It’s time for another edition of NHL rumours. We’re into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but we focus on a pair of eliminated teams. Questions now have to be answered on what respective team general managers will do with the offseason looming. Some teams have to scramble to be salary cap compliant. However, others have decisions to make about their rosters for other reasons. Today’s NHL rumours focus on the Vegas Golden Knights and the Winnipeg Jets.
All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Vegas Golden Knights
Rumour: On the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek discussed the futures of Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson with the club.
32 Thoughts Monday morning news, information and playoff recap podcast.
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— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) May 6, 2024
Analysis: Vegas is once again going to have to clean up its salary cap in the offseason. This means some tough decisions are going to be made by General Manager Kelly McCrimmon. Both Marchessault and Stephenson are unrestricted free agent in this coming offseason.
Friedman said that Golden Knights management would love to keep both players. However, it’s a matter of money and making it happen. Vegas is going to have to shed some salary this offseason to get under the cap number. The biggest issue with Marchessault seems to be term due to his age. He will turn 34 years old in December and there’s concern if age will catch up to him before the contract finishes. The Cap-Rouge, Quebec native netted 42 goals in 2023-24, but there’s always a worry about regression.
He really didn’t come into his own until a later age and could have better mileage than most players his age. Vegas love analytics and age will be a consideration. The two sides were struggling to find a term according to Friedman and that was an issue since the All-Star Break. However, Marchessault is one of the original misfits that was originally with the team.
Stephenson just turned 30 and the Knights were willing to do longer term and Friedman mentioned around six or seven years. In contrast, the Knights are going to offer less money for a longer-term contract. It’s difficult to find the magic number on term and money. Stephenson might get more money elsewhere if the two parties can’t come to a deal.
Winnipeg Jets
Rumour: Murat Ates of The Athletic speculated on the future of Nikolaj Ehlers with the team.
Ehlers:
"I have one year left. There has been no talk with Chevy so far and I still definitely have to talk to him with my agent as well, so it's not an answer I can give you right now. I love these guys. They know that. I don't have an answer for anyone right now."
— Murat Ates (@WPGMurat) May 2, 2024
Analysis: Ehlers does have one more season left on his contract at a $6 million cap hit before becoming a UFA. The Danish scorer said he hasn’t talked to General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff about a contract extension. Ehlers also said that he would talk to his agent and see where they want to go from there.
The 28-year-old can play on both wings and can be tough to deal with on the power play. He has been a consistent 20-plus goal scorer for Winnipeg. However, it seems that his minutes get cut into plenty of times. This seems to be a trend under multiple coaches. Ehlers has also seemingly shouldered a lot of blame whenever he makes a defensive mistake.
The veteran winger did say he loves his teammates, but he doesn’t know what the future holds. One new factor to consider is the retirement of Rick Bowness as the team’s head coach. Bowness did miss some time due to personal issues and Scott Arniel was the team’s acting head coach for those games. Does Winnipeg go with Arniel as sort of a continuation of the previous regime? Arniel was an NHL coach for a year and a half once upon a time with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Cheveldayoff could very well go outside of the organization for a new bench boss. This could change the entire situation for Ehlers and he may get a clean slate under a new head coach. However, it’s uncertain if the Dane will stay in Manitoba beyond next season.
Main photo by: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
