Skip to content
Ice Lab

Left wing · #27

Nikolaj Ehlers

Winnipeg Jets Carolina Hurricanes(traded during the season)
Age
30
Shoots
Left
Height
183 cm
Weight
76 kg
Born
Aalborg, DNK
Draft
2014, round 1, #9 (WPG)

Career · 2015–16 to 2026–27

Games
760
Goals
251
Points
593
TOI per game
16:27
xGF% (5v5)
52.9%
Goals above expected
+49.9
ShowAll teamsWinnipeg JetsCarolina Hurricanes

Season by season

The regular-season line for each season, with the total, by team for traded players.

2015–16WPG72152338+316:061679.0%1113.751.9%
2016–17WPG82253964+117:2920412.3%1222.351.1%
2017–18WPG82293160+1416:0523112.6%1320.852.4%
2018–19WPG62211637+215:4615813.3%714.451.4%
2019–20WPG71253358+1416:3120312.3%516.946.1%
2020–21WPG47212546+1516:5514814.2%1312.750.3%
2021–22WPG62282755+1818:0424511.4%925.552.4%
2022–23WPG45122638−215:391329.1%1212.955.1%
2023–24WPG82253661+2715:5223310.7%720.456.4%
2024–25WPG69243963+1415:4817413.8%2220.255.8%
2025–26CAR82264571+816:3620712.6%2920.457.9%
2026–27CAR4022−216:5990.0%20.948.8%
Total2 teams760251342593+11216:272,11111.9%142201.152.9%

Form

Rolling averages smooth out single games so the trend shows.

Form, ten-game rolling

Points and individual expected goals per game (left scale), averaged over the previous ten games. Ice time is on the second chart.

Points per gameixG per gameTOI per game (minutes)
00.511.52100200300400500600700
14m16m18m20m100200300400500600700Game

Player card

Model-based

How 2015–16 to 2026–27 compares with everyone else at the position over the same seasons, and the players with the most similar profile.

Overall rating

1st line

98th percentile among qualified forwards, blending scoring 40%, play-driving 40%, usage 20%.

  1. 1st line
  2. 2nd line
  3. 3rd line
  4. 4th line
  5. Extra / AHL

Scoring

1st line
  • Goals /601.2095th pct
  • Assists /601.6495th pct
  • ixG /600.9685th pct
  • Goals above expected+49.998th pct

Play-driving

1st line
  • xGF% (5v5)52.9%86th pct
  • CF% (5v5)54.1%95th pct
  • Relative xGF%+2.786th pct
  • Penalty diff /600.8399th pct

Usage

1st line
  • TOI per game16:2782nd pct
  • PP time share44.1%82nd pct
  • Offensive zone starts67.7%87th pct
  • Quality of competition24.8%83rd pct

Percentiles among forwards with 200+ minutes at 5-on-5 and 20+ games. Ratings rank each column's average percentile among the same players and read it as a role on a depth chart (how).

Most similar players this season

  1. Conor GarlandARI/VAN/CBJ0.97
  2. Jared McCannVAN/FLA/PIT/SEA0.96
  3. Oliver BjorkstrandCBJ/SEA/TBL0.96
  4. Jack HughesNJD0.95
  5. David PastrnakBOS0.94
  6. Nathan MacKinnonCOL0.93

Faceoffs

How often Ehlers wins the draw over 2015–16 to 2026–27, against whom and where, and what a win leads to. Ranked among players with 2154+ draws over the same seasons.

Win rate

33.3%

30–60 · below the 2154 draws of a regular

Against an average centre

33.6%

Opponents won 50.3% of their draws; an average centre would have won 49.7% against them.

Wins above average

−15

Draws won beyond what an average centre facing the same opponents would have won.

Draws per game

1.3

90 draws in all.

By dot, attacking to the right

25%4 · −2.535%52 · +1.825%16 · −1.733%3 · 0.033%3 · −1.30%1 · –44%9 · +7.550%2 · +2.3Attacking zone →← Defending zone

Win rate at each dot; the small numbers are draws and the xG swing (×100) of winning rather than losing there.

