Zoom out. Ehlers was the 13th most productive skater in terms of points and the 25th in pure goal-scoring at 5v5 league-wide.
It's OK to have an emotional reaction to the trashing we took at the playoffs, but we shouldn't make roster-killing decisions based on playoff results.
No you absolutely should make major roster changing decisions after bad playoff results. Otherwise you are no different than the leafs. Running it back over and over and over again and expecting different results.
Personnel changes should happen this offseason. Ehlers is a logical choice to do that. I've highlighted the reason why ad nauseam in this thread.
We need a change. We need some different faces, we need to shake things up. I completely understand that Ehlers is a fan, media and player favourite of this team. I love the kid, he's a great person. But we need some changes and it starts with the guy who has never shown up when it actually matters.
Every other core player who has been here for long enough can point to some defining moments in the playoffs. Scheif, Connor, Morrissey, Lowry, Helle. They have all come up big for us at different points in the playoffs during their careers. And they have all had some low points.
Ehlers has only low points in the playoffs. He's the only core player who has been here for awhile where you can genuinely expect his game to change when things get tighter and more physical. You know what you can expect from Scheif in the playoffs, you know what you can expect from Morrissey in the playoffs and now I'm beginning to know what I can expect from Ehlers when the post season rolls around.
It's not good enough for me. We should want and expect better.