JETS MAILBAG: Expected return on Ehlers? Dylan or Dillon? Retire Byfuglien's number?

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Another season is done and dusted, and you have questions.

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JETS MAILBAG: Expected return on Ehlers? Dylan or Dillon? Retire Byfuglien's number? Back to video

Many, many questions.

So many, in fact, that some will have to be saved for the next one of these. This first round of them filled two pages in the newspaper, something that won’t mean much to the folks reading this online. Good news, though. These mailbags are coming more frequently, my bosses say.

That means I can get to the questions I couldn’t this time, and you’ll have plenty more opportunities to ask and have me answer more of them.

The passion in the fan base can undoubtedly be felt in my social media mentions and my inbox.

So without further ado, let’s get into some of the burning topics top of mind for fans of the Winnipeg Jets.

If the Jets were to shop Ehlers at the draft or after, what would be the expected value in return? – @shaunmcfaren on X

This question has been a staple in my inbox since the season ended. I see Ehlers being the shakeup to the core of this team. He offers two things for the Jets, were they to shop him rather than trying to find a way to extend his time in Winnipeg, with 2024-25 being the final year on his seven-year, $42-million deal.

1. They look to find a top-four defenceman coming into next season on an expiring deal of their own, someone like Jakob Chychrun in Ottawa, for instance. Others include Jaccob Slavin in Carolina (for my money, a top-three defenceman in the NHL and unlikely to be traded) and guys like Vladislav Gavrikov in L.A. and Shea Theodore in Vegas. I don’t suspect either of those guys will be moved. Chychrun makes sense, especially with the likelihood of Brenden Dillon hitting the open market.

2. The Jets try to recoup what they lost in trade deadline deals over the past two seasons. Sean Monahan cost the Jets a first-round pick this June. Tyler Toffoli cost them a third this year and a second next. Nino Niederreiter, meanwhile, cost the Jets a 2024 second-rounder, although they hold Montreal’s second-round pick this year that they got in the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade with L.A. last summer. Utah leads the way with 13 picks in June, with Montreal second with 12. Montreal picks twice in the first round, including Winnipeg’s pick that was spent for Monahan.

Acquiring picks for Winnipeg would free up $6 million in cap space to use elsewhere come July 1. Plenty of defensive talent is heading to free agency, including right-shot d-men Brett Pesce and Brandon Montour and left shots Brady Skjei and Nikita Zadorov.

I don’t expect teams to shell out top prospects for one year of Ehlers, but perhaps there’s a deal not unlike the Pierre-Luc Dubois one, where the Jets get a young RFA with term and team control left. I will be going more in-depth with this over the next week.

It’s worth noting that Ehlers has a modified no-trade clause, which allows him to submit a 10-team list to the Jets.

Do you think they will try to sign Monahan in the off-season? I know he was a no-show in the playoffs but he has been a fantastic second-line centre during the regular season. As well, what do you think will happen with Laurent Brossoit? -@gramcracker83 on X

Yes. I believe they are actively trying to re-sign Sean Monahan. Somewhere in the four-year range at $4-$4.5 million per annum. I suspect the head coaching search is slowing things down there.

I disagree with the assertion that he was a no-show in the playoffs. He was third on the team with 13 shots and was 50% on faceoffs. Those aren’t poor numbers. The problem is he didn’t score. But a no-show, he wasn’t.

As for Brossoit, he’ll take the pay increase and a chance at more playing time elsewhere. I wouldn’t be shocked if he finds work in a time-share somewhere. He deserves to play more, and the reality in Winnipeg is he won’t.

Realistically, who do you think will be the next head coach? – @kimblebee76 on X

I would have said Scott Arniel a week ago. I still think that’s true, but there is a lot of talent out there. Loyalty has been a fixture of True North over the years, but it hasn’t won them anything of note.

There are a lot of good traits for guys like Craig Berube, a Cup winner who pulls no punches with his players, and Sheldon Keefe, who may not have gotten Toronto over the playoff hump but did very well for a guy whose GMs never really addressed their blue-line or their crease in his time there.

Dean Evason, meanwhile, extracted the best out of a Minnesota team that’s now handcuffed due to oodles of dead cap space.

