Player Discussion: Ehlers

[Royale With Cheese]

I really don't know where Ehlers and his agent, as well as Chevy are sitting in terms of numbers, desire to re-sign at certain numbers, etc. I do think though that good upcoming UFA's were not going to sign until everyone had an idea as to what the possible upcoming Salary Cap situation was. I think it was pretty well established that it would go up, and now everyone on both sides know the projections.

Now the two sides can come to the table with their comps and their ask of % of the cap. Whether one or both sides are interested remains to the seen as well as the desire to negotiate during the season. All of the above applies to Pionk as well.

Personally I do hope the two sides can come to an extension that works for both sides and allows the Jets to also sign their other players as well (Samberg, Vilardi, Pionk (I'm still on the fence depending on the number), and Connor a year later).

Same - Ehlers really is the straw that stirs the 2nd line. I'd hate to see him walk. He's having a PPG year under Arniel and a key contributor to the league's best PP. Hopefully that helps motivate him to stay.

 

[10Ducky10]

I think Chevy said he talked to all the agents of upcoming RFAs and UFAs but no conversations as to salary or term. I think everyone was waiting to see what the cap is going to be next year. He is also probably touching base to see if they were interested in signing or checking on free agency.
I fully expect him to resign all of Pionk, Ehlers, Volare, Sammy, etc...
Re-signing KFC is a no-brainer and I think it will be done before TC starts.
Not sure what he will do about AI, Fleury, Names, and Apples.

 

[BoneDocUK]

I think Chevy said he talked to all the agents of upcoming RFAs and UFAs but no conversations as to salary or term. I think everyone was waiting to see what the cap is going to be next year. He is also probably touching base to see if they were interested in signing or checking on free agency.
I fully expect him to resign all of Pionk, Ehlers, Volare, Sammy, etc...
Re-signing KFC is a no-brainer and I think it will be done before TC starts.
Not sure what he will do about AI, Fleury, Names, and Apples.

Mu wholly uneducated guesses:

KFC is Core. They will break the break for him, whatever it takes.

Ehlers has options, and I'd expect him to maybe shop around. OTOH, he seems like a guy who's happier here under Arniel and Payne and also seems to have a life outside hockey, so who knows.

Pionk has Favoured Vet status and has been very good this year -- resigned, hopefully not for high $ and term, but might happen.

GV seems happy here, but also loved being in Cali and is finally settling in as a maybe 30/30 player with some size and consistency. He has options, and may look for a shorter deal, or -- hopefully not -- year-to-year via arbitration.

Samberg is one of those guys who might have been signed long earlier -- he is going to be quite a bit more expensive now.

They love Names and Apples, and will work to resign both.

Al is going to be unaffordable, and not sure they like Fleury enough to sign him longer, but maybe the Colin Miller Two Years and Play Sometimes deal.

 

[Board Bard]

Winnipeg GM Goal To Keep Nikolaj Ehlers on the Jets

Despite all the talk and rumors Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has no plans of trading Nikolaj Ehlers in facts he wants to sign him.

nhltradetalk.com

This is the highlighted quote from the interview:

My plan is to hopefully lift the Cup with him at some point in time down the road here. So again, we’ve got lots of guys that obviously, from a free agent standpoint, both UFA and RFA that we’ll have to sort out over a period of time. But first and foremost, it’s all about winning right now. And we had the situation last year too, where we had several guys that that are were up for potential UFA. We were able to keep some of them. Some of them went in different directions for various different reasons. So when it comes to that for us, I want the focus to be totally on winning. And that’s kind of how we’ve approached things.

To me that doesn't sound like Chevy's goal is to keep Ehlers on the Jets, as the headline concludes. I think if that were the goal he would have said something to that effect, however weak and iffy, like "We hope to see him next season" or something like that. But no, the plan is lifting the Cup. Well, lifting the Cup has nothing to do with Ehlers, it's simply a preferred result when you're a team in the NHL, whether or not Ehlers is on your team. "At some point in time" I think refers to this spring and not a time later than that. It's Chevy dissembling (i.e., bulllshitting), like the way he tried to make it sound like Stempniak was some greedy player who chose to leave Winnipeg because he couldn't have top-line usuage. The rest of the quote is mostly about players leaving, and I think that's where Chevy sees Ehlers' future. Meanwhile, they'll keep Pionk and Stanley.

 

[gojetsgo]

don't understand how people came to the conclusion that they won't try to sign ehlers...

