Kristen Shiltonjul 3, 2025, 03:40 PM ET
Closekristen Shilton is ESPN’s national NHL reporter.
The Carolina hurricane signed the offseason and advanced Nick Ehlers on Thursday to a six-year, $51 million contract.
Ehlers were the ultimate well-known unlimited free agent after it officially opened on Tuesday.
“Nicolazi was the top free agent available on July 1st. I’m proud that he chose to turn Carolina home,” GM Eric Tarski said. “He’s a very skilled winger, he really skates and will fit in very well with our forward group.”
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The Winger scored 225 goals and 520 points in 674 games over the entire decade with the Winnipeg Jets, drafted 9th overall in 2014. The Ehlers have already covered 20 goals in eight seasons, averaging nearly 16 minutes of games, both 5-5 and power play.
The 29-year-old is off one of his best seasons after scoring 24 goals and scoring 63 points in 69 games. Winnipeg won the franchise’s first presidential trophy awarded to the league’s top teams with a 122-point campaign strength, with the Ehlers adding five goals and seven points to the playoff game as the Jets fought in a second-round postseason loss against Dallas.
Carolina is looking to add scoring wingers like Ehlers over the long term for over a year. Former GM Don Waddell brought Jake Gunzel to the 2024 trade deadline to boost the hurricane, but Gunzel eventually left with a free agency. Tarsky then tried to improve the hurricane ahead of time by acquiring Mikko Lantanen in January through trade with Colorado.
Although the partnership was not intended, Tarsky was forced to trade him again as Rantanen revealed he would not re-sign with Carolina as he was an unlimited free agent not pending afterwards, and so he was forced to trade him again (with the Stars this time). Tarsky also attempted to acquire then-Toronto Maple Leafs Forward Mitch Marner at a deadline, but Marner refused to waive his trade clauses to complete the transaction.
The Hurricane may have used help from somewhere. Carolina was the top 10 team offensively in the 2024-25 regular season, averaging 3.24 goals per game, but that number fell below 3 in the playoffs, with Carolina struggling to consistently score the front line, especially in the Eastern Conference Finals against Florida.
Now, the Hurricane has a purely offensive threat to the Ehlers who have committed to the franchise. He should slip into top six roles and raise potential new linemates like Sebastian Aho and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