Todd Nelson knows Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff from their days in the American Hockey League. The longer this process plays out, and with Nelson currently coaching the Hershey Bears at the moment in the Calder Cup playoffs, I wonder if the Jets are waiting for a chance to speak with him.

Arniel knows the players, the organization and the market. Does that equate to getting this team over the playoff hump? I’m not convinced at this point.

How many Dylan/Dillons are on the team next year? – @ceedubR on X

Dylan Samberg is the only guarantee. He’s coming into the final season of his two-year bridge deal and will be a restricted free agent next summer. In terms of the other Dylan — Dylan DeMelo — I’ve heard the Jets are exploring longer-term options with the 31-year-old. He’s a perfect partner for Josh Morrissey and can slide into a depth role for the 2025-26 season when (and if) Elias Salomonsson is ready to be the right shot d-man the Jets envision will play alongside Morrissey.

I’m told Brenden Dillon’s chances of returning are slim to none. Sources say Dillon’s camp hasn’t heard from Cheveldayoff, even as the 33-year-old wished to extend his future in Winnipeg. It’s likely he will hit the open market on July 1 unless some repair work can be done in the next six weeks to mend that relationship.

Dillon is open to that, but the lack of talks throughout the season left a sour taste.

The business side of the game is what it is. Zooming out, re-signing DeMelo gives the Jets options now and longer-term. In the short term, he can continue to partner with Josh Morrissey as an effective top-pairing in the NHL.

Dillon was arguably Winnipeg’s best player in the playoffs — one of the few who really elevated their game to the next level — until his unfortunate hand injury. He had a career year on the scoresheet. He’s physical, something the Jets won’t be able to replace from within.

The Jets need to promote some of their younger talent, which comes at a much cheaper cap hit, and use the money they have left over to improve elsewhere. More on that in the next question.

Do you think Brad Lambert will break 60 points in his rookie season with the Jets? – @kina101053 on X

If Ehlers has moved elsewhere, come the fall, yes. One of the things that makes Ehlers expendable is the speedy Lambert. And he comes in full $5 million less on the salary cap. One of the things the Jets should be able to take advantage of is their young, up-and-coming talent on entry-level deals. This sort of thing will free up valuable cap space to spend elsewhere as they continue to try to build a playoff winner.

The Jets have been reluctant in the past to promote younger talent quickly, but plenty of other teams have shown the way. Take Dallas, for instance, with Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven.

You see this with plenty of teams now, using cheap early contracts from their blue-chip prospects to their advantage. Playing those talented players frees up money on the other end to improve the roster where it’s needed.

It will be important for the Jets moving forward, and they’ll be wise to find a head coach willing to put younger players in situations to succeed.

Why does Jets MGMT put such a premium on experience in the Winnipeg market when making their coaching hires? There are 32 NHL coaching jobs in the world and the Jets lay claim to one of them. Why restrict yourself so much with so many talented coaching prospects out there? – Dustin via email

This may be recency bias at work. Before Bowness, who coached here ages ago before his second stint, no one had any prior experience outside of Claude Noel’s one year at the helm of the Manitoba Moose.

I don’t think the Jets are putting a premium on experience here, even if Arniel is viewed as the frontrunner for the gig, they’re casting a wide net with so much quality in the open market right now. We’ve heard names like Berube, Keefe and Evason, among the biggest who are currently free-agent coaches.

Some would have expected the Jets to hand the reins to Arniel, but they’re showing they’ve learned from the hiring process that brought Bowness here. It’s their duty, especially as a team struggling to sell out their building, to look for the best option, not just the easiest or cheapest.

I don’t think the Jets will be seeking out Tom Watt for a second go.

Do you think the Jets will retire Byfuglien’s jersey and do you think we can expect it anytime soon? – Aaron via email

To answer both: Yes and no. Yes, I believe his number will hang in the rafters one day. No, I don’t think it will come any time soon.

Byfuglien is a legend here, but the way he left didn’t exactly endear himself to the organization that employed him. With time, I think that sort of stuff blows over. We’ve seen that with Paul Kariya in Anaheim and Eric Lindros in Philadelphia. Time heals all, as they say. But I don’t suspect it will be for a while still.

sbilleck@postmedia.com

X: @scottbilleck