Rick Tocchet expects to deploy defenseman Jakob Chychrun at some point during his first season behind the Arizona Coyotes' bench.
The 19-year-old underwent surgery following a knee injury suffered during summer training, and is out indefinitely. Tocchet, however, foresees playing time for Chychrun in 2017-18.
"He's just a beast," Tocchet told SiriusXM NHL Network Radio on Friday, per NHL.com. "If this happened to somebody else, you might have a guy who's out for the year. I don't know the time frame (for his recovery), but it's not for the year. It's something that he's going to bounce back (from). He's an animal. It's almost like we've got to crank this kid down a little bit."
Chychrun was selected 16th overall by the Coyotes at the 2016 NHL Draft, and recorded seven goals and 13 assists while averaging 16:40 of ice time in 68 games last season.
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