TEMPE, Ariz. -- As the Ottawa Senators plane headed toward the airport in Phoenix, Jakob Chychrun took a peek down at the place he had called home for seven years. It would be his first time back with his new team, the first time playing with the Arizona Coyotes logo on his opponents and not himself.
"It's awesome," Chychrun said, of being back. "I was getting emotional just looking out the window of the plane there, flying in. It's going to be probably emotional for me. I'm an emotional guy. I spent a lot of time here. I loved my time here."
He was welcomed back Tuesday, when the struggling Senators -- who fired coach D.J. Smith on Monday -- blew a two-goal lead in the third period and lost 4-3 to the contending Coyotes at Mullett Arena.
For Chychrun and the Senators (11-16-0), who have lost five straight, it was their first game under interim coach Jacques Martin.
After being selected by Arizona with the No. 16 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, the defenseman made the Coyotes as an 18-year-old and played for them for seven seasons, getting 170 points (60 goals, 110 assists) in 373 regular-season games.
But on March 1, after sitting out eight games awaiting a trade, Chychrun was traded to the Senators for a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, a conditional second-round pick in 2024 and a second-round pick in 2026. He has played 38 games for them since, scoring 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists), including 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 27 games this season.
At 1:38 of the first period Tuesday, the Coyotes’ public address announcer at Mullett Arena gave a nod to their former player with a “Welcome back Jakob Chychrun” message on the scoreboard. He received a standing ovation from a portion of the crowd in what once was his home arena.
Chychrun is third on the Senators in ice per game this season (23:09), behind Thomas Chabot (24:23), who has played only nine games, and Jake Sanderson (23:32). He said he lived less than 10 minutes from Mullett Arena, where the Coyotes moved last season.
"I saw a lot of the guys yesterday," Chychrun said of his former teammates. "I was able to go back and see my house. And it's just really nice to be here. It was a place I called home for a long time."
