The Washington Capitals and defenseman Jakob Chychrun agreed to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Tuesday. The new deal is for eight years and worth $72 million.
“Jakob is a proven, dynamic defenseman in the prime of his career who has established himself as one of the premier blueliners in the NHL,” Capitals senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick said in a news release. “His work ethic, skill set and ability to excel in all situations at both ends of the ice make him a valuable asset to our team.
“He is a perfect fit with our culture and vision for the future, and we couldn’t be more thrilled that he will continue to be part of our organization for the next eight years.”
Chychrun, 26, joined the Capitals last July as part of a trade that sent defenseman Nick Jensen and Washington’s third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft to the Ottawa Senators.
He’s scored 18 goals this year, the most by a defenseman in his first season with the Capitals, matching his career high from the 2020-21 season. The 26-year-old’s 43 points in 65 games with Washington this season are also a career high.
Before being traded to Washington, Chychrun spent time with the Ottawa Senators, who acquired him via trade from the then-Arizona Coyotes in 2022.
Chychrun was originally drafted by the Coyotes in the first round with the 16th pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. The Florida native has recorded 259 points (94g, 165a) in 532 career games.
Why the Capitals extended Chychrun
When projecting out for the coming seasons, the Capitals are keenly aware that they will eventually face a world where stalwart John Carlson transitions to a reduced version of the minute-munching all-situations defender he is today.
Carlson is 35. Chychrun is about to turn 27.
Ideally, the Caps hope he’ll play out the length of this new contract by making the kind of positive impact Carlson has for so many years in Washington. They saw enough in 65 games from Chychrun since a trade from Ottawa last summer to be comfortable in making a massive investment in him now, rather than potentially losing him to unrestricted free agency.
Chychrun seems to have found a nice home in an organization on the upswing, settling into a role on the team’s top power-play unit while playing top-four minutes at five-on-five. He’s already set a career-high with 43 points this season and his next goal will give him a career-best 19.
While the $9 million cap hit on his new contract is bound to come with sticker shock for some — it will tie him for the 10th highest among NHL defenseman in 2025-26 — it should also be seen as part of the new reality for high-impact players approaching free agency in a rising-cap environment.
The negotiations on this deal stretched back months, with both sides eager to find a resolution they could live with. There’s an element of the unknown for both players and teams in a world where the NHL projects the salary cap ceiling to reach $113.5 million in the next three seasons.
For the Capitals, there was comfort in the belief that Chychrun is just entering his prime as a player. They also like how he’s integrated himself into the team’s culture in a relatively short time.
The bottom line is that the organization concluded he can be a pillar they build around as the roster continues to evolve in a post-Carlson and post-Alex Ovechkin era. — Chris Johnston, NHL writer
Why deal carries some risk
The Capitals have done a really good job of maximizing his strengths, which has helped revitalize his breakout ability and shoot-first mentality. But even in a growing cap world, this contract still carries some risk.
Chychrun has stayed pretty healthy over the last couple of seasons, so maybe durability isn’t the concern it once was. But some year-to-year inconsistencies raise a red flag. As good as he has been with the Capitals this year, his market value is based on more than just this season. On average, over the next eight years, it projects to be $7.2 million a year, according to Dom Luszczyszyn’s model.
The Capitals are betting on this year’s version of Chychrun being the bar moving forward, and if that’s the case, the contract should age well. And maybe management is right to do that — the Capitals’ coaches have learned how to best deploy him, unlike the Senators last year. Not every player is built to shoulder matchup minutes, and the coaches recognize that with Chychrun and have generally sheltered him away from top offensive competition. The coaches will try to prepare him for heavier usage in the future but may keep him in the minutes that lead to the best results.
But the question then becomes whether it’s worth betting $9 million of the cap for the next eight years on someone who needs to be somewhat sheltered. That $9 million will take up 9.4 percent of the projected $95.5 million salary cap in 2025-26 and only a handful of defenseman sign contracts in that range. In 2022-23, outside of Mikhail Sergachev, no defensive signings crossed the nine percent threshold. In 2023-24, only four did: Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Jake Sanderson and Dmitry Orlov. Three of those players are considered franchise cornerstones, and Orlov’s signing was only for two years. This season, Moritz Seider is the only other defenseman to sign a contract that rich. If Chychrun can become a true No. 1, and the Capitals’ management can keep the books balanced around him, the contract should be fine. It’s just a big bet to make on a player without a real track record in that role.
