RALEIGH, N.C. — The most dangerous time for NHL general managers is the opening of free agency, when hundreds of millions of dollars are handed out to waiting players.

It’s fair to say Carolina Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky has no regrets about signing Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year, $51 million contract last July 3.

After a slow start to the season — six games before his first point and 12 games before his first goal — the 30-year-old is on pace to have a career-best season.

With an assist in a loss to Ottawa on Sunday, Ehlers set new career highs in assists (41) and points (65). His six game-winning goals lead the Hurricanes and are one shy of the most he’s had in a season.

It’s only the first year of Ehlers’ six-year deal, but he’s already making a case for being the best unrestricted free agent signing since the team relocated to North Carolina.

Here is a look at his competition.

The gray-area casesMatt Cullen, Ron Francis, Justin Williams

All three of these players were key free-agent signings, but their tenures with the franchise contain some gray area.

Francis is often credited with legitimizing the team in North Carolina after he signed a four-year, $20 million free-agent deal in July 1998. He also already owned nearly all the franchise’s records from his decade in Hartford. He was definitely still very good in his time with the Hurricanes — 118 goals, 236 assists and 354 points in a durable five-plus seasons in Raleigh in the twilight of his career — but it’s not as though Carolina came in blind in signing the best player in Whalers history.

Williams and Cullen had inverse runs with the Hurricanes.

Williams was acquired by trade and became a key part of the 2006 Stanley Cup-winning team. He then returned as a free agent in 2017 — with two more rings on his fingers — and after a season under Bill Peters, Williams assumed the captaincy when Rod Brind’Amour took over as coach in 2018. Even if Williams had never played in Carolina before 2017, there would still be a case for his significance as a UFA signing. His part in the Game 7 double-overtime winner that officially ended the Capitals’ Stanley Cup reign, in the first round in 2019, is enough to solidify any player’s legacy (ask Brock McGinn).

Cullen, meanwhile, initially came to Raleigh as a UFA in one of GM Jim Rutherford’s best moves ahead of the Cup-winning season. Cullen was masterful as Carolina’s third-line center, on the point on the Hurricanes’ top power-play unit and as one of the league’s best in the newly implemented shootout. He did play two more seasons in Carolina, but those came after Rutherford reacquired him in a trade with the Rangers a year after Cullen had signed a big UFA deal with New York.

The buyoutsFrank Kaberle, Alexander Semin

Kaberle was fantastic in 2005-06, totaling 44 points on a one-year deal to help Carolina to the Stanley Cup. That earned him a four-year extension, but his first year in Raleigh proved to be his best. He played 137 games over the next three seasons — totaling six fewer points, 38, than he had in the Cup season — before being bought out.

Semin was a point-per-game player after signing a one-year contract with Carolina ahead of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. In hindsight, the Hurricanes wish they had left it at that. Semin inked a five-year, $35 million extension, during which he totaled 62 points in 122 games before being bought out — arguably the worst contract decision in franchise history.

The defensemenTony DeAngelo, Shayne Gostisbehere, Sean Walker

DeAngelo twice signed with the Hurricanes, proving to be a great replacement for Dougie Hamilton on a one-year, $1 million career reclamation contract in 2021-22. He finished with 10 goals and 51 points while playing alongside Jaccob Slavin on the top pairing. His second tour didn’t go nearly as well. He played 31 games and was limited to 11 points, mostly serving as the team’s No. 7 defenseman in 2023-24.

Gostisbehere has also had two tenures in Carolina. The first was as a trade-deadline acquisition in 2023. He had fair production (three goals, 13 points in 23 regular-season games; three assists in 15 playoff games) but couldn’t come to terms on a new deal that summer and instead signed with Detroit. After putting up 56 points with the Red Wings on a one-year deal, he returned to Raleigh on a three-year contract worth $3.2 million annually. He’s had back-to-back 40-plus-point seasons and elevated Carolina’s power play into the top five this season.

