Only 15 days left ... where does Ehlers sign poll?

[raideralex99]

Give me 6 million a season and you could talk to me whenever you want, hell you could take me out for dinner.

Tiger Williams did an interview and he said he loved playing in Toronto because he got everything free from gold watches to dinners.

 

[Edgar Halliwax]

Some asinine owner will throw a bunch of money at Ehlers. He's been a good player, although often injured, and not worth what he'll be offered. We'll be ok without him.

 

[QuietContrarian]

When you think about it, hockey is in a very weird place among sport culture. It's absolutely massive in some markets and barely more than a blip in others. Like I'd imagine the 3rd string QB on the Tarheels probably gets recognized more in public more than any hockey player in Raleigh.

A lot of other big sports don't really have that opportunity. So you kinda have to wonder if it was the case that you could go to a different market in your sport and just blend in like everyone else would more players be open to that in other sports?

Absolutely. If Sidney Crosby walked through the streets of Copenhagen, chances are he wouldn’t be recognized at all-maybe a lone hockey fan might notice him.
But if even a mid-level football (soccer) player from one of the major European leagues did the same, he’d almost certainly be recognized.

 

[Gm0ney]

I don't get the impression that Ehlers is money-focused. I imagine he'll be looking for the best combination of opportunity and a competitive team.

Carolina seems like a good fit. Also Ehlers is a "fancy stats darling" with all his standout numbers and Tulsky is one of the original hockey stats guys. And if he wants to be anonymous outside the rink, well...

 

[GJF]

After last year (Scheifs and Helly), I still believe it will be Winnipeg after all. At least I will believe in it until July 1st.

I really don't think he's at all interested in the biggest money deal possible because that would basically limit his offers to non-playoff calibre teams like San Jose or Chicago or the Islanders. I think Nik Ehlers is a very competitive player that has eventually only one ultimate goal: win a Stanley Cup.

Having said that, that narrows down the list of high-interest candidates a lot. Carolina would make sense in a lot of ways so I understand why many people believe he'll be a Hurricane. And I don't have arguments against it to be honest.

I would calculate the chance right now something like 35% Jets, 30% Canes, 15% Kings, 10% Utah, 10% Canucks

And I give the Jets the slight nod because another thing I have 0 doubts about Nik Ehlers besides his desire to win a Stanley Cup and be on a winning team is: loyalty. I think he's a very loyal guy and the thought of leaving this team and project and all the time spent together and growing up as NHL players is actually not easy for him. And I don't disagree with people talking about him being annoyed about his usage, I definitely think they are for real. But I think it's the only single reason why him re-signing isn't a no brainer. Because he has doubts about this part. And that is the only part he has doubts about. Other than that I think Nik Ehlers love being a Winnipeg Jet.

 

[Cypruss]

I picked the LA Kings. I want the Jets, and likely the highest percent chance, but picking the non Jet guess here.

LA may go hard after Marner, and if they miss out on him, will pivot and get uber aggressive on Ehlers. Just my random Guess.....hoping he stays with the Jets as he is one of our most "electric" players for sure.

 

[Buffdog]

I don't get the impression that Ehlers is money-focused. I imagine he'll be looking for the best combination of opportunity and a competitive team.

Carolina seems like a good fit. Also Ehlers is a "fancy stats darling" with all his standout numbers and Tulsky is one of the original hockey stats guys. And if he wants to be anonymous outside the rink, well...

Is Carolina going to triple down on their strategy now by signing Ehelrs to a big money, long term deal after being bounced in the semis again?

No offense to Nik, but I don't like his game matched up vs the Panthers. If the Canes are looking to build a team to beat them, they may think that they need a little more size/grit

One last, wildcard factor is ownership... I remember reading in the Athletic that both agents and players rank the Canes near the bottom in terms dealing with their owners. Same with Anaheim, IIRC

 

[wasup]

Went with Carolina. Think it's the best fit for him in terms of caliber team and role.

He won't like the coaching style there . Rod the Bod likes his grind style

 

[Whileee]

I've seen a number of commentators say that they think Ehlers will test free agency on July 1 because he hasn't been signed yet. I am not sure that's a strong argument.