By zone

  • Offensive zone32.4% 22–46
  • Neutral zone27.3% 3–8
  • Defensive zone45.5% 5–6

By strength

  • Even strength32.0% 24–51
  • Power play40.0% 6–9

What a win leads to

Shot attempts in the next 20 seconds, for minus against, per 100 draws: +33 after a win, +17 after a loss. Each win was worth 1.6 expected goals per 100 draws more than a loss.

Most-faced opponents

Season by season

SeasonDrawsWin rateAgainst average
2015–1620.0%-7.0%
2016–1740.0%3.9%
2017–18955.6%56.2%
2018–19250.0%54.1%
2019–2020.0%-0.9%
2020–211100.0%102.4%
2021–22366.7%68.0%
2022–23250.0%54.9%
2023–241526.7%25.6%
2024–251926.3%26.3%
2025–263135.5%35.8%

Finishing

Model-based

Did the goals match the chances?

Goals against expected goals

Cumulative goals (solid) and individual xG (dashed) through the season. The gap is finishing: above the dashed line, the player scored more than an average shooter would from the same chances.

+49.9 goals above expected

050100150200250100200300400500600700Game

Goals above expected, everyone at the same position with 20+ games

−500+50+100

Speed and tracking

From the NHL's EDGE tracking system (2021–22 on): skating speed, shot speed, distance and zone time, for the selected seasons and then every tracked season, to show improvement or decline.

Tracking data (NHL EDGE)

Values from the NHL's puck and player tracking, with the NHL's own league percentile for each. Missing values mean the player wasn't tracked enough.

Tracking

  • Top skating speed34.2 km/h49th pct
  • Speed bursts over 20 mph1292nd pct
  • Hardest shot123.4 km/h49th pct
  • Distance skated18 km89th pct
  • Offensive-zone time45.2%78th pct
Tracking, season by season

Each season against the other forwards that season with 20+ games. A season in progress appears once half its games are played, as provisional: season bests only grow. Bursts and distance are per 60 minutes of ice time, so seasons with fewer games still compare. Percentiles are on these rates, so they can differ from the NHL's, which are on season totals.

This playerMedian forwardMiddle half (25th–75th percentile)Hollow dot: too few games to rank, or a season in progress (*, dashed). Dotted line: no NHL games that season.

Top skating speed

37.2 km/h84th pct

▼ −0.3 km/h since 2024–25

34353637383921–2222–2323–2424–2525–262021–22: 37.8 km/h, 96th percentile (62 games)2022–23: 37.1 km/h, 87th percentile (45 games)2023–24: 37.7 km/h, 94th percentile (82 games)2024–25: 37.5 km/h, 92nd percentile (69 games)2025–26: 37.2 km/h, 84th percentile (82 games)

Bursts over 20 mph per 60

8.076th pct

▼ −0.4 since 2024–25

05101521–2222–2323–2424–2525–262021–22: 10.3, 88th percentile (62 games)2022–23: 12.4, 94th percentile (45 games)2023–24: 9.9, 87th percentile (82 games)2024–25: 8.4, 78th percentile (69 games)2025–26: 8.0, 76th percentile (82 games)

Distance skated per 60

15.7 km64th pct

▲ +0.0 km since 2024–25

14.51515.51616.521–2222–2323–2424–2525–262021–22: 15.5 km, 47th percentile (62 games)2022–23: 15.8 km, 72nd percentile (45 games)2023–24: 15.9 km, 74th percentile (82 games)2024–25: 15.7 km, 56th percentile (69 games)2025–26: 15.7 km, 64th percentile (82 games)

Hardest shot

150.7 km/h93rd pct

▼ −0.5 km/h since 2024–25

13014015016021–2222–2323–2424–2525–262021–22: 153.1 km/h, 87th percentile (62 games)2022–23: 152.9 km/h, 90th percentile (45 games)2023–24: 148.7 km/h, 79th percentile (82 games)2024–25: 151.1 km/h, 92nd percentile (69 games)2025–26: 150.7 km/h, 93rd percentile (82 games)

Offensive-zone time

46.9%97th pct

▲ +2.2 points since 2024–25

38%40%42%44%46%48%21–2222–2323–2424–2525–262021–22: 43.6%, 74th percentile (62 games)2022–23: 46.8%, 95th percentile (45 games)2023–24: 44.1%, 77th percentile (82 games)2024–25: 44.7%, 85th percentile (69 games)2025–26: 46.9%, 97th percentile (82 games)