Nikolaj Ehlers signed a six-year, $51 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. It has an average annual value of $8.5 million.
The 29-year-old forward, who was an unrestricted free agent, had 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists) in 69 regular-season games for the Winnipeg Jets last season and seven points (five goals, two assists) in eight Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"I'm ... very excited about the team in Carolina," Ehlers said Saturday. "They've been a tough team to play against in the past and I like all the young players that are there, and the interest that Carolina has shown was something that obviously helped a lot in the decision-making and made me very excited.
Ehlers said he thinks his speed will translate well to the style the Hurricanes like to play.
"I can create a lot of room for the other guys," he said, "and I believe that I will fit in very nicely, and that's obviously something you look at as well at when you try to make a decision. I talked to (Carolina coach) Rod (Brind'Amour) and we had kind of the same vision about how things are going to go ... the talks that I had with the people in the Canes organization is something that really excited me."
Selected by Winnipeg in the first round (No. 9) of the 2014 NHL Draft, Ehlers has 520 points (225 goals, 295 assists) in 674 regular-season games and 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 45 playoff games.
He's also was one of the first six players named to Denmark's team for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, a group that includes Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen.
"Nikolaj was the top free agent available on July 1, and we are proud that he's chosen to make Carolina his home," Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said. "He’s a highly skilled winger who can really skate and will fit very well with our forward group.
"He had a lot of teams interested in him. He's a great player. I think in the end for him, if he just wanted the most money he could have gotten, he could have gotten more for sure. My understanding is he was looking for the place that felt like the right fit, where he'd be happy, where he had a chance to win, and it turns into a recruiting pitch then. And it's a personal decision, what feels right to him."
Ehlers said it was difficult to leave Winnipeg, but is eager for the opportunity ahead with him with Carolina.
"Obviously, I'm very excited to join the Canes organization," he said. "At the same time, I'm also sad to be leaving an organization that helped me achieve my dream of being an NHL player. I've been in Winnipeg for 10 years, part of the organization for 11, and created a lot of great relationships on and off the ice. ... I loved it there. The organization, the people in it, they became family. For me, it was more about trying something new and challenging myself, getting out and see different things, a different culture. That's what I wanted. To me, it was time, personally, to get out and experience something different."
