Coyotes Notes: Chychrun, Strome, Doan

Making the jump from junior to the NHL as an 18 year old is generally a tough task for pretty much anyone.  Doing so as a defenseman is that much harder which is why it doesn’t happen all that often, especially for players picked outside the top five in the draft.  Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun, the 16th overall pick back in June, is one who has bucked this trend and is the youngest blueliner in the league this season, something that doesn’t seem to faze him, writes Jonas Siegel of the Canadian Press.  Part of the reason for that is that Chychrun doesn’t think of himself as a raw rookie:

“It’s cool and all, but I think I don’t really look at myself as a young kid.  I kind of approach the game just as a pro would and I feel I’m mature beyond my years.”

The Coyotes have eased the 18 year old, who is the third youngest player overall in the league (only forwards Jesse Puljujarvi and Patrik Laine are younger), into the league, primarily using him in a third pairing role.  Through 26 games this season, he has a goal and six assists while averaging 16:36 per night in ice time which is pretty good for an 18 year old rookie.  He told Siegel that he is pleased with his progress so far:

“I feel I’ve done well to this point and I want to continue to get better. It’s crazy to be thrown in at 18 years old, but it’s something you have to take in stride, enjoy it.”

Arizona has been happy enough with his progress so far that they did not loan him to Team Canada for the upcoming World Juniors.  (Although Chychrun was born in Boca Raton in Florida, he’s a dual citizen and has chosen to represent Canada internationally.)

More from the Coyotes:

• One Arizona youngster who will be at the World Juniors is center Dylan Strome. The third overall pick in 2015 made the team out of training camp but played sparingly and eventually was sent back to junior.  He’ll captain the Canadian entry in the tournament and is looking forward to trying to make amends for last year, he told Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star.  “Being on the losing end of a tournament is not very fun. You feel like you’ve let your country down. You want to forget about it at as fast as possible, but it doesn’t go away very quickly. I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to make amends for what happened last year.”
• Friday’s game against Toronto not only was a big night for Arizona native Auston Matthews, it was also a big one for one of the players he grew up idolizing in Coyotes captain Shane Doan. The 40 year old played in his 1,500th career NHL game, the 17th player in league history to do that.  Of those players, he’s only the sixth to do so with the same organization; Doan was originally drafted by Winnipeg in 1995 with them moving to Phoenix in 1996.  He also picked up his 400th career goal in the game, a 4-1 loss to the Leafs. Speaking with Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic, Doan is very appreciative of the fact he’s been able to play his whole career with the franchise: “Yeah, that’s something that I appreciate. Like I said, there’s a lot of guys that given the opportunity would be able to. But having been given the opportunity that I’ve been given, I’m very grateful the organization has been willing to keep letting me get a jersey and giving me a jersey every year.”