 

[Board Bard]

don't understand how people came to the conclusion that they won't try to sign ehlers...

I'm not surprised you don't understand.

 

[gojetsgo]

I'm not surprised you don't understand.

why? we know they are planning on keeping him after the trade deadline when he has good value, we have 40+ million in capspace next year with no real replacement for him, he's a part of the leadership group on the best powerplay in the league and the only driver we have on the 2nd line, it seems very likely that they will at least try to sign him...

imo if they had no intention of trying to sign ehlers they would have traded him in the summer time

 

[Gm0ney]

They're not trading Ehlers this season. They will talk to him about re-signing and I imagine they'll make him an offer. I'm guessing he ultimately won't re-sign here.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

This is the highlighted quote from the interview:

My plan is to hopefully lift the Cup with him at some point in time down the road here. So again, we’ve got lots of guys that obviously, from a free agent standpoint, both UFA and RFA that we’ll have to sort out over a period of time. But first and foremost, it’s all about winning right now. And we had the situation last year too, where we had several guys that that are were up for potential UFA. We were able to keep some of them. Some of them went in different directions for various different reasons. So when it comes to that for us, I want the focus to be totally on winning. And that’s kind of how we’ve approached things.

To me that doesn't sound like Chevy's goal is to keep Ehlers on the Jets, as the headline concludes.

Literally the first line says that Chevy hopes to win with him down the road. And this to you sounds like Chevy doesn't want him to stay?

Okay then.

 

[Adam da bomb]

They're not trading Ehlers this season. They will talk to him about re-signing and I imagine they'll make him an offer. I'm guessing he ultimately won't re-sign here.

Which I don't blame him. Most teams don't a have a guy as good as KC blocking him and he deserves to be a top line guy somewhere.

 

[Nickel eye Heel hers]

I think he walks and signs with a different team as well, and it makes me sad.

For various reasons, multiple coaches have limited his minutes which would also affect negotiations as there have been less opportunities to play with 1st line players and pad his points. He's a skilled 1st line player who has gotten middle 6 minutes for years. I would assume that would piss anyone off.

There have been rumors on and off in media and this board that Ehlers is always one of the first up as trade bait. If you think Chevy is going to continue that trend, why wouldn't Ehlers decide to pick where he wants to play now that he's about to become a UFA and work out a no trade agreement with a team or city of his choice?

I would be shocked and stunned if Ehlers stays.

 

[Board Bard]

My plan is to hopefully lift the Cup with him at some point in time down the road here. So again, we’ve got lots of guys that obviously, from a free agent standpoint, both UFA and RFA that we’ll have to sort out over a period of time. But first and foremost, it’s all about winning right now. And we had the situation last year too, where we had several guys that that are were up for potential UFA. We were able to keep some of them. Some of them went in different directions for various different reasons. So when it comes to that for us, I want the focus to be totally on winning. And that’s kind of how we’ve approached things.


Literally the first line says that Chevy hopes to win with him down the road. And this to you sounds like Chevy doesn't want him to stay?

Okay then.

Literally the first line does not provide a definitive timeline. By concluding that this timeline extends into next season and beyond, you are inferring, assuming. That's exactly the same thing I did, the only difference being you are doing it in the opposite direction. Personally I think the absence of a definitive timeline by Chevy lends more credence to my interpretation.

Maybe save your "okay then" for Chevy, though I suggest prefacing it with "again, certainly" so he'll comprehend it.

why? we know they are planning on keeping him after the trade deadline when he has good value, we have 40+ million in capspace next year with no real replacement for him, he's a part of the leadership group on the best powerplay in the league and the only driver we have on the 2nd line, it seems very likely that they will at least try to sign him...

imo if they had no intention of trying to sign ehlers they would have traded him in the summer time

I'll start with your last line. This also is assumption. They value Ehlers and knew he would help them this year. Moreover, they wanted to see him fully entrenched on PP1. So even as an own rental he was worth keeping. I don't think they value him as much as Connor, and perhaps not as much as Vilardi and Lowry either. I think they might have seen Lambert as Ehlers' imminent replacement, or to a lesser extent Chibrikov or another prospect. That would make Ehlers expendable, in their view. Of course, their view is often cockamamie. Maybe their opinion of Lambert's imminence has changed. That might help Ehlers' cause. But we don't know that, any post on that subject is mere assumption.