Chevy himself has talked about how most negotiations in the NHL follow a schedule related to deadlines, which is when both sides have the highest incentives to make a deal. The deadline for the Ehlers negotiation is still more than two weeks away. Wheeler described Chevy as a "grinder" in negotiations, so he'll continue to try to get the best deal he can right until the deadline. Some might suggest that Ehlers will keep all options open and refuse to sign with the Jets before July 1. But that assumes he doesn't consider the Jets an option. If he sees a really good contract offer from the Jets he might prefer to sign it rather than the unknown, where the only comparable offer might come from a team that he isn't thrilled about.

I think it's certainly possible that Ehlers wants to leave, but I don't think the delayed timing is a reliable clue to his intentions.

 

[surixon]

I've seen a number of commentators say that they think Ehlers will test free agency on July 1 because he hasn't been signed yet. I am not sure that's a strong argument.

Chevy himself has talked about how most negotiations in the NHL follow a schedule related to deadlines, which is when both sides have the highest incentives to make a deal. The deadline for the Ehlers negotiation is still more than two weeks away. Wheeler described Chevy as a "grinder" in negotiations, so he'll continue to try to get the best deal he can right until the deadline. Some might suggest that Ehlers will keep all options open and refuse to sign with the Jets before July 1. But that assumes he doesn't consider the Jets an option. If he sees a really good contract offer from the Jets he might prefer to sign it rather than the unknown, where the only comparable offer might come from a team that he isn't thrilled about.

I think it's certainly possible that Ehlers wants to leave, but I don't think the delayed timing is a reliable clue to his intentions.

I would actually hope that they have made their best offer by now. Gives him time to think about it and shows they aren't going to play games right before fly can leave. I don't think the grinding tactic works now given how close to FA Fly is. Also I believe if you throw a big offer last minute he's more likely to say "well I can wait a couple more days and see what the other teams will give me."

 

[Gm0ney]

Is Carolina going to triple down on their strategy now by signing Ehelrs to a big money, long term deal after being bounced in the semis again?

No offense to Nik, but I don't like his game matched up vs the Panthers. If the Canes are looking to build a team to beat them, they may think that they need a little more size/grit

One last, wildcard factor is ownership... I remember reading in the Athletic that both agents and players rank the Canes near the bottom in terms dealing with their owners. Same with Anaheim, IIRC

I don't think the Canes are going to change tack and try to get a lot tougher. The Leafs have been trying to add size and toughness to their skill for ages and it's done nothing for them in the playoffs.

Carolina seems like a fit, but not everything is perfect there. If Ehlers is prioritizing chance to win + opportunity + low profile, it's a solid choice. If he's trying to avoid the spotlight, Montreal and Toronto are probably the worst choices he could make. I think the money's going to be pretty wild no matter where he signs...

 

[jamiebez]

After last year (Scheifs and Helly), I still believe it will be Winnipeg after all. At least I will believe in it until July 1st.

I really don't think he's at all interested in the biggest money deal possible because that would basically limit his offers to non-playoff calibre teams like San Jose or Chicago or the Islanders. I think Nik Ehlers is a very competitive player that has eventually only one ultimate goal: win a Stanley Cup.

Having said that, that narrows down the list of high-interest candidates a lot. Carolina would make sense in a lot of ways so I understand why many people believe he'll be a Hurricane. And I don't have arguments against it to be honest.

I would calculate the chance right now something like 35% Jets, 30% Canes, 15% Kings, 10% Utah, 10% Canucks

And I give the Jets the slight nod because another thing I have 0 doubts about Nik Ehlers besides his desire to win a Stanley Cup and be on a winning team is: loyalty. I think he's a very loyal guy and the thought of leaving this team and project and all the time spent together and growing up as NHL players is actually not easy for him. And I don't disagree with people talking about him being annoyed about his usage, I definitely think they are for real. But I think it's the only single reason why him re-signing isn't a no brainer. Because he has doubts about this part. And that is the only part he has doubts about. Other than that I think Nik Ehlers love being a Winnipeg Jet.

This kind of sums up my feelings on this for most of the last 365 days or so (until recently - see below).

Two years ago, we all spent our summer coming up with Scheifele and Hellebuyck trade proposals, only to see them both re-sign. There's as much "smoke" to the Ehlers fire as there was to either of those, and look how that turned out.

I would actually hope that they have made their best offer by now. Gives him time to think about it and shows they aren't going to play games right before fly can leave. I don't think the grinding tactic works now given how close to FA Fly is. Also I believe if you throw a big offer last minute he's more likely to say "well I can wait a couple more days and see what the other teams will give me."

