Winnipeg Jets Season Review: The Second-Line Speedster
Welcome to our season review series of the Winnipeg Jets. I will not be going in any particular order, I’ll just do what comes to me first. That being said, let’s begin with perhaps the team’s fastest player, Nikolaj Ehlers.
The Winnipeg Jets have a whole lot of talent on the wing on that second line. To be able to boast two top ten overall picks on that line (Ehlers at 9, Patrik Laine at 2) is quite a thing. They’re not disappointments either.
Maybe Nikolaj Ehlers isn’t a superstar, but at nine, he’s a fine player. Also, he’s just 22. There’s still plenty of room for improvement in there. The second line of the Jets was probably it’s most offensively fearsome.
The two wings have an ability to make any center look good, as they combined for 73 goals. Bryan Little and Paul Stastny took most of that time. The latter was good. The former, not so much. But all in due time, friends.
First, let’s indulge the good stats. Ehlers’ goal total in his three seasons: 15, 25, 29. That’s good! Improvement being a good thing is not a notion you needed me to inform you of. His Corsi% is at 53.5%, which is very, very good. All star level good, even.
More from Analysis
- Winnipeg Jets vs. Blackhawks Round 3: 5 Things We learned
- Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck is the Best Goalie of the Last 5 Years
- A Patrik Laine Trade Redux Prior to Winnipeg Jets vs. Columbus
- Winnipeg Jets Doppelgangers: Look-A-Likes PART II
- Can Josh Morrissey of the Winnipeg Jets Actually Win the Norris?
It’s in the realm of (but slightly higher than!) players like Evgeni Malkin, Connor McDavid, Drew Doughty and Steven Stamkos. That’ll play. I know Corsi isn’t everything, but it’s fun to measure how well these players command possession when their line is on the ice.
There’s noise in it, but Ehlers has a career mark of 53%, so it feels legitimate. Now for the negatives. Ehlers actually saw his point total drop from 64 to 60, which isn’t too worrisome, but certainly not good news.
Also, the Winnipeg Jets third leading scorer in the regular season went fifteen postseason games without scoring a goal. Yes, he dealt with an injury that cost him some time, but 7 assists in 15 contests isn’t gonna cut it.
Now, this wasn’t a big problem when the Jets were winning. Then they stopped winning. We didn’t talk much about Ehlers’ drought during the run. Things were going well, Patrik Laine was stealing the headlines for underperforming and Nik just kind of sinks below the radar.
But for the Jets to win in the playoffs next season, they’ll need the two youngsters on the second line to step it up, regardless of who is centering them. Or, if they’re no longer linemates, regardless of who they play with.
Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler are great, but the Jets scoring depth isn’t so deep if those two don’t produce. But regardless, it was a successful season for Nikolaj Ehlers. I look forward to watching his development and the Jets are happy to have him. I mean, they did sign him to a 7 year, $42 million deal at the outset of the season.
Another fun thing to think about? Ehlers is almost certainly the best Danish player in the NHL. Oliver Bjorkstrank, Frans Nielsen, Jannik Hansen, Mikkel Bødker, Lars Eller and Frederik Anderson are the only other current players.
None of them scored more than 40 points last season. Of course, Anderson is a goaltender, and a solid one at that. But Ehlers is probably the best of the bunch. It’s farfetched, but not insanely so, to think if he has a long career, Ehlers could be the best Dane ever in the NHL. He’s already fifth all time in points by a Danish player, behind the others listed (save for Anderson and Bjorkstrand).
And Ehlers has just 236 career games played, none of the rest have fewer than 600. Frans Nielsen is the all time leader with 423 points in 764 career games. That’s fine, but it’s not at the rate Ehlers has scored at. And he’s only 22. Nielsen is 33 and just saw his lowest point total since the lockout shortened season.
This isn’t a ridiculous notion. Frederik Anderson may give him a run, but he’s not a top goalie. I realize Nikolaj Ehlers isn’t a superstar, but he could be a national hero.
Next: Paul Maurice and the Jack Adams Award
Overall, look for Nikolaj Ehlers to be a steady force. I anticipate he’ll annually be a 25-35 goal scorer, with maybe a shooting-percentage-boosted 40 goal season in there. He could hover around 60-75 points. He’s a very useful player, and a no-doubt top six forward. And maybe the Great Dane.