Hurricanes prospect Alexander Nikishin has widely been viewed as one of the top blueliners outside the NHL for a couple of years now. While he still has one year left on his KHL contract with SKA St. Petersburg, Carolina expects to have the youngster available to them at some point late in the season.
Speaking earlier this week with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, GM Eric Tulsky indicated that they plan to sign him as soon as his deal in Russia expires and put him into their lineup right away. KHL playoffs run through April and SKA is generally one of the better teams in that league so it’s quite possible that Nikishin won’t be able to make his Carolina debut until the end of April (if he’s let out of his contract early once the KHL playoffs end) or early May, meaning they’d have to have some playoff success of their own for this to happen.
The 22-year-old was the 69th selection back in 2020 and has squarely outperformed where he was picked. He became a full-time player at the KHL level the following season with Spartak before being acquired by SKA in 2022 where things took off.
In his first season with them, Nikishin picked up 55 points in 65 regular season games which made him the highest-scoring KHL blueliner while also logging nearly 23 minutes a game. Last season, he produced at basically the same clip, notching 17 goals and 39 assists in 67 contests, once again leading all rearguards in points while logging over 24 minutes a night. While Carolina is surely intrigued by Nikishin’s offensive upside, Gulitti notes that they view him as a potential all-around fit.
With Nikishin turning 23 in October, his entry-level deal will have to be a two-year agreement, the first of which will be burned this coming season if he’s able to sign with and suit up for Carolina. That would put him on pace for what many expect will be a pricey second contract in the 2026 offseason.
Carolina has had some turnover on the back end this summer with Brady Skjei (Nashville), Brett Pesce (New Jersey), and Tony DeAngelo (unsigned) all leaving via free agency. Their replacements haven’t been as notable on paper with Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere signing on with the other spot going unfilled. It appears they could be eyeing Nikishin for that position which could give their back end a boost in the playoffs, as long as they’re still playing when their top prospect becomes available to be signed.
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