NHL Rumors: Will Nikolaj Ehlers Not Take the Top Contract Offer?

Nikolaj Ehlers is the top free agent target, but could he settle for a little less?

NHL Network: Elliotte Friedman when asked about pending UFA forward Nikolaj Ehlers, what contract he could be looking at and where he could end up.

** NHLRumors.com transcription

Jamison Coyle: “Elliotte, we always talk about setting the market. What the market is going to be like. Now that we see some of these numbers in the AAV come in, what do you think a guy, maybe the biggest fish now still out there, Nikolaj Ehlers. What do you think his number comes in at?

Friedman: “I think, the thing I’ve heard about Ehlers is that he might take a little bit less for a winning situation. Like I think he could do nine, nine and a half on the open market. No question about it. All things being equal. And we’ll see where he ends up.

But one of the things I’ve kind of been hearing, Jamison is that he might shave that a bit to go to a team that has a chance to win.

I know, like with Marner, Vegas was my team until I was proven wrong. And it’s like, once in a while, you know, Chipmunk finds acorn. Like I found this. I got that one right.

My team with Ehlers until I’m proven wrong is, is Carolina. And so we’ll see what happens tomorrow. But I could see Ehlers taking a little bit less with the Hurricanes, and he could do elsewhere, because he thinks he just has a better chance to win there.”

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