the Rookie of the Year (top first-year player) in the Ontario Hockey League. The winner is also nominated for the CHL Rookie of the Year. The award was donated by Hap Emms. Leighton "Hap" Emms was a c ...

; OHL defenceman of the year, i.e. the

Max Kaminsky Trophy The Max Kaminsky Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League to the most outstanding defenceman. The award is named in honour of Max Kaminsky, who coached the St. Catharines Teepees to the Memorial Cup in 1960 and died shortly thereaft ...

; and OHL Player of the Year, ''i.e.'', the

Red Tilson Trophy The Red Tilson Trophy is awarded annually by the Ontario Hockey League to the most outstanding player (MVP) as voted by OHL writers and broadcasters. It was donated by ''The Globe and Mail,'' and first awarded in the 1944–45 OHA season by the O ...

. Leading up to the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Chychrun was highly regarded by scouts and was considered one of the top defencemen available. He was drafted by the

in the first round, sixteenth overall. This was far lower than expected; prior to the start of the 2015–16 season, Chychrun was regarded as a top three selection.

Professional

On July 30, 2016, Chychrun signed a three-year, NHL entry-level contract with the Coyotes. He scored his first NHL goal on October 20, 2016, against

Carey Price Carey Price (born August 16, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is considered to be one of the best goaltenders in the world by many colleagues, fans, ''The ...

of the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

. After a month with the Coyotes, the Coyotes announced Chychrun would remain with the team for the rest of the season. He finished the season with seven goals and 20 points in 68 games. On August 3, 2017, Chychrun underwent knee surgery after suffering an injury during offseason training. On November 28, he was assigned to the Coyotes'

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Tucson Roadrunners The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play for the 2016–17 season. Based in Tucson, Arizona, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes, the team plays i ...

for conditioning purposes. Chychrun made his NHL season debut on December 3, scoring a goal in a 3–2 loss to the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expa ...

. He was ruled out for the remainder of the season on April 4 after suffering a lower-body injury. He finished the season with four goals and 14 points in 50 games. Chychrun underwent surgery to repair a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

in the 2018 offseason. Prior to his

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

debut on November 13, the Coyotes signed Chychrun to a six-year, $27.6 million contract extension. He finished the season with five goals and 20 points in 53 games. On April 4, 2021, Chychrun scored his first career hat trick in a 3–2 overtime victory against the Anaheim Ducks.

International play

Chychrun competed with Team Ontario at the 2014 World U-17 Hockey Challenge where he scored four points in five games. He was the first minor midget player to play for Team Ontario at the tournament.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chychrun, Jakob 1998 births 21st-century Canadian Jews American men's ice hockey defensemen American people of Ukrainian descent Arizona Coyotes draft picks Arizona Coyotes players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey people from Florida Jewish ice hockey players Living people National Hockey League first-round draft picks Sarnia Sting players Sportspeople from Boca Raton, Florida American Heritage School (Florida) alumni