NHLPA may be forced to intervene if the Arizona Coyotes continue to refuse to play Jakob Chychrun

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Brett Thomas Wills
February 18, 2023 (3:14 PM)

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Stop me if you've heard this one before: The National Hockey League Trade Deadline is fast approaching, March 3rd to be exact and as it approaches some teams have begun to healthy scratch their largest trade chips.

While in the grand scheme of things we're all armchair experts when it comes to the game of hockey and specifically the National Hockey League and our favourite teams, many opinions are criticized as the old saying goes «Everybody has one'.

Dale Sheehan an independent consultant and author feels that teams this year have taken advantage of the situation and are in <> mode, particularly the Arizona Coyotes and he's right.

Fully understanding healthy scratches with a trade pending, sitting Chychrun for so many games without reason when critical games being played is as close to legit tank you will see @NHL & @NHLPA need to step in & protect integrity of game @ArizonaCoyotes

you just need to look at the Jacob Chychrun situation in Arizona as a prime example. A player sitting out multiple games without a trade being imminent and that player being on the move directly after makes no sense.

Whatever your stance on this situation, Sheehan has a point. Sitting a player protects the asset, but the product on the ice suffers and the team isn't icing their best lineup which is also unfair to fans alike.

It's time that the National Hockey League and its player's association sit down to hatch a plan so this doesn't happen again. As an outsider looking in at all sports it seems like this only happens in hockey, at least outwardly.

This leads to two final points that may never be answered. Should the NHL and its players' association come together and step in to stop these practices? yes, yes they should.