The electron temperature dependences of the electron-phonon coupling factor, electron heat capacity and thermal conductivity are investigated for Ni in a range of temperatures typically realized in femtosecond laser material processing applications, from room temperature up to temperatures of the order of 10(4) K. The analysis is based on the electronic density of states obtained through the electronic structure calculations. Thermal excitation of d band electrons is found to result in a significant decrease in the strength of the electron-phonon coupling, as well as large deviations of the electron heat capacity and the electron thermal conductivity from the commonly used linear temperature dependences on the electron temperature. Results of the simulations performed with the two-temperature model demonstrate that the temperature dependence of the thermophysical parameters accounting for the thermal excitation of d band electrons leads to higher maximum lattice and electron temperatures achieved at the surface of an irradiated Ni target and brings the threshold fluences for surface melting closer to the experimentally measured values as compared to the predictions obtained with commonly used approximations of the thermophysical parameters. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.