By Matthew Davis

The Carolina Hurricanes made one of the biggest signings of the NHL offseason on Thursday by landing forward Nik Ehlers.

Carolina signed the former longtime Winnipeg Jets star to a six-year, $15 million deal. Ehlers has 225 goals and 295 assists in 674 career games. He’s considered the last of the bigger-name players available after free agency began on Tuesday.

“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 in a statement. “He’s a highly skilled winger who can really skate and will fit very well with our forward group.”

Ehlers played well last season with 24 goals and 39 assists in 69 games. He helped lead the Jets to the President’s Trophy for the first time ever with a league-best record of 122 points. The Jets thanked him in a social media post on Thursday.

“From first-round pick to the highest-scoring Danish player in NHL history, and all the countless memories in between, thank you for everything, fly. All the best in Carolina,” the Jets posted.

Carolina needed scoring after coming up short against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the playoffs. Ehlers will add another scoring threat to a team that finished ninth in scoring last season amid 3.24 goals per game.

Carolina has reached seven straight playoffs and made the Eastern Conference finals twice in the past three years.

Other Big-Name Free Agent Signings

Numerous teams made big moves amid NHL free agency this week in an attempt to close the gap on the two-time defending cup champion Panthers.

The New York Rangers bettered its roster by signing defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven-year, $49 million deal on Tuesday. Gavrikov led the NHL in blocked shots at 140, and he had five goals and 25 assists in 82 games last season for the Los Angeles Kings.

A Russia native, Gavrikov has 29 goals and 106 assists in his career with the Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets, which drafted him in 2015. He also won an Olympic gold medal in 2018 in addition to all of his other international competition appearances from men’s World Junior Championship tournaments to Men’s World Championship tournaments.

New York gets a versatile and experienced defensive player in the process. In addition, the Rangers can move other players to free up salary cap space as Gavrikov is poised to be a top-line player.

Star defenseman Ivan Provorov signed a seven-year contract extension of $8.5 million to stay with the Blue Jackets. Provorov tallied 33 points, and he had a plus-minus rating of plus-11 last season.

Defenseman Ryan Lindgren headed further west by signing a seven-year deal with $4.5 million annually with the Seattle Kraken. That’s after his short stint with the Colorado Avalanche in the second half of last season following a trade from the Rangers.

Star forward Mikael Granlund, meanwhile, left the Dallas Stars for the Anaheim Ducks in free agency on a three-year deal worth $7 million annually. Granlund posted 65 points between his time with the Stars and the San Jose Sharks, which traded him during the season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs made a pair of quick moves right before free agency on Tuesday by re-signing and trading right wing Mitch Marner. Toronto gave him a contract of $12 million annually and then traded him to the Vegas Golden Knights for forward Nicolas Roy.

The Vancouver Canucks secured one of their own on Tuesday by re-signing right wing Brock Boeser to a seven-year, $50.75 million deal. Vancouver had firm intentions all year to re-sign Boeser, but it was still uncertain for him as free agency loomed.

“It was a roller coaster. My head was spinning a lot during this time,” Boeser told NHL.com on Wednesday. “I definitely didn’t think that this was going to happen. A phone call in the last hour changed everything and I’m just happy that we could find common ground and work something out.”

Florida also got busy in free agency by re-signing forward Sam Bennett with an eight-year, $64 million contract, defenseman Aaron Ekblad with an eight-year, $48.8 million contract, and Brad Marchand with a six-year, $31.5 million contract extension. All three played key roles in the Panthers’ latest Stanley Cup win, and Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.