How a Fly helped add to the buzz of the Carolina Hurricanes’ NHL playoff push
After 10 years with the Winnipeg Jets, Nikolaj Ehlers came to the Carolina Hurricanes before this NHL season with eyes wide open, making a new start with a new team in a different conference.
It wasn’t so much a leap of faith for Ehlers. The forward was a highly sought free agent and agreed to a six-year, $51 million contract. It also allowed him to join an old friend from Denmark, goalie Frederik Andersen. So how’s it gone?
“I think he’s been great,” said Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, who chooses his words carefully.
Ehlers, called “Fly” by his teammates and coaches, has 26 goals and has set career highs in assists (45) and points (71) after being a consistently productive player with the Jets. He has played every game on a team that won the Metropolitan Division and finished first in the Eastern Conference with 113 points.
“I think overall, for myself, it has been challenging but in a fun way, just getting settled in, new city, new team, new teammates, new system,” Ehlers said in an N&O interview. “The way we play, it’s all about skating and playing fast and that’s my biggest strength, my skating.”
Ehlers finds his line
Ehlers opened the season on Sebastian Aho’s line with Seth Jarvis. He later was playing on Logan Stankoven’s line with winger Jackson Blake when Brind’Amour made an intriguing change: Ehlers to Jordan Staal’s line opposite Jordan Martinook.
That raised some eyebrows at the time — the swift winger with two of the Canes’ best checking forwards. Turns out, it was a good combination, but …
“It could have gone horribly, you know what I mean?” Ehlers said, quickly smiling. “But it hasn’t. You look to find different ways to improve the team, and I think at that time they were looking for something a little bit different. ‘Blakey’ and ‘Stank’ and I played well together and created a lot and didn’t give up much, and those two were super fun to play with, but I think with ‘Jordo’ and ‘Marty’ that gives us a different look on that line.
“Those two guys, the way they play the game, they play it right and they play it hard every single game. For me, it’s been fun to play with them. They create a lot of room, a lot of space for me to use my strengths.”
Adjusting on the ... fly
With the Canes resting several regulars Monday against the Flyers, Ehlers was on Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s line with winger Bradly Nadeau. He set up Nadeau for a first-period goal with a no-look pass from behind the net, then scored with a quick-release shot from a sharp angle.
The Canes couldn’t hold the 2-0 lead but earned a point in the 3-2 shootout loss to clinch first place in the Eastern Conference heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“You play with ‘Fly’ and you’re going to get some opportunities,” Brind’Amour said after the game. “He’s such a creative player.”
But there was another play in the game that Brind’Amour also had to like, showing Ehlers’ commitment to playing both ends of the ice.
In the second period, after the Flyers scored twice for a 2-2 tie, there was a faceoff in the Canes zone that led to a scramble for the puck in the corner. Ehlers was positioned near the top of the slot, shadowing Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale when he saw Flyers forward Matvei Michkov alone in front of goalie Brandon Bussi.
Ehlers quickly skated in to get his stick on a centering pass to Michkov, who had scored Philly’s first goal. Ehlers corralled the puck along the boards and skated it to the blue line, where he cleared the zone.
“We already knew the offense was there. But that other end of the rink, he certainly has shown is a priority,” Brind’Amour said. “Veteran players that are really good players, they know they can make adjustments. It’s just a willingness to change their game a little. But he’s been great about it and it shows in his play.”
It’s an adjustment, Ehlers said, that has continued throughout the season and still continues as he learned the Canes’ strain-and-stress style of tight-checking defense.
“It’s definitely something new,” Ehlers said. “With my skating, that part wasn’t so difficult to adapt to. It’s more the timing of it. And just getting to know your teammates out on the ice, where they’re going to be, how they play the game, how they read the game.
“So I’m still getting used to it, without a doubt. It’s not as easy as just moving to a different team when you’ve been with the same team for 10 years.”
Unfinished business
Ehlers scored again Tuesday as the Canes closed out the regular season with a 2-1 road win over the New York Islanders. It was his 82nd game, making him the only player to be in the lineup every game — defenseman Sean Walker played 81, sitting out the last game as Brind’Amour gave him the night off.
With the regular season completed, the Canes are preparing to face the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Ehlers is eager to enter the playoffs with his new team, eager to contribute, be a difference-maker.
It has been a good season. The Canes have won, set team records. Ehlers, 30, enjoyed joining Andersen in competing for Denmark in the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics — “A super proud moment,” he said.
Ehlers played his 700th career game this season. He notched his sixth and seventh hat tricks. It has been memorable.
What’s missing? It’s still out there to be won.
This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 5:30 AM with the headline "How a Fly helped add to the buzz of the Carolina Hurricanes’ NHL playoff push."
