Nikolaj Ehlers finds playoff home as Hurricanes' third-line game breaker

AtlanticBruinsCanadiensLightningMaple LeafsPanthersRed WingsSabresSenatorsMetropolitanBlue JacketsCapitalsDevilsFlyersHurricanesIslandersPenguinsRangersCentralAvalancheBlackhawksBluesJetsMammothPredatorsStarsWildPacificCanucksDucksFlamesGolden KnightsKingsKrakenOilersSharksScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsFantasyNHL OddsNHL PicksPlayoff bracketNHL Draft rankingRed Light NewsletterStanley Cup Nikolaj Ehlers' breakaway goal put the finishing touches on Carolina's Game 3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Len Redkoles / NHLI via Getty Images Share articlePHILADELPHIA — Before he turned an arena into a library, Nikolaj Ehlers looked a few feet to his right and said a prayer. With his Carolina Hurricanes holding a 3-1 lead on the Philadelphia Flyers and hunting for a third-period dagger, Ehlers had already started streaking up the left wing when a puck, flipped out of Carolina’s defensive zone by K’Andre Miller, dropped outside the blue line and slid toward center ice. Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook won the battle with Philadelphia defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Jamie Drysdale, chopping the puck into space. That Ehlers would be waiting wasn’t a guarantee — but after 346 regular-season five-on-five minutes spent together, Martinook wasn’t acting on unearned faith, either. “I know (Ehlers) likes to get lost,” Martinook said, “so I guessed right.” Ehlers didn’t break stride. He barely slowed down at all. “I was just — I was praying,” Ehlers said. “I tried to not get in there, because that would just create some chaos. So I tried to stay out and kind of wait to see where he would put that puck.” On his stick, actually. With the bag secured, Ehlers went from fourth gear to fifth, racing for an all-alone breakaway attempt on Flyers goalie Dan Vladar. A simple wrist shot ended things. Carolina took a 4-1 lead in the game and soon secured a 3-0 lead in the series, thanks in part to a neat-and-tidy demonstration of what Ehlers has managed to add to the Hurricanes’ mix without forcing any in-turn sacrifices. Long admired for their puck dominance and commitment to skating, forechecking and process, the Hurricanes have also fallen short when the playoff road narrows and results rule the day. Does their system allow for the sort of game breakers who can swing periods, games and best-of-seven series? Ehlers might be the affirmative answer. “I think any good player would fit anywhere, right? But there’s a willingness to buy into exactly how we want to try to do things,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “And that maybe isn’t always the case, but certainly it is with him.” In 10 years with the Winnipeg Jets, Ehlers received intermittently odd usage but showed himself to be a driver in all three zones, an effective creator of shots and chances, and a solid rush player. And he produced accordingly: In second-line minutes for his final three seasons, he was 17th in the league in five-on-five points per 60 minutes, and by his final season in Winnipeg, he became a power-play weapon, too. “I often wondered when I was watching him with Winnipeg, why that coaching staff didn’t give him better looks — better top offensive looks, both on the power play and five-on-five, because he pushed (defensemen) back,” an NHL scout told The Athletic after Game 4. “He put teams on their heels with his speed and his transition game. And then he leaves, and they instantaneously become old and slow.” That mix of skill, substance and production made Ehlers the best winger available in the 2025 offseason, and an easy fit for a Carolina franchise that had sought premium forward pieces for years. The Hurricanes thought they had found one in January 2025, when they acquired Mikko Rantanen in a blockbuster trade with the Colorado Avalanche. But out he went 42 days later, after he was unwilling to sign a contract extension with his new team. By the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Hurricanes were out as well, thanks in part to a hole in the lineup left behind by Rantanen. On July 3, Ehlers and the Hurricanes agreed on a six-year, $51 million contract — two years and $45 million less than the one Rantanen signed with the Dallas Stars a few days after the NHL trade deadline, when the Hurricanes decided to cut bait. For Ehlers, it wasn’t superstar money. It was certainly, though, top-six money. The thought at the time was that he’d play on a more rush-based line, probably with Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, perhaps with newly minted second-line center Logan Stankoven. There was room, though, for flexibility. “The No. 1 thing we were thinking when we added (Ehlers) was, ‘This is someone who has dynamic skill and creativity that is hard to find,'” Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky told The Athletic. “And anytime you get the opportunity to add a player like that, you wanna take it.” Ehlers played to fine results with both Aho and Stankoven, but Brind’Amour ultimately decided to try him with Jordan Staal and Martinook — matchup players who lack a degree of dynamism but also control the puck more often than they don’t. The Hurricanes immediately liked what they saw; Ehlers had the defensive dedication necessary to hang on the third line and the instincts necessary to provide a jolt of down-the-lineup offense. “He was adding a more dynamic element to their game, and they were providing some ability to recover pucks for him, and it just matched,” Tulsky said. There, Ehlers has found himself on a parallel track with Taylor Hall — veteran wingers with puck skills to burn succeeding in unexpected spots, thanks in part to a willingness to make the additions and subtractions necessary at this particular time of year, on this particular team. “You’re not teaching those guys,” Brind’Amour said Friday. “But there’s always other areas to get better at, that get you the puck back.” In the regular season, Carolina’s expected goals against per 60 were lower with Ehlers on the ice, and their actual goals for per 60 were higher — a sign that he was contributing to their standard level of puck dominance while adding finishing talent. Individually, he put up 26 goals and 45 assists. Staal had his first 20-goal season since 2015-16. Martinook, meanwhile, often found himself “mesmerized” by his linemate’s skating and puck skills. “There’s so many times where we’re getting out of the D zone, but instead of maybe making a couple passes to get in there, (Ehlers) just carries it and can create so much space with the way that he skates,” Martinook said. “Me and (Staal), we want him to have the puck as much as possible, but when we can get in on the forecheck and try and get him to have his space, it’s something that’s a benefit for us.” In six playoff games together — Ehlers missed Game 4 against the Ottawa Senators with a lower-body injury — the process has remained sound. The Staal-Ehlers-Martinook line controls an expected goal share of nearly 60 percent, and while Ehlers managed just one assist in Carolina’s sweep of the Senators, he led the Hurricanes in scoring-chance contributions. Against the Flyers, as Stankoven’s pace has slowed and the Svechnikov-Aho-Seth Jarvis line has searched for its footing, Ehlers has now scored in consecutive games and flashed all over the ice. He’s using his speed, converting linemate-created space and chaos into prime opportunities and serving as proof that “strength in numbers” is a viable course of action. “(Staal and Martinook) work their asses off,” Ehlers said. “They create a lot of room, a lot of space for me to use my speed and get into the open areas. As for my role, I’m trying to go out there and do anything I can to help this team win every single game. Yes, we do have different roles. Everybody has a slightly different role — but at the same time, we all need to do the same things to help this team win, and we’re prepared to do that.” That certainly sounds like a player who’s found the balance between Brind’Amour’s non-negotiables and what he, individually, is expected to bring to the lineup. It’s also a player who senses that he landed in the right spot. “I believed that this team had the pieces to keep competing in the playoffs,” Ehlers said. “And I wanted to be a part of that. And now being here for my first full season, I know I was right.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms