At Least 3 Other Teams Had Interest In Chinakhov Before Penguins Landed Him

The Columbus Blue Jackets took a bit of time to trade Yegor Chinakhov to find the right trade, but there was more interest from teams than just the Pittsburgh Penguins who ended up landing the former first-round pick.

Chris Johnston reported, "There were teams around it. Going way back earlier in the season, the Leafs were one of them. I don't know that they were there later on here. San Jose I think had some interest. Winnipeg. A lot of teams were curious."

Chinakhov is a 24-year-old drafted 21st overall by the Blue Jackets in 2020. The most games he's played in a season was at age 20, his rookie season, playing 62. He never really found a consistent spot in the Blue Jackets' lineup and a trade was inevitable.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been looking for trades to change things up as they have underperformed this season. With Mitch Marner gone, there are more opportunities in the top-6 this season and moving forward, and a former first-round pick with skill could have been an option that works better than Max Domi, Bobby McMann, or Matias Maccelli.

The San Jose Sharks have opportunities in their forward group and are a young squad. Someone like Chinakhov would have been a great fit moving forward as a player like Igor Chernyshov stepped in and has played very well. The forward depth is possibly the worst in the league and will be swapped out by next season. Maybe there's another trade like this that the Sharks are in on soon.

The Winnipeg Jets make a lot of sense. They have gotten so little depth scoring this season outside of their top line and it's a reason why they're at the bottom of the league. Almost everyone is having a down offensive season and trades are usually the way to go in Winnipeg. The problem hasn't been able to be fixed internally and some younger life would have been good to be injected into the lineup at this time.