GARRIOCH: Senators pull off a blockbuster by acquiring Arizona defenceman Jakob Chychrun

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Pierre Dorion has scored his long-awaited top defenceman.

With less than 48 hours until Friday’s NHL trade deadline, the Ottawa Senators acquired Arizona Coyotes defenceman Jakob Chychrun on Wednesday night and weren’t forced to give up any of the club’s top prospects.

The 24-year-old Chychrun was en route to New York Wednesday night from his home in Arizona and he could make his debut Thursday against newly-acquired Patrick Kane and the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Yes, the Senators paid a high price, but they were able to hold onto the likes of goaltender Mads Sogaard and prospect winger Ridly Greig.

The Senators acquired Chychrun from the Coyotes in exchange for a first-round pick in 2023, a second-round pick in 2024 and second-round selection in 2026. Talks between these two teams have been going on for several months.

These are the conditions: The 2023 first-round pick is top-five protected. If met, the pick becomes a ’24 first-round unprotected pick. Additionally, should Ottawa reach the 2023 Eastern Conference final, the second-round pick becomes a 2024 first-round top 10-protected. If that condition is met, the pick becomes 2025 first-round unprotected.

Dorion was thrilled to bring Chychrun into the fold.

“A defenceman we’ve coveted, Jakob is big and plays imposing. He possesses a quality skill set; he defends hard and is highly skilled. He uses his heavy shot with accuracy and is effective at creating offence as a threat at the offensive blue line,” said Dorion.

And, Chychrun couldn’t be happier to be here. His father, Jeff, a former NHLer, grew up in Ottawa and the family spends the summer in the area at their home on White Lake, 20 minutes west of Arnprior.

“I just got off the phone with Jakob and he’s ecstatic to be coming to Ottawa,” said Andy Scott, Chychrun’s Ottawa-based agent. “This has been a 17-month wait for him to get traded and he’s been extremely patient.

“He’s been professional throughout. For him to come back to a place where he has significant ties to the Ottawa area, with a young and exciting team, is just a great fit for him as a player. I think he’ll be a tremendous asset to the team and to the community.”

The talks heated up late Tuesday night between the Senators and Coyotes. The Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers were both in heavy pursuit of Chychrun, but they opted to go elsewhere when they were unable to get a deal in place.

The two sides had several discussions throughout the last 15 months but weren’t able to find common ground until Arizona GM Bill Armstrong dropped his demand for one of the club’s top prospects during discussions that continued Wednesday morning.

That’s when the Coyotes and Senators were finally able to get some traction.

“Our aim more was to acquire draft capital,” said Armstrong. “We were able to walk out of the draft last year with three first-rounders and a host of other picks. We were looking to do the same here and this will give us the chance for two fairly high picks in the first round of the draft.

“You can really make some hay when you do that. This just helps us further stock our picks for future draft.”

Coming off back-to-back wins over the Detroit Red Wings in a series the club completed Tuesday night, the Senators sit only five points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wildcard spot in the East with 22 games left on the schedule.

Dorion wanted to see where the club stood March 1 and with the Senators back in the conversation for a playoff spot he wanted badly to be able to help this group. Getting Chychrun is a message to the dressing room the organization believes in this group.

The way coach D.J. Smith has this group playing with a 6-3-1 record in February, Dorion could have decided to stay the course and see where this group goes, but he wanted to lend a hand and the players will be thrilled that he did.

Anthony LeBlanc, the club’s president of business operations, is a former part-owner of the Coyotes and he can’t say enough good things about Chychrun.

“He’s a a great young man and a quality, great guy,” LeBlanc said in a text message to Postmedia Wednesday night. “He’s also one hell of a hockey player, but someone who comes from strong hockey stock.

“I am not involved on the hockey operations side other than picking up Pierre’s dry cleaning, but I definitely hoped this could happen. Now I guess I have to pick up Pierre’s lunch as well.”

Armstrong said when the Senators dealt Nikita Zaitsev to the Chicago Blackhawks last Sunday there was an opportunity to re-ignite discussions with Dorion. He noted the two talk regularly and found a fit that would work for both sides.

“We both work the phones pretty hard so whether you talk about that or not there’s still ongoing (discussions),” said Armstrong. “When you see a Zaitsev moved, you see an opportunity for us to have talks.

“We did that slowly, but surely, and then kind of gradually got into it.”