Jakob Chychrun will join Grant & Danny every Wednesday for the rest of the Capitals’ season as Inside Insight presented by IT Cadre, and his first appearance came the day after Alex Ovechkin scored career goal No.
883 in a loss to Calgary.
Chychrun is in the midst of his own career season – he’s one goal, five assists, and two points away from tying career-highs, and his plus-23 rating is nearly triple his career high – but just like everyone else, he can only marvel at what the Great 8 is doing on his Chase for 895.
“It’s unreal. It’s just incredible to see him continue to score at the pace and level that he's doing it,” Chychrun said. “He's just been a blast to be around, just a very special, funny, unique guy. I’ve really enjoyed my time with him. He’s contributing for us at such a high level still, and we're all obviously pulling for him.”
If Chychrun could go back to his 18-year-old self in his rookie season in 2016-17, before Ovi and the Caps won their Cup even, and tell himself that he would one day be playing with Ovechkin on the precipice of history, he never would’ve believed himself.
“I just think back to the days where I was watching him as s a young kid in Florida, and if I could have told myself back in the day, I'd be playing with him one day, I'd be just ecstatic,” Chychrun said. “So, I'm really trying to soak it all in and enjoy the time with him, and this group. We really have a special group this year, and top to bottom, we've just been playing really well. I haven't been a part of anything like it, so I'm just thrilled to be here and just so excited for this group, and for the opportunity we have in front of us.”
The Caps’ loss on Tuesday was their first regulation home loss since before Thanksgiving, and in fact, they came out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break with 15 goals in a pair of wins last weekend – perhaps the benefit of having a two-week break with no Capitals involved, or maybe a chip on their collective shoulders because of that?
“We touched on it for sure, and we definitely feel like we had guys that could have and should have been there, but it's stuff that's out of our control,” Chychrun said. “We just want to move forward and take advantage of the rest. It’s such a long year, and any opportunity you can get to rest the body…it's tough to get through a season without any bumps and bruises, so I know the guys are always happy to have some rest and some time off, and yeah, we took advantage of it.”
Take a listen to Chychrun’s entire visit above, as he touches on Tuesday’s loss, the 4 Nations Face-Off as a whole, and more!