No Alexander Nikishin Trade Imminent

Alexander Nikishin is having a harder time finding a new home. According to Elliotte Friedman on Sportsnet’s Saturday Headlines, there isn’t a trade on the immediate horizon for the Hurricanes with Nikishin.

Situationally, the NHL season being well underway has seen a lack of urgency in making a trade, and this has rung true in a few cases this fall. Unless, as Friedman famously says, ‘one phone call changes everything,’ Nikishin might just have to bite the bullet, so to speak, and come back and play for Carolina to regain some leverage. The Hurricanes, who hold around $9.3MM in cap space, are ideally open-minded to taking him back, and that might just be what he has to do for the sake of his future.

It should be noted that, according to Frank Seravalli of Sportsnet, Nikishin doesn’t have to sign by the start of December, a deadline that other RFAs usually are held to if without a contract. An RFA usually must sign a deal by 5 p.m. EST on December 1 for the contract to carry for the season. If signed after, an RFA would not have a valid contract and therefore cannot play.

The New York Rangers almost sealed Nikishin in blue with a trade perfectly in place, Friedman on a previous 32 Thoughts podcast said, which was the closest we got to seeing this saga end so far. It was added that the contract negotiations didn’t line up between New York and the defenseman. Had this trade gone through, the Rangers would’ve added a major blue liner that fits within their current ‘retool’ window, as their offseason moves have attempted to identify themselves back into a playoff-contending team. The St. Louis Blues have been very interested in Nikishin, and the Predators also have had some interest, per Friedman. It’s assumed those teams are wondering if there is a possibility they can still acquire him.

Given his age (25) and one year of experience in the NHL, he remains ineligible to receive an offer sheet from another team as a 10.2.c RFA. He only needs to play 10 professional games for this year to count in terms of NHL experience on his resume, which would give him two seasons under his belt. Because Nikishin signed his initial NHL contract with the Hurricanes at age 23, he needs two years, contrary to those younger than him requiring three.

If he signs a ‘kick the can down the road’ deal for a season and plays out the 2026-27 campaign, he won’t become a UFA (eligible for 2029-30) but he’ll be rid of the shackles of being unable to have any other team approach him with a potential contract that would then put shift the focus towards Carolina on whether to match an offer sheet or not.

Both the Rangers and Nikishin were looking at an AAV value of around $9MM for the young defenseman before the Zeev Buium contract was signed. New York wasn’t far from that AAV that Nikishin wanted, but it doesn’t appear that they were looking to bring him in for that. The Rangers currently have under $1MM in 2026-27 cap space with the NHL season around the corner, paying eight defensemen around $37MM. So it’s fair to wonder which players would’ve been headed Carolina’s way in return for this inter-division trade, but top-prospect Alberts Smits emerging on his entry-level deal to play for the big club, possibly played a factor here in the Rangers stepping up to bat.

In Vancouver, Buium signed the full eight years at a $9.38MM AAV. Comparatively, Nikishin was willing to reach that threshold, but is looking at a shorter term of a contract. That may be what is holding up an organization from putting pen to paper with Nikishin, who is rumored to want a five-year deal.

Nikishin, who scored 11 goals and 33 points in his rookie NHL season last year, playing slightly above 18 minutes a night, recently decided to change agent representation amid his pending trade request. He switched from Quartexx Hockey and hired Paul Theofanous per PuckPedia. Theofanous represents Russian stars like Kirill Kaprizov, Artemi Panarin, and Sergei Bobrovsky, all of whom make a lot of dough. He will now take over negotiating for Nikishin, who remains an unsigned, restricted free agent with just days before the start of the regular season. Despite conflicts with Carolina, a return to the KHL is reportedly not an option for the defenseman.

Rightfully so, Carolina should be getting back as much as they can here but as mentioned before, teams have their rosters well more than set. The ask is a relatively large return for the services and upside that their 24-year-old defenseman demonstrated last season en route to winning a Stanley Cup. Friedman has reported that the Hurricanes are looking for two first-round picks, whether that be in actual draft capital or equivalent to players taken within the first 32 of their respective drafts as comparable talent.

Regardless, the Hurricanes have four defenders set to be UFAs at season’s end, with only Jaccob Slavin, K’Andre Miller and Sean Walker signed past the end of this season. If Nikishin decides to sign on a ‘kick the can deal,’ the Hurricanes will add to their offseason workload with their young Russian defender in need of more conversations about the future.