NHL Rumors: Winnipeg Jets, and the Toronto Maple Leafs

Winnipeg Jets GM spoke with Nikolaj Ehlers, and there will be more talks with Ehlers after the World Championships

Darrin Bauming of NHL.com: Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said he spoke with the agent for pending UFA forward Nikolaj Ehlers for about two hours on Monday, and he hopes to talk to Ehlers after he’s finished with the World Championships in Sweden. Cheveldayoff said that he spoke to Ehlers before he left for the Worlds.

“Drafted, developed him, someone that we think the world of. We obviously went into this year eyes wide open that he was a potential unrestricted free agent. Players earn that opportunity.

“When we get a chance to talk to him, we’ll put our best foot forward with him to try to make our case to be a unique Jet-for-life-type player and we’ll see where it all goes there.”

Other pending UFAs are Mason Appleton, Brandon Tanev, and Haydn Fleury, and RFAs Gabriel Vilardi and Dylan Samberg

NHL Rumors: Vegas Golden Knights Could Make Bold Decisions This Offseason

Some interesting options and directions the Toronto Maple Leafs could go

Justin Bourne of Sportsnet: The Toronto Maple Leafs will be worse off, at least in the regular season, without Mitch Marner. They’ll still have Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Matthew Knies and cap space to work with. They got good goaltending and defense core that is under contract for at least two more years.

They need to spread the money around to have three lines that can produce like the Florida Panthers.

Sam Bennett would be ideal, but the soon-to-be 29-year-old would be looking for a seven-year deal. He hit 50 points for the first time this year. He’ll want a lot of money and it’ll be hard to continue to play the physical game as he ages more.

Nikolaj Ehlers could be a tempting option, and would leave them room to add something else.

John Tavares is interesting. He’s part group that hasn’t been successful but he scores a lot of goals, and is good on the draw.

Defenseman Morgan Rielly is concerning. Would you rather have $7.5 million in cap space or Rielly in your lineup? He is their best offensive defenseman, and it would leave a hole.

NHL Rumors: Mitch Marner’s Rights, and the Toronto Maple Leafs Offseason Priority

David Kampf was a healthy scratch in the playoffs and has two years left at $2.4 million. Calle Jarnkrok carries a $2.1 million cap hit next year. Max Domi has three years left at $3.75 million and, at times, looked like he might be the next healthy scratch.

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