Capitals, Senators and Ducks acquire American defensemen via trades

The Washington Capitals, Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks have acquired American National Hockey League defensemen via a trade since NHL offseason free agency began on Monday. The Capitals acquired Jakob Chychrun of Boca Raton, Florida from the Ottawa Senators for Nick Jensen of Rogers, Minnesota. In addition to Jensen, the Senators receive a third round pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. Meanwhile, the Seattle Kraken traded Brian Dumoulin of Biddeford, Maine to the Ducks for a fourth round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Jakob Chychrun

Chychrun is joining his third NHL franchise after seven seasons with the Arizona Coyotes and two seasons with the Senators. Even though he had decent offensive statistics, his defensive statistics this past year were horrendous.

This past season in Ottawa, Chychrun had 14 goals and 27 assists for 41 points in 82 games. He was an awful -30 with 60 penalty minutes, 16 power-play points, two game-winning goals, 204 shots on goal, 154 blocked shots, 72 hits, 22 takeaways, and 73 giveaways. That is a takeaway, giveaway ratio of -51.

Chychrun’s first game-winning goal of the season came on March 24 in a 5-3 Senators win over the Edmonton Oilers. Chychrun scored from Brady Tkachuk of Scottsdale, Arizona and Drake Batherson on the power-play with three minutes and three seconds left  to break a 3-3 deadlock.

Chychrun’s second game-winning goal of the season came on April 16, in the Senators’s final game, a 3-1 Ottawa win over the Boston Bruins. Once again, Chychrun scored from Tkachuk and Batherson.

Nick Jensen

Jensen is also joining his third NHL franchise after three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and six seasons with the Capitals.

Last season in Washington, Jensen had one goal and 13 assists for 14 points in 78 games. He was a -9 with 10 penalty minutes, 71 shots on goal, 123 blocked shots, 62 hits, 22 takeaways and 55 giveaways. Jensen’s goal came on March 7 in a 6-0 Capitals win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jensen put the Capitals up 3-0 from Beck Malentsyn of Delta, British Columbia, at 3:16 of the second period.

Brian Dumoulin

Dumoulin is joining his third NHL franchise after a decade with the Pittsburgh Penguins and one season with the Seattle Kraken. While with the Penguins, he won the 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup. In 80 game with Seattle, Dumoulin had six goals and 10 assists for 16 points. He was a +3 with 20 penalty minutes, one game-winning goal, 69 shots on goal, 79 blocked shots, 72 hits, 18 takeaways, and 25 giveaways.

This past season with the Kraken, Dumoulin scored his game-winning goal on November 2 in a 4-2 Kraken win over the Nashville Predators. Dumoulin broke a 2-2 tie at 16:58 of the second period from defenseman Justin Schultz of Kelowna, British Columbia, and Tye Kartye of Kingston, Ontario.