As the Stanley Cup Finals between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers approaches, I’m moving on to the 2nd player in the Jets Nation year in review series. If you missed the first one, I covered the Jets forward who led the team in points during both the regular season and playoffs, Kyle Connor. Now it’s time to look at the Jets forward who came close to setting career highs during the final year on his current contract: Nikolaj Ehlers. A fan favourite and one of Denmark’s best NHL players ever, the discussions around Ehlers prior to free agency will be if the Jets can bring him back.

Nikolaj Ehlers, nicknamed “The Great Dane”, “The Danish Dash” or even sometimes “Fly” and “Little Buddy Nik”, is an important piece of the Jets top 6 forward group. This season, Ehlers played almost all of his games on the 2nd line with Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti. It might not feel like it, but this season was Ehlers’ 10th as a Jet since being drafted 9th overall in 2014. The 29 year old from Aalborg, Denmark entered this season on the final year of his contract, and with that motivation of playing for a new contract, he posted near career high numbers in an overall successful season.

When you look at Ehlers’ numbers, you generally expect to see a 20+ goal season with a sizeable amount of assists. This season, Ehlers was limited to 69 regular season games due to lower-body and foot injuries. Ehlers has been injury riddled in his past, but coming off an 82 game season he still managed to exceed most of his stats from the 2023-24 season. In 69 games, Ehlers scored 24 goals (5 shy of his career high 29) and 39 assists (tied for his career best) for 63 points, just 1 point from his career best of 64 in 82 games back in 2016-17.

The foot injury Ehlers suffered at the end of the regular season made him miss the beginning of the 1st round playoff matchup against the St. Louis Blues. In 8 playoff games, Ehlers managed to make an impact, scoring 5 goals and 2 assists for 7 points. After the Jets season was over, Ehlers went over to Denmark to play for his country in the IIHF World Championship. Denmark were one of the co-hosts, and in a completely unexpected result, Denmark beat Canada 2-1 in OT in the Quarterfinals, with Ehlers scoring the game tying goal with minutes to play. Unfortunately Denmark lost in the Semifinals and Bronze Medal game, but after the game against Canada, Ehlers said it was “one of the biggest things I’ve done in my career”.

There may not be any advanced analytics that immediately jump out for Ehlers, but his nickname “Fly” describes why he’s such an important part of the Jets. His exceptional speed, especially on solo zone-entries is a big part of his dynamic play style. Rasmus Kupari might have Ehlers beat for fastest sustained speed at 24.5 MPH, but Ehlers was capable of reaching top speeds of around 23.5 MPH, which still puts him in the “elite” category. From my own observations watching Jets games this year, Ehlers sneakily improved his defensive responsibilities, becoming a more rounded two-way player. These traits make Ehlers a desirable option for almost any team looking to add a forward in free agency in July, which is even more reason for the Jets to get a new deal done.

Of course, the talk about Ehlers now is all about how the Jets can sign him to a new contract. His previous contract of 7 years, $42 million ($6 million AAV) has just ended, and he will now be an unrestricted free agent at age 29. The Jets hope to re-sign Ehlers, and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff knows that at the top of his priority list for this summer will be to make Ehlers a “Jet for life”. According to AFP analytics (a sports analytics consulting firm), Ehlers next contract is projected to be a 6 year deal with an average annual value of $8.1-8.4 million. Certain factors such as the rising salary cap and number of teams interested will impact Ehlers’ next contract, but it’ll be up to him and his agent to decide what makes sense for his middle to late stage of his career.

After reaching near career highs in a shortened season, Ehlers off-season will be an exciting stage of his career as he signs his new contract. But what will next season look like for Ehlers? If he’s back with the Jets, which hopefully will be the case, I expect him to get another 60-70 point season playing as the “main guy” on the Jets 2nd line. If somehow the Jets don’t manage to strike a deal with Ehlers, I would see him playing on a top line on a fringe playoff or rebuilding team. Whatever happens with Ehlers, we’ll be ready to cover the latest news here at Jets Nation, and let me know which player I should cover next on this year in review series. On a side note, this is my 200th article for Jets Nation, so here’s the many more as I enter my 2nd year here!