Yeah, that is Cool Dude, Awesome👍.
Which question was yours?
Let me/us know, looking forward to knowing which question was yours, including the response back based on your question, want to hear their responses back to your question👍.
Cheers,
2b9😉😃👍
My question and Answer are below. I dont agree that our d prospect pool is 'not weak', I think it is. I did not really word the first part of my question all that well. Alos, at the end, an email i sent to Mike McIntyre about one of his answers to another question, kind of called BS on his statemnet that we lost to the Avs due to inexperience.
4. Would it be better to trade the likes of Nikolaj Ehlers for a good near ready prospect (given we are unlikely to get a top 4 experienced D in such a trade)? Much like picking up Gabriel Vilardi we received ‘potential’ in exchange for ‘known’.
This may result in having a younger D core (fully expecting Ville Heinola to be in the top 6 and possibly Elias Salomonsson) but given we have no other near ready prospects this may be the right path. Then in 2 or 3 years we have mixed in the young forwards and let the younger D gain experience.
A lot of the D discussion to me comes down to the fact that our prospect pool in this area is quite weak. –ERIC
KW: The prospect of moving Ehlers is something the Jets may have to consider, given his contract status (going into the final season of his contract before having the ability to become a UFA in the summer of 2025), but trading him for a near-ready prospect isn’t something I expect or would endorse.
TONY GUTIERREZ / AP PHOTO
Winnipeg Jets left wing Nikolaj Ehlers
TONY GUTIERREZ / AP PHOTO
Winnipeg Jets left wing Nikolaj Ehlers
The only way it really makes any sense to trade Ehlers (if he’s not interested in signing an extension) is to get a bona fide top-4 D-man and potentially recoup some draft capital in any prospective deal. Any team acquiring Ehlers is likely going to need permission to see what he’s looking for in an extension to maximize the return, if the Jets decide to go down that road.
As for the prospect pool, the Jets don’t have an abundance of players pushing to be in the NHL next fall but not sure it’s fair to call the defence prospects weak either. Salomonsson had an excellent season in the SHL (in Sweden), helping his club team capture a championship and is someone who will be pushing for NHL duty sooner than later.
It’s true the Jets have more organizational depth in the prospect pool up front compared to defence. If Heinola can show he’s ready to be an NHL regular and Salomonsson does the same in the next season or two, the defence corps has the potential to become a position of strength — especially if the Jets acquire a quality D-man in a trade for Ehlers.
Email:
Hey Mike,
Thanks for the mailbag (and my question was posted and answered so that was nice). One item I would disagree with that you mentioned in one of the answers (and Ken mentioned the same thing in his You Tube program right after the series). This idea that the team was ‘surprised’ by the Avs intensity and/or their lack of experience showed and/or the idea of ‘stage fright’. This Jets team ahs a roster that has seen enough playoffs to know HOW to you have to take your game up a gear. And I would argue we have far more experience in the playoffs then the Canucks do who are showing no such faults. I think we simply still have too many players who simply either cannot or will not take it up a level in the playoffs. Perhaps your stage fright comment is partially correct but not in the sense of inexperience. Rather, in the sense of too many players simply fold under the pressure. They have since 2019 (remember then Bryan Little said it was a learning experience) and nothing has changed.
This is not unusual in sports or in any other venture in life. Some people just don’t perform as well under pressure. And the NHL playoffs are pressure from the first second and this team KNEW it would be. If they did not know I would say they are not very bright which we know is incorrect.
To me (and most fans I speak to) they do not believe it was inexperience that cost the team. It was the inability to raise their game. Players like Pionk, Ehlers and Hellebuyck have plenty of playoff experience yet they do not raise their games in playoffs year after year.
Thanks