15 year old Jakob Chychrun - the next one.

[BanTSN]

Lul all you want.

I've got Matthews and Puljujarvi ahead of him.

Remember this convo.

Forwards score more than defensemen. Remembered.

[theminister]

Forwards score more than defensemen. Remembered.

That's not what I'm saying and you know it.

Don't get me wrong, he's a hell of a prospect. I'd be ecstatic if the Canucks got him.

Franchise d-man.

[Jiggs50]

The kid is a notch above Doughty, Ekblad and Pietrangelo at the same age.

Just look at his physical development:

He just turned 17 on March 31st. So what does he peak at? Somewhere between Lindros and Ivan Drago?

COME UNDONE FOR CHYCHRUN!

He looks 30

[Lance Vance]

He should play for the USA which is where he was developed as a player. Anyway Phoenix area native Mathews will be the 1st overall pick next year.

[Warhippy]

Jim Benning...71GP 11G 60A 71PTS as a 16 year old...72GP 28G 111A 139PTS as a 17 year old...74GP 7G 24A 31PTS as an 18 year old in the NHL (he was 18 years old the whole season, turning 19 on April 29th...today's JB's b-day).

I know...different era, and the challenge you put forth was PPG in the past decade. Still, some pretty crazy numbers for Jimmy B. as a kid, don't you think?

the 70s and now are so vastly different in hockey it's like comparing a studebakker to a porsche....

[Tre Mac]

Dam man how much growth hormones did they put in his happy meal when he was a kid? Better not turn into another Greg Oden.

[Ghostsof1915]

the 70s and now are so vastly different in hockey it's like comparing a studebakker to a porsche....

Yes, the difference is the Studebaker only has the ignition system, spark plugs, alternator, and the radio that's electric. All you need to do is manufacture parts and it will keep running. Modern cars with all their electronics will break down and you won't be able to find the electronic components to replace it. So unless you buy a parts car as a backup.

Bad comparison.

[Warhippy]

Yes, the difference is the Studebaker only has the ignition system, spark plugs, alternator, and the radio that's electric. All you need to do is manufacture parts and it will keep running. Modern cars with all their electronics will break down and you won't be able to find the electronic components to replace it. So unless you buy a parts car as a backup.

Bad comparison.

So. you're saying Chycrun is a bad choice and won't be a good defenceman?

[Ghostsof1915]

So. you're saying Chycrun is a bad choice and won't be a good defenceman?

No I'm just saying the example was a bad choice. A better example would be Richard Brodeur vs. Luongo. A stand up goalie that does not do butterfly style or a hybrid won't make it in today's NHL.

Or like what Phil Esposito said about not being able to play hockey today. When he played there was 9 forwards, and 4 defensemen and 1 goalie.

Now there's 12 forwards, 6 defensemen and 2 goalies. He said he couldn't handle just getting 1 minute of ice time. As he put it.

"I was just getting warmed up at 1 minute..."

[Warhippy]

Jakob Chycrun stats.

16 years old 42 games played 33 points. 16 goals 17 apples and 37 PIMS.

Must have....

[Warhippy]

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/jrhockey-buzzing-the-net/sarnia-sting-s-jakob-chychrun-undresses-defenceman-for-spectacular-end-to-end-goal--video-142105811.html

If it seems like the OHL is lacking some sizzle from its true freshman class, well, Jakob Chychrun is working on that.

The Sarnia Sting's first overall pick missed 20 games earlier this season after being injured while at the world under-17 challenge. The defenceman is making up for lost time, though, as displayed by the sublime coast-to-coast snipe he delivered on Saturday night. After winding up from his own end — it's not too hyperbolic to say 'shades of Paul Coffey,' is it? — the 16-year-old Chychrun turned an overage defenceman, the Guelph Storm's Zac Leslie, inside-out before going in and deking goalie Bradley Van Schubert.

Talk about a response goal. That came 30 seconds after the Storm had rallied and sealed a 5-3 Sting win.

