The moves coincide with Armstrong's ongoing effort to acquire draft capital as the team continues to build its future through the NHL Draft. The Coyotes now have 21 selections within the first three rounds of the next three drafts - including two first rounders this year - and still have time to acquire more before Friday's trade deadline.
Armstrong has added four first-round prospects to Arizona's pipeline over the last two years: Dylan Guenther (2021, 9th overall), Logan Cooley (2022, 3rd overall), Conor Geekie (2022, 11th overall), and Maveric Lamoureux (2022, 29th overall).
"As you saw last year at the draft, we were able to walk out of there with three first rounders, and a host of other picks," Armstrong said. "We were looking to do the same here. This will give us a chance for two fairly high picks in the draft in the first round, and you can really make some hay when you do that as an organization, like we did last year, and we're looking to do again this year."
Chychrun, who was drafted 16th overall in 2016, leaves the Coyotes after 373 games with the organization, where he recorded 60 goals and 110 assists over seven seasons. The 24-year-old blue liner has 28 points in 36 games played this season.
Armstrong said he has had good conversations with Chychrun throughout each of the last two seasons, and is grateful for the time he spent in the desert.
"Jakob was a first-class act," Amrstrong said. "He had expressed his interest to move on to a club that was a contender, and we were trying to do that in the trade. We had immense respect for the player and his wishes. At the same time we had to make sure it was the best for the club."
Gostisbehere, meanwhile, rejuvenated his career after Armstrong acquired him along with a 2022 second-round pick and a 2022 seventh-round pick in July 2021. The 29-year-old scored 14 goals and recorded 37 assists while playing in all 82 games last season, posting his highest scoring output since the 2017-18 season.
Gostisbehere had 31 points in 52 games this season, and was a big part of helping some of the younger faces on the roster acclimate to life in the NHL.
"Ghost has been excellent for us," Armstrong said. "Our coaching staff did an amazing job with him, just getting him refurbished and getting his new game in order. He was outstanding for us from the time he got here to the time he left."
Armstrong has made two additional deals to this point, grabbing a 2025 third-round pick for helping broker the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers deal that included star forward Patrick Kane, while also adding a 2023 sixth-round selection on Thursday (along with Jakub Voracek's contract) from Columbus in exchange for goaltender Jon Gillies.
The Coyotes will face Gostisbehere and the Hurricanes on Friday at Mullett Arena, and Armstrong said though it's always tough to trade leaders, Arizona's locker room is still in great shape with the likes of Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Lawson Crouse, and Christian Fischer, among others, leading the way.
"We've got excellent leaders in the locker room," Armstrong said. "Our young guys continue to grow."