Walker has been a more traditional addition, signing a five-year, $18 million contract two summers ago. His numbers don’t jump off the page — 16 points last season, 25 through 77 games this year — but he’s been a steadying force defensively while contributing on the penalty kill. He’s not a sexy pick, but his contributions and the value of the deal mean he at least deserves mention.

The goaliesFrederik Andersen, Arturs Irbe

Andersen has been a solid netminder for five seasons in Carolina, though injuries and ailments have limited him to a 96-49-10 record through Saturday. He’s 19-12 with a 2.16 goals-against average in the playoffs with the Hurricanes, but anything short of winning a Stanley Cup will probably render his time in Raleigh a mild disappointment.

Irbe could make a case to be the best free agent signing in Carolina history. He was an absolute workhorse in the franchise’s early days in Raleigh, and finished eighth in Vezina Trophy voting in 1998-99 and led the league in games played in consecutive seasons, in 1999-2000 and 2000-01 (placing 10th in the Vezina). His absurd .938 save percentage and 1.67 goals-against average in Carolina’s run to the Cup Final in 2002 was a postseason for the ages. The relationship with the Hurricanes went sour, however, with Rutherford placing him on waivers the following year before reluctantly bringing him back for 10 games in 2003-04, the final season of his NHL career.

The undrafted findsJalen Chatfield, Chad LaRose

Chatfield could have been tucked up in the defensemen category, but it felt necessary to weigh his worth by mentioning that he was an undrafted player who had been stuck in the Canucks’ system for all but 18 games before coming to Carolina. He signed with the Hurricanes and spent much of his first season with the AHL Chicago Wolves — winning the Calder Cup in 2022 — before becoming a mainstay on Carolina’s blue line. Like Walker, his numbers don’t jump off the page — 23 goals and 75 points in 333 games — but he has developed into a reliable shutdown defender who has helped the Hurricanes maintain a solid penalty kill.

LaRose was one of many former Plymouth Whalers brought into the organization under Peter Karmanos, who owned both the Hurricanes and the former OHL team. LaRose was one of the few successes. The Hurricanes signed him after he scored 61 goals in his final year in juniors, and he spent time in both the ECHL and AHL in his first two pro seasons. His third year, 2005-06, saw him earn a checking-line role on the Stanley Cup team, playing 21 games in the team’s run to its lone title. He played the next seven seasons in Raleigh, twice scoring 19 goals while often playing a top-nine role on teams thin on talent. He also had four goals and 11 points in Carolina’s 18-game run to the Eastern Conference final in 2009.

The forward contendersCory Stillman, Ray Whitney

Stillman won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in the year before the lockout, finishing with 80 points in his only season in Tampa Bay, but inked a three-year deal with Carolina in August 2005. He had a similar impact on the Hurricanes, posting 76 points in 72 games and 26 more during the team’s 25-game run to the Cup. He was limited to 43 games the following season, posting 27 points, and played 55 more in 2007-08 (46 points) before being shipped with fellow Cup winner Mike Commodore to Ottawa for Joe Corvo and Patrick Eaves. Stillman returned to Raleigh for the final 21 games of his career when he was acquired from the Panthers for Ryan Carter and a fifth-round pick in February 2011.

We end with Whitney, who probably sets the bar Ehlers will have to leap over to be the top UFA signing in Hurricanes history. Whitney was bought out by the Red Wings in 2005 and signed a two-year contract worth $1.5 million annually with Carolina. “The Wizard” gave the Hurricanes their money’s worth and more, posting 55 points in 63 regular-season games and 15 more in the playoffs in the 2006 Cup season. He followed that with an 83-point campaign, which is tied for the third most in a season since relocation. Whitney re-signed with the Hurricanes (three years, $10.65 million) and finished his time in Raleigh with 119 goals and 334 points in 372 regular-season games.

It’s still early — Kaberle, Semin and DeAngelo remind us that one season does not make a legacy — but Ehlers looks capable of joining or even surpassing Whitney and Irbe as the Hurricanes’ best summer signing in their history.