Do you know anything about how he is in the room? Do you know anything about his off ice habits? Do you know anything about his personality? Or are you basing all your assumptions on anylitics and absolutely nothing else? Cause that must be the only thing worth taking into consideration when making any personal moves right?
- Ross77[url]

There has not been a lick of evidence to suggest ehlers has bad habits, personality issues, or anything else, factual or anecdotal. So moving a guy like Ehlers because of some issue is still the same as moving him based on data still has the same risk. And it’s dumb.

Do you know anything about how he is in the room? Do you know anything about his off ice habits? Do you know anything about his personality? Or are you basing all your assumptions on anylitics and absolutely nothing else? Cause that must be the only thing worth taking into consideration when making any personal moves right?
- Ross77[url]

Do you know something about this Ross? In the absence of even rumours about ehlers being an issue I see no other reasonable option but to take the salary cap reason as the explanation of why there is trade ehlers talk

Do you know anything about how he is in the room? Do you know anything about his off ice habits? Do you know anything about his personality? Or are you basing all your assumptions on anylitics and absolutely nothing else? Cause that must be the only thing worth taking into consideration when making any personal moves right?
- Ross77[url]

And on the other side of this there are no guarantees that the replacement player is the perfect room addition either.

There has not been a lick of evidence to suggest ehlers has bad habits, personality issues, or anything else, factual or anecdotal. So moving a guy like Ehlers because of some issue is still the same as moving him based on data still has the same risk. And it’s dumb.
- Peter.Tessier

I’m not advocating for moving him but 1000% believe neither you, I or anyone else know the full story.

There has not been a lick of evidence to suggest ehlers has bad habits, personality issues, or anything else, factual or anecdotal. So moving a guy like Ehlers because of some issue is still the same as moving him based on data still has the same risk. And it’s dumb.
- Peter.Tessier

Not necessarily dumb, It always depends on the return.

Laine (as he is at this time in his career) is not the key to Winnipeg's window. That would be Sheifele, Morrissey and Hellebyck.

regarding Chevy, Sitting at the cottage is probably the exact right thing to do right now, particularly with Laine. He is still not a net positive for the Jets and some fear of missing paychecks or a season of paychecks makes time the best negotiation tool.

I think its December deadline and possibly a trade for Laine. Connor will figure something out during training camp, whether short or long term.
- 2.0

Laine shouldn’t have to be the key to winning this early on, but because of the Jets management, he probably is. Wheeler and Little are very much in decline, Byfuglien is on borrowed time with potential durability issues in play, and everyone else is either already locked up long term (Ehlers, Hellebuyck, Scheifele) or about to be (Connor, Morrissey).
Scheifele is (and should be) the key, plain and simple, but he quit on last season, so Laine had to fill in.

Patrick Laine is absolutely a net positive for the Jets right now, and will only continue to improve from here. He has one “down” year of scoring 30 goals at age 20, and everyone thinks it’s over. Meanwhile, he hit highs Kyle Connor likely never will at age 19 (leading the team in WAR btw), and everyone is ready to lock Connor up long term, no questions asked for having all the same weaknesses while also not hitting the same highs at an older age. It’s weird.

Bottom line is this: giving the silent treatment to the most important player you’ve had to re-sign literally ever when you know he’s already feeling like the team hasn’t had his back (which is true) is a bad move, and a bad look for the organization.
Important notes on that point:
-No, we don’t know for sure if the Jets are being dumb and not talking to Laine for sure. This could be trolling on Laine’s part, and I hope it is.
-Scheifele is better, but wasn’t at the time of his deal, and the contract both sides agreed to show that nobody knew he’d be this good either. Laine is the more impactful negotiation.

Not necessarily dumb, It always depends on the return.
- 2.0

The return will never be justifiable.
He massively outperforms his cap hit, and he doesn’t get used enough or well enough to be deemed as valuable as he really is by outside teams

And he should be paid for it. 11 million per minimum. Pay the man what he's worth.
- HealthyScratch6

Seems like a fair starting point.


It would be insulting to offer a guy who has been 6th in nhl goal scoring over the last 3 years anything less.

My comments from the end of the last thread....

" Well, at least some good news out late this week regarding Connor and Laine. Connor wants a long term deal and I'm down with that as very good news that he wants to be a long term Jet. Laine, has to the delight of this board and likely everyone else out there, has worked hard on his skating and "explosiveness " on the ice during the off-season. Music to our ears. It might be one of the only benefits of an early exit for a relatively young team in that the players have more time to work on the aspects of their game that are lacking and also get more gym time to develop their young bodies.

