Winnipeg Jets Have Holes To Fill, But Nikolaj Ehlers is A Priority
Andrew Patterson of Winnipeg Sports Talk joined Dave McCarthy on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio’s Sunday Brunch and was asked about the Winnipeg Jets offseason. Patterson said the priority is to sign Nikolaj Ehlers.
NHLRumors.com transcription
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Dave McCarthy: “With Andrew Patterson of Winnipeg’s Sports Talk. So, an offseason coming up in Winnipeg that should be quite intriguing. Chief among the players, where there are storylines on heading into the offseason, is Nick Ehlers, who will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. What’s the likelihood that you think he comes back to the organization? And if you were Kevin Cheveldayoff, what areas of the roster do you think require a little bit of attention to try to help get to a point where they have been really unable to get to?”
Andrew Patterson: “Listen, Dave, they’ve got to find a way to keep Nikolaj Ehlers in the fold. And to their credit, I know Winnipeg gets a bad rap of people not wanting to be here. Reality with the players on the Winnipeg Jets.”
McCarthy: “That’s nonsense.”
Patterson: “For sure. I mean, like you look at it, (Alex) Iafallo re-signed. Neal Pionk just re-signed. The Hellebuyck and Scheifele contracts. Josh Morrissey, I mean, they certainly have the pillars of the team that have decided to stay here. I’ve always wondered what Ehlers. I’ve found it’s a little bit of a different situation, just because with the talent that this team has had, he’s been more of a second-line player.
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He’s certainly capable of more, and there’s probably an opportunity out there, maybe not on a team that’s as good as the Winnipeg Jets, but that’ll pay him very well. Give him top-line minutes, and your chance of winning decreases. I mean, potentially, who knows what’ll be out there, but he’ll be the absolute priority for Winnipeg, and they’ll try to get something done before July 1.
And if that happens, that’s great for Winnipeg. If not, it is such a massive hole on the power play, on line two, on a team that already really needs an upgrade at second line center, and that’s been a topic we’ve talked about for the last two or three years, that, as we know, it’s not easy just to magically snap your fingers and change. So the Ehlers topic up front is going to be front and center, which is definitely number one on the list.
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I think when you look at the blue line, a partner for Josh Morrissey on that top pairing that would put Dylan DeMelo, maybe reset in the blue line, I think will be something that they’ll certainly look for. And then probably somewhat of a change in the bottom six, on a couple of spots that many and most teams will do. We’ll see a couple younger players probably, I think, make the move in. There’s a number of players that have been knocking on the door, both forward and the blue line that will be given an opportunity in training camp.
But certainly on Winnipeg Sports Talk and the big conversations around the Winnipeg Jets, they’re going to start with Nikolaj Ehlers as we get closer to the first of July, Dave.”
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