{"id":724886,"date":"2026-06-25T09:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T09:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/724886\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T09:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T09:52:08","slug":"jordan-kyrou-says-capitals-pursuit-helped-convince-him-to-waive-no-trade-clause-its-nice-seeing-a-team-really-want-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/724886\/","title":{"rendered":"Jordan Kyrou says Capitals\u2019 pursuit helped convince him to waive no-trade clause: \u2018It\u2019s nice seeing a team really want me\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Capitals<\/a> kicked off their major offseason moves with a splash<\/a> on Tuesday, acquiring Jordan Kyrou<\/a> from the St. Louis Blues<\/a> in a trade for Connor McMichael<\/a>, prospect Milton Gastrin, and the 16th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

Kyrou, who has spent his entire NHL career in St. Louis, had known for a few days that the Blues might make a deal, but a no-trade clause gave him ultimate control of his fate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took me pretty much all day to make a decision,\u201d he said in his first post-trade media availability on Wednesday. \u201cI\u2019ve been in St. Louis for eight years, ever since I got drafted, and I\u2019ve had an amazing time there. It was definitely a tough decision, but I\u2019m excited to be coming to Washington and have a fresh start here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both the Capitals\u2019 reputation and their strong interest in him swayed Kyrou to waive his NTC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they were really pushing for me, and it\u2019s nice seeing a team really want me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just makes me excited to come join the organization. I\u2019ve also heard just from a lot of friends that it\u2019s a great city, a great organization, great fan base, a lot of history. I\u2019m just excited to be coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

He later added, \u201cThey\u2019ve got a lot going on on their team. They\u2019ve got great [defensemen], a lot of skilled D. A lot of their forwards can score and make plays. I think I fit really well, and hopefully I can bring some speed to the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyrou comes to Washington with something of a chip on his shoulder. After four straight seasons with sixty-plus points, he saw a decrease in production in 2025-26, ending the year with 46 points (18g, 28a) in 72 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve got a lot to prove and have a bounce back year this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Capitals have found success in recent years with players looking to revitalize their careers. Center Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a> has become one of the team\u2019s best players after a short but rocky stint with the Los Angeles Kings<\/a>, while goaltender Logan Thompson<\/a> went from struggling to gain a full-time starting role in Vegas to an outstanding first two years with the Caps.<\/p>\n

While Kyrou said Wednesday that he wasn\u2019t looking to get traded, he hoped the move could prove beneficial. He will also be fully healthy after undergoing a knee procedure in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, just people need a fresh start and a change of scenery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kyrou will reunite with some familiar faces when he hits the ice this fall, including former OHL teammate Jakob Chychrun<\/a>. The pair spent two seasons together on the Sarnia Sting from 2014-16, with Kyrou taking over as alternate captain after Chychrun\u2019s departure, and have already been in touch about the chance to share a team once again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI texted Chychy after (the trade) a little bit,\u201d Kyrou said. \u201cObviously, he was pretty pumped. It\u2019s been a while since we played together. It\u2019s been like eight years now, I think. But back in Sarnia, we both got drafted together during the same year, and we both had our careers in Sarnia. So it was nice playing with him there, and it\u2019d be exciting to be his teammate again. He\u2019s a heck of a player and a great person, so I\u2019m excited to see him again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides Chychrun, Kyrou is acquainted with Dubois, Dylan Strome<\/a>, and Anthony Beauvillier<\/a>, and he shares a summer training group with Tom Wilson<\/a>, working under Matt Nichol in Toronto. Kyrou told reporters he was especially glad to have Wilson as a teammate \u2014 and not an opponent \u2014 for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not fun playing against him,\u201d Kyrou said of Wilson. \u201cHe\u2019s a big body. He can also put the puck in the net as well. So it\u2019ll be fun to be on his side this time and not against him.\u201d<\/p>\n

And though Alex Ovechkin<\/a> has yet to announce his plans for next season, Kyrou would relish the chance to share the ice with the future Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously that\u2019d be unbelievable,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, he\u2019s the greatest goal scorer of all time, and [I\u2019ve] heard nothing but great things about him. Hopefully, he comes back for a year, and I get to meet him and play with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyrou plans to travel to DC within the next few weeks to see the city and start house hunting, but his emotions were still fresh on Wednesday. Speaking to the media less than 24 hours after the trade announcement, Kyrou admitted the news hadn\u2019t fully sunk in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s digested yet, to be honest,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m still just a whirlwind of emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even so, Kyrou stood by his decision, ready to leave the only NHL team he\u2019s ever known to seek a new start in Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing to a brand new city, brand new team, it\u2019s a little nerve-wracking,\u201d he said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, it\u2019s a new chapter, and I\u2019m just excited to have this new step in life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Washington Capitals kicked off their major offseason moves with a splash on Tuesday, acquiring Jordan Kyrou from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-724886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}