Alexander Nikishin, Hurricanes ready to part ways
The Carolina Hurricanes are off to an excellent start in their quest to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. They currently boast an 8-2-1 record and the most points in the league, and they’re doing it without one of their key players from last year’s team.
Promising Russian defenseman Alexander Nikishin remains unsigned, and given that he’s requested a trade from the team, it seems like his tenure in Raleigh may be short lived. The Hurricanes have taken their time to ensure they get their desired value back in a trade for Nikishin, who was named to the NHL’s all-rookie team last year.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by NHL insider David Pagnotta to discuss the rocky state of affairs between the Hurricanes and Nikishin’s camp.
Tyler Yaremchuk: You know, we spent obviously a lot of oxygen on Larkin and Hellebuyck and Edvinsson. The one name that, like, really isn’t getting brought up a ton though is Nikishin in Carolina. Do you get any new sense on where that’s going, Or are both sides still just heels kind of dug in here?
David Pagnotta: Both sides kind of exactly that. They’re dug into their side. He wants out. He doesn’t want to be part of the team. My understanding is, I don’t think Roddy Brind’Amour will be upset if he never has to coach him again. You’re just waiting. And this is a different—like, he’s a different type of restricted free agent than, you know, Simon Edvinsson. He, you know, being a 10.2 C RFA, there’s no deadline. He can sign in February, as long as it’s before the trade deadline, effectively, to be eligible to play. Edvinsson has to sign by December 1st. Now, everybody wants this crap done relatively soon. And Carolina still has those conversations with other clubs involving Nikishin. But coming into this week, I was told it’s pretty much status quo on that front, as we kind of wait and see what happens here. We know he doesn’t want to sign in Winnipeg, so that’s kind of a moot point. And the notion has been they’ve been trying to move him elsewhere to collect assets, to package, to go get Hellebuyck or somebody else. But, yeah, again, coming into this week, guys, it’s pretty much been status quo on Nikishin’s front in Carolina.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…
