RALEIGH 鈥� Nikolaj Ehlers is waving goodbye to the Winnipeg Jets.
The winger signed a six-year, US$51-million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, the third day of NHL free agency.
鈥淣ikolaj was the top free agent available on July 1, and we are proud that he鈥檚 chosen to make Carolina his home,鈥� Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a highly-skilled winger who can really skate and will fit very well with our forward group."
The 29-year-old selected ninth overall at the 2014 draft spent a decade in the Manitoba capital, where he put up 225 goals and 295 assists for 520 points in 674 regular-season games.
Ehlers added 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 45 playoff contests.
His contract is the most lucrative of any signed by an unrestricted free agent who left his team this week, and $250,000 more than Brock Boeser got to re-sign with Vancouver.
The only bigger contracts have been K'Andre Miller's eight years and $60 million 鈥� also with Carolina in a sign and trade from the New York Rangers 鈥� and Ivan Provorov staying with Columbus for $59.5 million over the next seven seasons.
鈥淔rom first-round pick to the highest-scoring Danish player in NHL history, and all the countless memories in between, thank you for everything, Fly,鈥� the Jets posted on social media. 鈥淎ll the best in Carolina.鈥�
Ehlers joins a Hurricanes' core that has reached the playoffs seven consecutive seasons under coach Rod Brind'Amour with two trips to the Eastern Conference final over the past three springs.
The six-foot, 172-pound Dane has topped 60 points four times in his career despite averaging just 16 minutes 26 seconds of ice time and often only seeing time on Winnipeg's second power-play unit.
He scored at least 20 goals in eight of his 10 NHL seasons, including a career-high 29 in 2017-18.
The Jets are coming off a campaign that saw them capture the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top regular-season team.
Winnipeg advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a dramatic seven-game victory over the St. Louis Blues before losing out to the Dallas Stars 4-2.
Ehlers registered five goals and two assists in his eight post-season contests this spring.
He has also suited up for Denmark at five world championships and three Olympic qualifying tournaments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2025.
The Canadian Press
