Rumor: Jakob Chychrun blocked a major trade.

We have a big rumor coming out of the desert, one that would appear to fit neatly with some of the talk that we have been hearing over the course of the summer.

In his most recent mailbag , Arizona Coyotes insider Craig Morgan fielded a variety of questions surrounding the Coyotes but far and away the most interesting topic was the talk surrounding Coyotes star defenseman Jakob Chychrun. More specifically, Morgan was asked about a rumored trade between the Coyotes and the Columbus Blue Jackets at this year's National Hockey League Entry Draft. Rumor has it that it was Chychrun's camp that put a halt to that trade deal, and Morgan was asked if there was any truth to that story.

The Coyotes insider surprisingly revealed that multiple sources had informed him that this was indeed the case, although he did add that a different source out of Columbus denied that there was any truth to the rumor. The fact that Morgan had multiple sources indicate to him that Chychrun's camp was in fact involved does suggest that there may be something to this particular rumor.

Adding to the credibility of Morgan's report here is the fact that, back in August, Ottawa Senators insider Bruce Garrioch reported that a deal involving Chychrun and the Blue Jackets had fallen apart at the draft. At the time of Garrioch's report, he admitted he wasn't sure why the deal hadn't gone through.

"The Columbus Blue Jackets thought they had a deal for Jakob Chychrun at the NHL draft," said Garrioch. "The deal fell through, I'm not really sure what happened there. But they felt they had a deal in place and the deal died."

You can listen to him discuss the topic in the short clip here:

When you consider the fact that, as Garrioch mentions in the clip, the Coyotes have made huge demands when it comes to this trade, it sounds like Chychrun may have blocked a major trade here.

What makes all of this so surprising though is the fact that Chychrun currently has no trade protection in his contract, which means that in theory he has no power to block a move of this nature. This would appear to suggest that the Coyotes either nixed the trade out of the goodness of their hearts, or that the Blue Jackets weren't comfortable acquiring a player that didn't want to be on their roster

Chychrun does have a modified no trade clause, in which he submits a 10 team no trade list, but that doesn't become active until the 2023 - 2024 NHL season.

The 24 year old American defenseman has been the subject of trade rumors for the better part of a year now and it feels like it is only a matter of time before he is eventually moved.

Chychrun is coming off a 47 game season in which he scored 7 goals and added 14 assists for a total of 21 points in the regular season.