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Christian Ehrhoff plays through contract uncertainty at World Cup

TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 25: Christian Ehrhoff #10 of Team Europe reacts during the third period against Team Sweden at the semifinal game during the World Cup of Hockey tournament at Air Canada Centre on September 25, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Christian Ehrhoff of Team Europe reacts during the third period against Team Sweden at the semifinal game during the World Cup of Hockey tournament at Air Canada Centre on September 25, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. (Getty Images)

TORONTO – Christian Ehrhoff isn’t worried that he doesn’t have a professional hockey contract for the upcoming season.

The Team Europe defenseman knows he’ll sign somewhere after the tournament. At the age of 34 and after a down year that spot may not be in the NHL, but the World Cup of Hockey has shown Ehrhoff can at least hold his own against the NHL’s best in a short tournament.

“There’s no stress level. For me it’s not a big deal. I know I can play somewhere in this world if I want to, so it’s not that I will sit at home and not do anything,” Ehrhoff said. “I feel good about my game and I just focus on the next task with Team Europe.”

Before this tournament, it appeared Ehrhoff’s days in the NHL were over. Last season continued a stretch of struggles for Ehrhoff that have dated back for several years.

In his last year with the Vancouver Canucks in 2010-11 and Ehrhoff had 14 goals and 50 points in 79 games played. This led to him cashing in on an unrestricted free agent contract with the Buffalo Sabres for 10 years at $40 million. That’s when the drop-off started, and since then Ehrhoff never recovered.

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His best season production-wise since the new deal was 2013-14 where he had 33 points. Buffalo bought him out the summer of 2014, and Ehrhoff then signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins where he had a 0.29 points per-game total.

Last season Ehrhoff’s downward trend continued with a 0.25 points per-game average between the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks.

“Last year definitely wasn’t a good year. The fit in LA wasn’t right and then in Chicago I didn’t really play that much. (Coach Joel Quenneville) had other plans with the younger guys so it was definitely a tough year for me,” Ehrhoff said. “I had a good finish at the World Championship to get some confidence and got a good summer of training and then made the Olympics with Germany, which was huge and boosted my confidence too and I thought I’ve played well so far (at the World Cup).”

Considering some of Ehrhoff’s health issues, which included a concussion that limited him to 49 games in 2014-15, it wouldn’t have been a shock if he decided to not continue his pro hockey career after 2015-16.

But he’s here at the World Cup, and has played meaningful minutes for Europe. Ehrhoff has notched three assists in five games played and has teamed up with Mark Streit as a solid defense pair for Europe.

“He has been an important part of what many questioned before the tournament – that was our defensive core, whether we could find six defenseman to hold this level right through,” Europe coach Ralph Krueger said.

His teammates have marveled at this ability to still play well without having any sort of contractual security moving forward. A lot have noted they may not have been able to handle such issues with the same type of ‘no worries’ manner as Ehrhoff.

“I mean I guess it depends on how you look at it. It can definitely be very stressful,” Europe captain Anze Kopitar said. “I can’t imagine being without a contract and playing for a job.”

They’ve also noted that playing well against the world’s top players could make him more attractive to a team looking to add some cheap defensive veteran depth.

“Does it suck? I’m sure it’s not very fun for him but at the same time what a great opportunity for him to showcase himself,” Europe forward Thomas Vanek said. “To me he has looked real relaxed. Obviously he wants to keep playing, that’s why he’s here and he’s showing and working hard.”

Added Vanek, “I’m sure he’ll get something. The game is going younger, a lot of teams are high on their young guys until you probably play a few games and see you might need a little more seasoning and then guys like Christian getting a chance.”

Ehrhoff said he hasn’t had much contact with his agent during the World Cup outside of a couple of conversations. The plan is to decide on his future after the event, which now looks more promising than it did before the World Cup.

“I think he has played really well for us,” Kopitar said. “Obviously I know for whatever reason things in LA didn’t work out for him as good as he would have liked I’m sure. It’s definitely nice to see right now that he has been playing good and has been a big part of our blueline.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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