3 Free Agents the Jets Should Pursue if Ehlers Leaves

TSN’s Insider Trading program recently linked Boeser to Winnipeg, with Darren Dreger saying:

“When you’re looking at a scoring winger, a player that is attractive to a lot of teams both north and south of the border and Brock Boeser is open to all options. I’m looking at the Winnipeg Jets and he seems to be, Boeser that is, as a free agent a real good fit. And that’s assuming that Nikolaj Ehlers is going to leave Winnipeg. Now we believe, and we can understand why Nikolaj Ehlers would want to test the market on July 1. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent. He wants to full educate himself on what all of his options are but he hasn’t closed the door on Winnipeg and I believe that Kevin Cheveldayoff will continue to be in the game to retain Nikolaj Ehlers, but if he signs somewhere else then Brock Boeser might be a good option.”

Boeser is coming off a three-year deal with a $6.65 million AAV. He would likely command between $7.5 million and $8.5 million annually on a long-term contract.

2: Jonathan Drouin

Could part of the solution be a player who was Ehlers’ teammate for a year in juniors? A recent report said Drouin is “very unlikely” to return to the Colorado Avalanche because of their cap crunch and Cheveldayoff could capitalize on the Central Division rival’s lack of space.

The 30-year-old left shooter has played both wings through his 11-season career and has had a bit of a resurrection in the past two seasons. He recorded 11 goals and 26 assists for 37 points in just 43 games for the Avalanche this season (he missed time with a couple of injuries) and had a career-high 56 points with them in 2023-24 after some rough seasons with the Montreal Canadiens.

The 2013 third-overall pick recorded a team-leading 108 points with the Halifax Mooseheads the year after being drafted (Ehlers was second on that squad with 104.) While Drouin has not developed into the star many projected he would when the Tampa Bay Lightning selected him, he has proven himself a reliable two-way player with the Avalanche and does have 374 points in 607-career games.

Drouin is coming off a one-year deal worth $2.5 million.

3: Jack Roslovic

A third option for Cheveldayoff is to try and swing a reunion with a player he drafted and traded away.

That’s Jack Roslovic, who Cheveldayoff chose 25th overall in 2015. Roslovic played his first three NHL seasons in Winnipeg before being shipped out as part of the January 2021 blockbuster that sent he and Patrik Laine to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Now 28, Roslovic has established himself as a consistent middle-six scoring forward and has recorded 30-plus points in all five seasons since that deal. This season with the Carolina Hurricanes on a one-year $2.8 million contract, he tied his career high in goals with 22 and added 17 assists for 39 points and has 260-career points in 526 games between the Jets, Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, and Hurricanes.

Roslovic didn’t get a ton of top-six opportunity in Winnipeg from 2017 through 2020 due to more experienced players blocking the way, and when he did get the opportunity, he was inconsistent. However, that’s understandable as he was only in his early 20s.

Roslovic held out as a restricted free agent ahead of the trade that sent him to Columbus, but that’s probably all water under the bridge by now. His role in Winnipeg would likely be a lot bigger this time around, and his presence would give Arniel yet another versatile player capable of playing centre and wing.

Be sure to keep following The Hockey Writers for extensive coverage and analysis this offseason.