The Carolina Hurricanes signed free-agent forward Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year deal with an annual average value of $8.5 million, the team announced Thursday.

"Nikolaj was the top free agent available on July 1, and we are proud that he's chosen to make Carolina his home," said Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky. "He's a highly skilled winger who can really skate and will fit very well with our forward group."

Ehlers spent the last 10 seasons with the Winnipeg Jets, who drafted him ninth overall in 2014. The 29-year-old ends his tenure in Manitoba ranked fifth on the franchise's all-time points list (521) and seventh in games played (674).

His previous contract paid him $6 million annually over the past seven seasons.

Ehlers registered 63 points in 69 games this past season despite only averaging 15:48 per contest.

The Denmark native is one of the league's fastest players and instantly upgrades a Carolina forward group that features stars Sebastian Aho, Logan Stankoven, Andrei Svechnikov, and Seth Jarvis.

The Hurricanes recently swung a blockbuster trade with the New York Rangers to acquire defenseman K'Andre Miller. Carolina has reached the Eastern Conference Final three times since 2019, including this past spring, but hasn't found a way to get over the hump.

The Jets are left with $19 million in cap space with Ehlers out of the picture. Gabe Vilardi, Morgan Barron, and Dylan Samberg are Winnipeg's most prominent players in need of new contracts.