Having said the above, my concern now is that that the team doesn't actually want to do enough to re-sign him. They could be sandbagging here and letting him go, while still being able to save face and say "well, we gave him a good offer and he walked anyway"

I can't blame them, though. They have to be conscious of budget to a degree, and they value Connor more, so they need to make sure there's money for him to extend this summer.

JMO, but this won't always be a cap team now that the cap is going up sharply. I expect them to stay $3-5M under most years. Gives them room to go for it at the deadline, but also keeps costs down for 3/4 of the season.

 

[Buffdog]

I don't think the Canes are going to change tack and try to get a lot tougher. The Leafs have been trying to add size and toughness to their skill for ages and it's done nothing for them in the playoffs.

Carolina seems like a fit, but not everything is perfect there. If Ehlers is prioritizing chance to win + opportunity + low profile, it's a solid choice. If he's trying to avoid the spotlight, Montreal and Toronto are probably the worst choices he could make. I think the money's going to be pretty wild no matter where he signs...

Carolina is an odd situation

They traded for Guentzel, couldn't extend him. Couldn't extend Rantanen. Marner nixed a deal there. Necas wouldn't extend

Makes you wonder how much is due to ownership, and how that could affect negotiations with Ehlers

They were rumored to have interest in him... but how much of that was because he was making 6M at the time? How high would they go for Nik? Probably not more than Aho's 9.75M... anything over 7.75M would make him their 2nd highest paid player. Anything less than 9.5M and I think Ehlers could get a better deal elsewhwre

 

[CanMerc]

I think Carolina…seems like a good fit for both player and team

 

[Cypruss]

Crazy thought here....but I think Winnipeg could be a sneaky good landing spot for Ehlers.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Crazy thought here....but I think Winnipeg could be a sneaky good landing spot for Ehlers.

He even knows some of the players there.

 

[jetsforever]

I'll say Carolina since there's been smoke there forever but hope it's the Jets (or a team I like better)

 

[hockeyarena]

Crazy thought here....but I think Winnipeg could be a sneaky good landing spot for Ehlers.

every star/pseudo-star player who has ever left winnipeg has had a career downslide. just stay nikky, we'll build u a statue.

 

[Hobble]

I'll say Carolina since there's been smoke there forever but hope it's the Jets (or a team I like better)

He’s probably Carolina’s back up plan if they don’t land Marner.

 

[Daximus]

He’s probably Carolina’s back up plan if they don’t land Marner.

100%. I think Marner ends up in Vegas though even if they back up the brinks truck for him.

 

[raideralex99]

100%. I think Marner ends up in Vegas though even if they back up the brinks truck for him.

Yup according to his close friends he is going out west ... Vegas or Kings unless Carolina pays $2M over.
I hope Chevy doesn't help Vegas by taking on a bad contract.

 

[DRW204]

Yup according to his close friends he is going out west ... Vegas or Kings unless Carolina pays $2M over.
I hope Chevy doesn't help Vegas by taking on a bad contract.

if it's Karlsson why not? if it's not the Jets, someone else will and they will benefit from Karlsson who has played at strong 2C levels in the past for relatively cheap acquisition cost. The Jets have also helped Vegas in the past in acquiring Stastny.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

This kind of sums up my feelings on this for most of the last 365 days or so (until recently - see below).

Two years ago, we all spent our summer coming up with Scheifele and Hellebuyck trade proposals, only to see them both re-sign. There's as much "smoke" to the Ehlers fire as there was to either of those, and look how that turned out.


Having said the above, my concern now is that that the team doesn't actually want to do enough to re-sign him. They could be sandbagging here and letting him go, while still being able to save face and say "well, we gave him a good offer and he walked anyway"

I can't blame them, though. They have to be conscious of budget to a degree, and they value Connor more, so they need to make sure there's money for him to extend this summer.

JMO, but this won't always be a cap team now that the cap is going up sharply. I expect them to stay $3-5M under most years. Gives them room to go for it at the deadline, but also keeps costs down for 3/4 of the season.

No similarity to the Scheif, Helle situation. Just for starters, they both had another year to go on their existing contracts.

 

[blueandgoldguy]

Vegas would have to get rid of a contract or two to sign Marner. Karlsson should be available if that is the case and he should be dirt cheap (3rd rounder?). Jets might look at him as an option for 2C.

 

[John Agar]

The Rangers like their flashy toys....