Based on what I’ve heard, I don’t expect Ehlers back next year. Despite his underlying numbers, underutilization, and the projected cap, I don’t see a world where Chevy offers him more than the $8.5m Helle and Scheif received. Rightly or wrongly, I think they play hard ball, set that as an internal figure, and Ehlers will be able to earn more elsewhere.
Similar to the Copp situation, I suspect we’ll look to move him (maybe alongside Perfetti, our 1st, and/or prospects?) to target a long-term C option and dman.
If BUF could negotiate a deal with Nik, I’d be looking to get Cozens and Byram/Power for Ehlers, Perfetti, 2025 first rounder, and any prospects not named Lambert or Salomonsson.
In the summer you re-sign Vilardi, Samberg, and Pionk and you’d be running this lineup next year:
Connor-Scheifele-Lambert
Namestnikov-Cozens-Vilardi
Nino-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Gustafsson-Kupari
Chibrikov
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Byram/Power-Miller
Salomonsson