I think Jets haven't rushed the contract talks until they see some other deals on the tape. I'm not sure we gain and advantage with that strategy but it is what it is. All the other major names out there such as Marner, Tkachuk , Provorov, and maybe even Rantanen are on salary cap-strapped teams so maybe Chevy is gambling that their numbers won't be as high as expected . Hard to say for sure though. "

.....and I'll add some new comments with respect to the affordability of both Laine and Connor in that once the likes of Kulikov and Perreault drop off at the end of this year and next it does create lots of cap room. If the cap goes up by $6 MM in the next two years then that's another $14.5 MM in extra cap room with those two players gone. Jets can just pay Laine and Connor lower salary for those first two years on a long term contract and have lots of room to spare in two years when Morrissey might kick in. Certainly, there is no need to get rid of Ehlers. Bottom line is that anyone who thinks the Jets are in some type of cap trouble would be wrong.

These references to Chevy and his holidaying are pitiful.

These references to Chevy and his holidaying are pitiful.
- justsaying

My thoughts exactly! The idea that he doesn't think about this team and these contracts every day is ludicrous. Maybe NHL GMS 40 years ago were this way, but just like the players now, this is a 50 week a year job.....

These references to Chevy and his holidaying are pitiful.
- justsaying

100% agree. I'll add the fact that Chevy and the Jets management got the ultimate compliments at the draft by guys like Brain Burke and Craig Button. Burke, when asked what table he would most like to sit at during the draft, immediately said the Jets would be his choice before heaping praise on Chevy and his team.

So, what do you pay a player who is not in the top 50 NHL players ?

Laine types are a tough signing because he can score 50+ and win the rocket, but can't do anything else. How do you pay that?

He's going to want a huge contract and maybe he wants and extra $$$ few to live in Winnipeg

So, what do you pay a player who is not in the top 50 NHL players ?
- bennythehat

Not necessarily the wrong question, but it has to be accompanied by " What do you pay a player who has scored the 6th most goals over the last 3 seasons? "
As we are about to see, (and just saw with Aho) players are now paid for potential as much as production.
And, possibly relevant at least regarding popular opinion, Laine will not be picked outside the top 20 in any fantasy league 😋 Just sayin'.....

Not necessarily the wrong question, but it has to be accompanied by " What do you pay a player who has scored the 6th most goals over the last 3 seasons? "
As we are about to see, (and just saw with Aho) players are now paid for potential as much as production.
And, possibly relevant at least regarding popular opinion, Laine will not be picked outside the top 20 in any fantasy league 😋 Just sayin'.....
- liverpoolnhl

The real question is: what do you pay a guy who WAS top 50 at age 19, and will stay there going forward. Ovechkin is staring Father Time in the face without issue, but if he starts to decline, Mr. Laine is likely the only 50 goal man going forward

Boy Winipeg's window shut-closed in a hurry, didn't it?
- RogerRoeper

Quality trolling. At least this group has went beyond the first round before the cap started to catch them. I think Toronto's window is the one that is closing. Anderson can only steal so many games at 31, and you only have on D signed next season. Think Barrie will re-sign for his cap hit of 2.75M

There has not been a lick of evidence to suggest ehlers has bad habits, personality issues, or anything else, factual or anecdotal. So moving a guy like Ehlers because of some issue is still the same as moving him based on data still has the same risk. And it’s dumb.
- Peter.Tessier

Ehlers is a steal at 6M. If that were ever an option, please make a deal with the Dev's. My boys have done great this offseason!

Quality trolling. At least this group has went beyond the first round before the cap started to catch them. I think Toronto's window is the one that is closing. Anderson can only steal so many games at 31, and you only have on D signed next season. Think Barrie will re-sign for his cap hit of 2.75M
- bikeguy99

I'm amazed how people keep using this argument. LOL. They won NOTHING. They just lost a 25 year-old RH shot #1 D for almost nothing. That's far worse "Cap Issues" Leaf have ever had.

Leafs loe Ron Hainsey's. Jet losing young franchise piece.

hen doe that firt round win banner come up?

So, what do you pay a player who is not in the top 50 NHL players ?

I'm amazed how people keep using this argument. LOL. They won NOTHING. They just lost a 25 year-old RH shot #1 D for almost nothing. That's far worse "Cap Issues" Leaf have ever had.

Leafs loe Ron Hainsey's. Jet losing young franchise piece.

hen doe that firt round win banner come up?
- RogerRoeper

This is Self-Oof at its finest

This is Self-Oof at its finest
- Rexypoo

I don't see Leafs losing any franchise pieces, do you? Losing Trouba is devestating.

I don't see Leafs losing any franchise pieces, do you? Losing Trouba is devestating.
- RogerRoeper

We will see what happens with gardiner. Trouba was #2 or 3 D, teams lose players in that range all the time

We will see what happens with gardiner
- 2.0

You're comparing Gardiner with Trouba suddenbly? LOL.

He's not in Trouba's league and you know it. Gardiner can't even get a contract.

I don't see Leafs losing any franchise pieces, do you? Losing Trouba is devestating.
- RogerRoeper

Marner possibly, Gardiner almost certainly. That’s a 2-3 dman and the risk of a top line forward