Nikolaj Ehlers

Nikolaj Ehlers (born 14 February 1996) is a Danish professional ice hockey forward for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ehlers previously played ice hockey in Switzerland, where his father Heinz was a coach, and then moved to North America in 2013 to play with the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). After one year with Halifax he was selected ninth overall by the Jets in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, and spent one more season in juniors before making the NHL in 2015.

Nikolaj Ehlers
Ehlers in 2014
Born (1996-02-14) 14 February 1996
Aalborg, Denmark
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 172 lb (78 kg; 12 st 4 lb)
Position Left wing
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Winnipeg Jets
EHC Biel
National team  Denmark
NHL Draft 9th overall, 2014
Winnipeg Jets
Playing career 2013–present

Internationally Ehlers has played for Denmark at both the junior and senior level, including at three World Championships.

Playing career

Junior

Ehlers played youth and junior hockey in Switzerland within the EHC Biel organization. He played in the 2009 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Swiss Eastern team.[1] He made his National League A debut at age 16 (and was thus the youngest player in the league at the time), playing with the senior EHC Biel squad during the 2012–13 NLA season,[2] one which he predominantly spent playing with the U20 team.[3]

After being drafted sixth overall by the Halifax Mooseheads in the 2013 CHL Import Draft, Ehlers joined the team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for the 2013–14 season.[4][5][6] Following a strong start to the season, he received a top-25 (number 22) mid-term ranking amongst North American skaters for the 2014 NHL Draft.[7][8]

On 2 September 2014, the Jets announced that they had signed Ehlers to a three-year entry level contract.[9] Ehlers was returned to junior for a second season with the Halifax Mooseheads for the 2014–15 season. Ehlers finished third in QMJHL regular season scoring in posting back-to-back 100 point seasons. Ehlers was leading the QMJHL in playoff scoring upon elimination with 31 points in just 14 games.

Professional

On 22 April 2015, Ehlers was recalled to the Winnipeg Jets post-season run which ended the same day.[10] Ehlers returned to the Jets training camp for the 2015–16 season and started the regular season with the team, playing in his first NHL game on 8 October 2015 in Boston. He scored his first NHL goal against the New York Rangers at the Madison Square Garden on 13 October 2015.[11] He scored his first NHL hat-trick on 26 January 2016 against the Arizona Coyotes in Winnipeg.[12] On 4 October 2017, Ehlers signed a seven-year extension with the Jets.[13]

International play

Ehlers at the 2014 World Junior Division IA
Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing Denmark Denmark
World U18 Division I Championship
Gold medal – first place 2013 Asiago
World Junior Division I Championship
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sanok
World Junior A Challenge
Silver medal – second place 2014 Kindersley

Internationally, Ehlers has played for the Danish U18 national team at the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships Division I-A tournament and the U20 national team at the Division I-A grouping of the 2014 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.[14] He largely contributed to helping Denmark gain promotion in each tournament.

Personal life

Ehlers was born in Denmark but moved to Germany at a young age while his father, Heinz, played hockey there. Heinz played in several leagues in Europe, and was selected by the New York Rangers in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, though he never played in North America. After his playing career Heinz became a coach, and currently is the head coach of the SCL Tigers in the Swiss National League A. Ehlers would later move back to Denmark for several years, and then to Switzerland in 2007 when his father took up a coaching position.[15] Sebastian Ehlers, Nikolaj's older brother by three years, is currently playing for the Odense Bulldogs in the AL-Bank Ligaen, the top league in Denmark. He also has a younger sister, Caroline.[5] Charlotte Checkers centre Alexander True is Ehlers' cousin.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
2011–12 EHC Biel SUI U17 745912 —————
2011–12 EHC Biel SUI U20 281717346 —————
2012–13 EHC Biel SUI U20 3226234934 —————
2012–13 EHC Biel NLA 111120 70330
2013–14 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 63495510451 1611172818
2014–15 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 51376410167 1410213114
2015–16 Winnipeg Jets NHL 7215233821 —————
2016–17 Winnipeg Jets NHL 8225396438 —————
2017–18 Winnipeg Jets NHL 8229316026 150772
2018–19 Winnipeg Jets NHL 6221163715 60000
2019–20 Winnipeg Jets NHL 7125335830 42022
2020–21 Winnipeg Jets NHL 4721254615 62132
2021–22 Winnipeg Jets NHL 6228275520 —————
2022–23 Winnipeg Jets NHL 4512263811 10000
NHL totals 523176220396176 3248126

International
Year Team Event GPGAPtsPIM
2013 Denmark WJC18 D1A 538112
2014 Denmark WJC D1A 52464
2014 Denmark WJAC 46394
2015 Denmark WJC 51342
2016 Denmark WC 84264
2016 Denmark OGQ 3 1 1 2 0
2017 Denmark WC 704418
2021 Denmark OGQ 3 5 4 9 2
2022 Denmark WC 71672
Junior totals 1912183012
Senior totals 2811172826

Awards and honours
Award Year
QMJHL
RDS Cup 2013–14 [16]
Michael Bossy Trophy 2013–14 [16]
Paul Dumont Trophy 2014–15 [17]
First All-Star Team 2014–15 [17]
International
World Junior A Challenge Most Valuable Player 2014

References
  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  2. Nikolaj Ehlers till canadisk mesterhold
  3. Eliteprospects.com - 2012–13 EHC Biel player statistics
  4. Ehlers sur l'ecran radar
  5. Ehlers excited to call Halifax home for hockey
  6. Help from across the pond
  7. Ehlers gets high mid-term draft ranking Archived 3 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine on metronews.ca
  8. NHL Central Scouting Service mid-term draft rankings
  9. Penton, Kirk (2 September 2014). "Jets sign 2014 top draft pick Nikolaj Ehlers to entry-level contract". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  10. "Jets recall Nik Ehlers". Winnipeg Jets. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  11. "Jets'Nikolaj Ehlers: Scores first NHL goal on power play". CBS Sports. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  12. NHL.com (27 January 2016). "Jets' Ehlers fourth rookie with hat trick in January". Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  13. "Jets extend Nikolaj Ehlers". NHL.com. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  14. "Nik Ehlers profile". eurohockey.com. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  15. Campbell, Tim (17 October 2015). "Dynamic Dane's dynamite dad". Winnipeg Free Press. WinnipegFreePress.com. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  16. "The Golden Puck Awards". oursportscentral.com. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  17. "The Golden Puck Awards: an unforgettable evening!". QMJHL. 9 April 2015.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nikolaj Ehlers.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.