The New Jersey Devils are expected to be in hot pursuit of forward talent this offseason, and they may be able to sell themselves to one of the NHL's best to earn a discount.
Winnipeg Jets star Nikolaj Ehlers, a pending unrestricted free agent, would cost an arm and a leg for most teams, given his prolific track record of eight seasons with 20 or more goals. The Devils, on the heels of their second playoff appearance in three seasons, might not be one of those teams.
According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Ehlers wants to play on a team that has a chance to win more than collecting as many dollar signs as humanly possible. If he's willing to take that kind of discount, what team is a better fit than the young, up-and-coming Devils?
"Ehlers is another one I've just heard a bit here and there," Friedman said of the rumors going around at the NHL Scouting Combine on Thursday's "32 Thoughts" podcast episode. "The one thing I've heard that Ehlers prefers is, he wants to be in a situation where he can win. And I think that's more important to him than [the] number. We'll see if that proves to be the case, but I've heard that about him.
"Winnipeg is obviously in a situation where I think you can win, but Jets fans know it: [ice time] is the question there that's been about first line or top opportunity. I've heard that Ehlers, a chance to win is pretty big on his list."
Devils make sense as a free agent destination for Jets star Nikolaj Ehlers
Ehlers, 29, has scored no fewer than 61 points in each of the last two seasons for the Jets, and the Dane now has four such seasons to his name. However, it's worth noting, as Friedman alluded to, that Ehlers has averaged no more than 15:52 of ice time in any of the last three seasons.
In fact, for as much talent as he has, the former No. 9 overall pick has averaged more than 17 minutes of ice time in a season just twice since starting his NHL career in 2015.
The Devils, saddled with aging, underperforming players like Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula, would love to add such a dynamic player to their top-six. Palat, Haula, and Dawson Mercer combined produced only 85 points last season, so to call Ehlers and upgrade would be a grave understatement.
Of course, the Devils will assuredly need to move at least one of those players in order to reasonably afford Ehlers's next contract in addition to re-signing key roster players like Cody Glass, Luke Hughes, and Jake Allen.
Evolving-Hockey currently projects Ehlers's likeliest contract, when signing with another team in free agency, to be a seven-year deal with an AAV of $8.888 million.
That would make the 6-foot winger the Devils' highest paid forward, but if Tom Fitzgerald (and perhaps a few Devils players) can convince Ehlers of the project they're building, a discount knocking $1 or $2 million off that projection could go a long way towards taking the Devils back to the Stanley Cup Finals.