5 Offseason Landing Spots for Jets Winger Nikolaj Ehlers amid NHL Trade Rumors
When the rumors pick up around the NHL at this time of year, the names of players involved tend to get a bit juicier. For instance, Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers.
Ehlers is heading into the final year of his contract that comes with a $6 million salary-cap hit, and at 28 years old, he's been a regular 25-goal, 60-point scorer.
The Jets aren't exactly in salary-cap trouble, having more than $13 million in space, but they'll be looking to get Cole Perfetti re-signed and have to consider what they're going to do with potential unrestricted free agents Tyler Toffoli, Sean Monahan, Dylan DeMelo and Brenden Dillon among a few others.
Bringing those players back would mean losing that $13 million cushion quickly, and TSN's Darren Dreger reported Wednesday the Jets are looking at potentially trading Ehlers while the time is ripe.
Whenever there's a trade rumor or report, it's time for us to spring into action. We'll take a peek around the league at where Ehlers could land.
Carolina Hurricanes
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What's interesting about the Carolina Hurricanes being a potential landing spot for Nikolaj Ehlers is how it could make the Winnipeg Jets a future home to forward Martin Nečas.
Dreger mentioned the Hurricanes as a team with interest in Ehlers and intimated that a swap of Ehlers for Nečas is a possibility that would satisfy both teams. While Ehlers is due to be an unrestricted free agent next summer, Nečas is a restricted free agent this summer and it's expected that he's more than likely to wind up somewhere other than Raleigh.
Although Ehlers is just three years older than him, Nečas didn't become a full-time player in the league until the 2019-2020 season and Ehlers broke through for good in 2015-2016. That's enough time spent in the league to make Ehlers out to be a more veteran player and somewhat skew the view on Nečas' age.
It's pretty rare when the simplest solution to a trade rumor is the one that plays out, but if the Jets want to go a little younger and catch a player while they're hitting the apex of their career and Carolina gets a more veteran presence to get them over the hump in the postseason (pay no mind to Ehlers' playoff stats of 14 points in 37 games).
Utah Hockey Club
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If you think we can't squeeze Utah into every possible scenario to acquire a scoring forward, we accept that challenge wholeheartedly.
Talk is cheap and all that, but with the expectation that the Utah Hockey Club is going to spend and look to get the team in a position to make the playoffs sooner rather than later, making a trade for Ehlers fits that idea.
Ehlers is good for filling the net on a consistent basis, having averaged roughly 22 goals per season in his career (201 goals in nine campaigns). That average would've tied him with Nick Schmaltz and Nick Bjugstad for third on the Coyotes in goals last season. The 25 goals he had this season would've put him second behind Clayton Keller.
Utah has draft picks to use as trade capital, and some veteran players it could use in a deal as well. The Jets don't have a 2024 first- or third-round pick, and they received their second-rounder from Los Angeles in the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade. Utah has seven picks in the first three rounds (one first and three in the second and third rounds).
One potential hiccup here is that Utah could use center help more than on the wing, but the team is not in a position to be too picky about such points. It needs more scoring, period, and Ehlers can provide it.
Chicago Blackhawks
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Stop me if you've heard this one already: The Chicago Blackhawks are looking for solid veterans to surround Connor Bedard and help them get better faster.
All right, we heard you, we'll stop. One day we will, but that day is not today because Ehlers fits that exact profile, and Chicago has what it takes to make a deal happen.
Like Utah, Chicago has a boatload of picks to use as trade bait for Winnipeg, and it's got the salary freedom to be able to re-sign Ehlers and pay him well. What makes acquiring Ehlers more sensible for Chicago is this season can be a yearlong audition for him to lock down the kind of contract extension he's looking for.
Chicago can also spin him elsewhere at the trade deadline to acquire other picks or players to continue building for the future.
It's the kind of acquisition that can be a win-win for Chicago and a straight-up win for Winnipeg if it gets what it's looking for. But the possibility that the 'Hawks can add Ehlers, see how well he does there, and then either extend him or deal him makes too much sense to not do it.
Detroit Red Wings
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One of the distressing parts of the Detroit Red Wings missing out on the playoffs the past couple of years under GM Steve Yzerman is that the so-called "Yzerplan" comes under further scrutiny. It also amplifies the pressure to get Detroit back to the playoffs ASAP.
Detroit added Patrick Kane this season to get there and while Kane played very well, they still didn't return to the postseason. With Kane sounding rather non-committal to returning to Detroit, trading for Ehlers might be the move to make if Kane goes elsewhere.
The tough part about trading for Ehlers is the Red Wings have a couple of internal signings to take care of first with restricted free agents Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond. Those are going to be beefy contracts and the $29 million in cap space they have at the moment will evaporate quickly.
Ehlers' $6 million cap hit for this season isn't too hard to take on and the Wings do have picks, players, or prospects to offer up, but if they want to extend him beyond this year, it'll be a fascinating discussion for Yzerman to have after getting Seider and Raymond locked up long-term.
New Jersey Devils
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We all know the biggest thing the New Jersey Devils need to do this season is acquire a goalie. We knew this last summer, too, and there was talk then that they were snooping around at Connor Hellebuyck before he signed his long-term extension with the Jets. But the Devils could also stand to use a little more help on the wing up front, too.
Yes, they've got Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt to play on the wing for Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. They've got Ondřej Palát and Alexander Holtz, too, but adding a more historically consistent scorer on the wing for their elite top two centers is not a bad idea.
And again, we get it, they need a goalie first and foremost, we know. They're going to get one whether it's Jacob Markstrom or Linus Ullmark or even Juuse Saros if Nashville gets funky. But New Jersey went from scoring 291 goals last season to 264 this season. Injuries played a role in that, of course, but so did Meier's slump and so did an overall lack of offensive depth.
Adding Ehlers to this group could help the Devils climb back into the playoff picture in a big way, especially by lining him up with either Hughes or Hischier.
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