Heading into July 1, there really weren’t many game-changing players that were projected to hit the market. With free agency coming early and a lot of players deciding to stay with their original teams, there were only five forwards who scored over 40 points last season.

One of those players was Nikolaj Ehlers. Outside of Mitch Marner, Ehlers was considered the next-best forward on the market. While there was certainly a lot of interest out there, the Danish forward decided to wait a few days before committing to his next home.

He ended that wait earlier on Thursday afternoon, when he picked his team:

The Carolina Hurricanes were the winners of the sweepstakes, signing Ehlers to a six-year, $51 million contract, which carries an average annual value (AAV) of $8.5 million.

Ehlers spent his entire 10-year career with the Winnipeg Jets, notching 225 goals and 530 points in 674 career games, good for a career 0.79 points-per-game. The 29-year-old is a speedy winger who has demonstrated the ability to drive his own line, as evidenced by his trust to run the second line away from Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele.

However, that might have been the downfall for the Jets as Ehlers made it clear he wanted a chance to prove he can play higher in the lineup. Now signing in Carolina, it appears he’s going to get that opportunity.

The Hurricanes were the favourites to land the highly-skilled winger as they entered the offseason with $29.2 million in cap space, with only a few roster spots to fill. Carolina has been searching for high-end offensive talent for years.

While they had a forward corps highlighted by the likes of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis, they lacked that true superstar. The organization made a significant move by shipping out Martin Necas and other assets to acquire Mikko Rantanen. But when the Finnish winger did not show interest in extending with the Hurricanes, they quickly moved him for 22-year-old Logan Stankoven.

Now to put our Canucks-tinted glasses on.

There were no reports indicating that the Canucks were targeting Ehlers, nor that he wanted to sign with another Canadian team. Vancouver used all of their cap space when they chose to re-sign their longest-tenured Canuck, Brock Boeser, which essentially solidified as being out of the running for Ehlers. However, it is nice to see Ehlers move out of the Western Conference, and only have to play him twice a season. The 5’11” winger had seven goals and 17 points in 28 career games against the Canucks.

With Ehlers off the board, the top remaining forwards on the market are Jack Roslovic, Jeff Skinner and Victor Olofsson. The Canucks are trying to move out money (Dakota Joshua and Teddy Blueger) in order to bring in another middle-six centre to pair with Filip Chytil. They’ve shown interest in Roslovic in the past. So, maybe we’ll see them move out money to make an effort to bring the former Hurricane.