As noted above, injuries both late last season and in the fall have kept the 6-foot-2, 194-pound Chychrun from showing the full range of his abilities. However, he is having a big week in the wake of the rebuilding Sting trading their all-time leading defenceman scorer, Tampa Bay Lightning first-rounder Anthony DeAngelo, to Western Conference-leading Sault Ste. Marie this week. Chychrun also scored a last-second game-winner on Thursday against the Erie Otters before following it up with the tour de force tally against Guelph. The Boca Raton, Fla., native has five goals and nine points in eight games since coming back from his injury.

There's no chance that a 16-year-old will end up winning the rookie scoring title, unlike last season when Ottawa's Travis Konecny and London's Mitchell Marner finished 1-2. However, it bears noting that not only is Chychrun finding a groove, but the Kitchener Rangers' No. 2 overall pick, Adam Mascherin, has averaged a point per game since the first week of December.

[Warhippy]

Jakob Chychrun learned from a young age about the importance of time management.

For two consecutive winters the Florida native spent weekdays attending school in the sunny south, then he'd board a plane and fly to Michigan on weekends to play hockey with the Detroit Little Caesars program. He picked up some valuable life lessons through spending all those hours up in the air.

“It really taught me to be dedicated and to bring my schoolwork on the planes, manage my time. It was definitely tough,” he recalled.

Being mature for his age – physically and mentally – is something Chychrun has always brought to his teams, so it wasn't a complete shock when his current club, the Sarnia Sting, recently named him one of the few 16-year-old rookie alternate captains within the Ontario Hockey League.

Sarnia head coach Trevor Letowski said it was an easy decision to make.

“He's a special kid,” his coach said. “For us it doesn't matter how long you've been in the league, it's your daily habits, your behaviour, your work ethic, your approach to the game, and his is very impressive. We didn't factor age into it at all. He’s a leader on our hockey club.”

Jakob credits his parents for instilling his innate sense of maturity. His father, Jeff Chychrun, is a retired NHL defenceman, while his mother, Nancy, is president of Tire Guides Inc., a tire information and publication company that her father started.

“I owe a lot of that to them,” Jakob said.

Jeff retired in 1994 – four years before his was born – so Jakob never saw his father play. Instead, he soaked up stories from his dad's friends about what kind of player he was, while viewing highlights on YouTube.

“It's definitely cool to see. Just the fact that he's been to where my dream is,” Jakob said.

Living in Boca Raton, Fla., Jeff had his son on skates by age two, and a few years later Jakob started playing house league and then travel hockey with the Florida Jr. Panthers. Along the way he had a chance to play one season alongside his older sister, Taylor.

“Which was pretty cool,” he noted.

Jakob Chychrun was a tall, high-scoring forward back then, and he recalls his ability to rifle pucks at an early age when other youngsters were barely able to lift the disc off the ice. Jeff coached his son during those formative years, which was capped by one season with the Junior Everblades Hockey Association.

“Without him there's no doubt in my mind I don't know if I'd be here right now,” Jakob said. “He taught me close to everything I know about the game. He was a big inspiration to me.”

The Everblades were short on blueliners at the time, so Jakob helped out the back end, sometimes switching back-and-forth between forward and defence on a shift-by-shift basis. Knowing the value of mobile defencemen who can move the puck, Jeff suggested making the move to the blue line permanent as he joined Detroit. Jakob was on board.

“I loved it, so it just stuck,” he said.

After a pair of campaigns with Little Caesars, Jeff and Jakob moved to Toronto last year – Jeff helped run Tire Guide from north of the border – so the 6-foot-2, 194-pounder could play out his OHL draft season for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens of the Greater

Toronto Hockey League. Up to that point he had always skated for teams who had to scratch and claw for every victory, but the Jr. Canadiens were a juggernaut.

“I think that's a big thing with my hockey career, we've always had to find ways to win. We didn't just have wins handed to us, ever. I think that's a huge thing,” he said.

Another first he experienced over the 2013-14 season was a true Canadian winter. His family spends every Christmas in the Ottawa area, but living north of the border full-time was an eye-opener.

“It was a rough winter last year, too,” he noted. “I miss the beach so much.”