I agree they will not trade him this season. They aren't that cockamamie (hopefully). We have no idea what they plan for that future cap space. They might be planning on forking out $10M for a free agent RD or a load of cash for a 2C. And to quote Chevy, "again" they saw Lambert as a replacement.

For the record I hope they do re-sign Ehlers. They might be planning to lowball him but have no confidence that he'll bite. I think Ehlers is going to find out that he can get $8M x 6 years in free agency (or more). The questions then become, will the Jets be willing to match that, and if not, will Ehlers be willing to take less to stick around with the familiar? I think Ehlers will feel at home on a number of teams -- he's spent his life roaming the globe playing hockey so relocation will be water off a duck's back (which is not to say he'll sign with Anaheim). I just don't see how anyone can consider Ehlers' return next season as a fait accompli at this point.

 

[gojetsgo]

Literally the first line does not provide a definitive timeline. By concluding that this timeline extends into next season and beyond, you are inferring, assuming. That's exactly the same thing I did, the only difference being you are doing it in the opposite direction. Personally I think the absence of a definitive timeline by Chevy lends more credence to my interpretation.

Maybe save your "okay then" for Chevy, though I suggest prefacing it with "again, certainly" so he'll comprehend it.


I'll start with your last line. This also is assumption. They value Ehlers and knew he would help them this year. Moreover, they wanted to see him fully entrenched on PP1. So even as an own rental he was worth keeping. I don't think they value him as much as Connor, and perhaps not as much as Vilardi and Lowry either. I think they might have seen Lambert as Ehlers' imminent replacement, or to a lesser extent Chibrikov or another prospect. That would make Ehlers expendable, in their view. Of course, their view is often cockamamie. Maybe their opinion of Lambert's imminence has changed. That might help Ehlers' cause. But we don't know that, any post on that subject is mere assumption.

I agree they will not trade him this season. They aren't that cockamamie (hopefully). We have no idea what they plan for that future cap space. They might be planning on forking out $10M for a free agent RD or a load of cash for a 2C. And to quote Chevy, "again" they saw Lambert as a replacement.

For the record I hope they do re-sign Ehlers. They might be planning to lowball him but have no confidence that he'll bite. I think Ehlers is going to find out that he can get $8M x 6 years in free agency (or more). The questions then become, will the Jets be willing to match that, and if not, will Ehlers be willing to take less to stick around with the familiar? I think Ehlers will feel at home on a number of teams -- he's spent his life roaming the globe playing hockey so relocation will be water off a duck's back (which is not to say he'll sign with Anaheim). I just don't see how anyone can consider Ehlers' return next season as a fait accompli at this point.

sorry but I think the assumption that they will try to re-sign him since they don't plan on trading him before the deadline is far more likely then they plan on using the cap space on a 10 million rhd and might be wanting to low ball him...

did you watch the interview that the quote came from?

 

[scelaton]

... Personally I think the absence of a definitive timeline by Chevy lends more credence to my interpretation...
I'll start with your last line. This also is assumption. They value Ehlers and knew he would help them this year. Moreover, they wanted to see him fully entrenched on PP1. So even as an own rental he was worth keeping. I don't think they value him as much as Connor, and perhaps not as much as Vilardi and Lowry either. I think they might have seen Lambert as Ehlers' imminent replacement, or to a lesser extent Chibrikov or another prospect. That would make Ehlers expendable, in their view. Of course, their view is often cockamamie. Maybe their opinion of Lambert's imminence has changed. That might help Ehlers' cause. But we don't know that, any post on that subject is mere assumption...

For the record I hope they do re-sign Ehlers. They might be planning to lowball him but have no confidence that he'll bite. I think Ehlers is going to find out that he can get $8M x 6 years in free agency (or more)... I just don't see how anyone can consider Ehlers' return next season as a fait accompli at this point.

Agree with much of the above. Re the bolded--his value--that is an interesting perspective that may not be obvious to the casual observer. Ehlers has more pure NHL ability than Lowry, Vilardi, Lambert or Chibrikov (I am projecting for the latter 2), but may not have the durability to justify a high AAV and long term (eg 8.5x 8 years, which only the Jets could offer) in Chevy's mind. Looking at from Ehlers perspective, there may be no AAV or term that could match his desire for first line usage/minutes/billing on a team closer to his home.
So, yeah, uncertainty is the order of the day, other than it appearing almost a complete certainty that he remains here for a Cup run this season.