Nikolaj Ehlers is officially a former Winnipeg Jet. On Thursday, Ehlers signed a 6-year, $51 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. His average annual salary will be $8.5 million. Ehlers was drafted ninth overall by the Jets in the 2014 draft. The “Great Dane” spent a total of 10 seasons with the team. the career high of 29 goals came in the 2017-2018 season. During his tenure with the Jets, Ehlers became the highest scoring Danish player of all time.
When he was available, Ehlers was always fun to watch. With his blazing speed, he often carried the play no matter who his linemates were. He was always an analytics darling. He will do well with the analytics-driven Carolina franchise. When the Hurricanes come to town next season, Ehlers will no doubt be honored with a tribute video.
Replacement plan for Ehlers
Ehlers was great for Winnipeg and will be missed by the Jets fanbase. Nevertheless, there are a few positives that come with his departure.
- Cole Perfetti can now play on his natural left-wing position on the 2 nd line rather than his off-wing.
- There is now additional salary cap space that can be allocated to re-signing RFA’s Gabe Vilardi, Dylan Samberg and Morgan Barron.
- Opportunity is there now for top prospects like Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov to seize a role on the second line.
20/20 hindsight
Hindsight is always 20/20. I realized that. However, the Jets may have put immediacy ahead of smart strategic planning with Ehlers.
I believe that Kevin Cheveldayoff should never have allowed Ehlers to play into last season on an expiring contract. If an extension was never going to be done before puck drop on the 2024-2025 season, it was in the Jets’ best long-term interest to trade Ehlers to a team like Carolina. Secure some assets in return, rather than lose him for nothing as they just did.
However, having said that, the Jets did win their first Presidents Trophy ever. They also had an epic game 7 OT win over the St. Louis Blues which won’t be forgotten anytime soon.Knowing that they were inevitably losing Ehlers, the Jets tried to add low-risk, high-reward one-year contracts to their lineup.
New addition: Gustav Nyquist
One day before Ehlers departed for Raleigh, the Jets added veteran Gustav Nyquist to their lineup on a 1-year $3.25 million deal. Much like Tanner Pearson and Cole Koepka, Nyquist is a solid depth player for the team. These kind of players are ones that had the Jets waited until trade deadline to add them, they would have to give up mid-round draft picks to do so.
Nyquist is only two seasons removed from posting a career high of 75 points with the Nashville Predators in the 2023-24 season. Now it’s a waiting game to see how the rest of the off-season unfolds. Cheveldayoff and the Jets must continue to retool their roster following the departure of a very significant piece of the team. Bottom line: Winnipeg needs more contingencies to cover what’s been lost.
Thanks for reading. Happy Independence Day to all my American friends and colleagues.