Being a highly sought after prospect, Chychrun visited quite a few OHL cities as the 2014 Priority Selection approached. But when he came to Sarnia he had a certain feeling come over him. It was a sensation he said was tough to describe, but similar to the one Taylor, 19, had when she took a tour of her current school, Northeastern University.

“She had a feeling that was where she wanted to be, and I kind of had that same feeling when I was visiting Sarnia,” he said.

It wasn't an ideal start to his Sting career, though. Twelve games into his freshman season he suffered a shoulder injury. The incident on Oct. 25 against the Ottawa 67's initially didn't seem serious, but he ended up missing eight weeks, including the 2014

World Under-17 Hockey Challenge that was being hosted in Sarnia-Lambton. Chychrun was the only underage player to suit up for Team Ontario in the previous year's tournament – he's a dual-citizen but has opted to compete for Canada internationally – and was disappointed to miss this year's event on his newly-adopted home ice.

The ailment was also basically his first serious physical setback other than an on-ice head injury he suffered around age 11 in the last game of the season, and the time he broke his wrist while playing basketball.

“It's definitely tough to sit and watch all those games,” he said. “You have to stay tough mentally.”

Chychrun finally returned to action on Dec. 19. Since his comeback he's racked up five goals and 10 points in eight games. Two of those tallies came on impressive individual rushes, with his most recent end-to-end foray against the Guelph Storm on Jan. 10 being tabbed as TSN's Highlight Of The Night. His phone “blew up” upon earning the distinction and and he received a call the next day from his agent because his phone was also going off the hook.

“It's been pretty cool,” Jakob said.

He attributes his recent offensive breakthrough to becoming more comfortable in the league, receiving power-play time, and the coaching staff giving him assurances that on-ice mistakes won't result in less playing time as long as he's working hard.

Off the ice, Jakob enjoys golf, food, spending time at the family cottage an hour outside Ottawa, going to the beach, listening to country music, and shopping.

“I think I got that from my mom. My dad can't be in a mall for more than 10 minutes,” he said.

In Sarnia he billets with Peter and Carolyn Kindrachuk along with their children, Mike and Sarah, and the family's three dogs, including a bulldog puppy the family brought home for Christmas.

Chychrun currently attends Northern Collegiate where he's in Grade 11. The school system is quite different from what he was used to in the U.S., but there's one consistent thing he's noticed no matter where he's living: About 90% of the time his last name is not spelled or pronounced correctly.

“It's definitely a common mistake,” he said of his Ukrainian name. “I've heard everything from Chiich-rin to Shysh-rin, just everything. The teachers, they don't even try to say it, they ask for help with it.”

For the record, it's pronounced Chick-rin.

[Canuck Surfer]

Funny how there is renewed interest in Chychrun after the goings on of the last few days?

[TimberWolf]

No I'm just saying the example was a bad choice. A better example would be Richard Brodeur vs. Luongo. A stand up goalie that does not do butterfly style or a hybrid won't make it in today's NHL.

Or like what Phil Esposito said about not being able to play hockey today. When he played there was 9 forwards, and 4 defensemen and 1 goalie.

Now there's 12 forwards, 6 defensemen and 2 goalies. He said he couldn't handle just getting 1 minute of ice time. As he put it.

"I was just getting warmed up at 1 minute..."

God, I wish we could go back to those kind of rosters.

The talent levels would be astronomical. Right now there are far too many players in the NHL that dilute the talent pool.

Like widening the ice, it's a dream that won't happen (much like getting the kid in this thread) but it's still nice to dream. Just for a while

[Gstank29]

"The 18 year old Jakob Chychurn"

[Warhippy]

Funny how there is renewed interest in Chychrun after the goings on of the last few days?

Kinda been in that camp since he was a 14 year old man among boys. The Russian created this thread.

Seriously this kid screams hockey. Would love to draft him

[Rush17]

My mouth is salivating at the possibility of drafting this kid lol

[shiznak]

I think drafting Sean Day is more of a realistic possibility than drafting Chychurn.

[MoneypuckOverlord]

Is he still 6"2.? He's listed as 6'2 at the age of 15, he's 17 and still listed as 6'2

[Edlerberry]

i can has manboy pls