Alexander Nikishin’s Situation Raises Unique Questions for the Hurricanes – The Hockey Writers – Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup by being the deepest team in the NHL. Four waves of attack rotating in front of three solid defensive pairings and three good goaltenders allowed the Hurricanes to build a roster with no glaring holes. One of the essential parts of this success was the Hurricanes’ third defensive pairing and the young defenseman Alexander Nikishin. With the Russian defenseman now an RFA, we’ve seen a lot of talk about what’s going on off the ice.

Teams are checking in on the availability of the Russian defender, and the Hurricanes aren’t sending teams away. General Manager Eric Tulsky has been vocal about always wanting to upgrade the roster to have the 20 best guys in the NHL. This isn’t to say the 2025-26 all-rookie defenseman isn’t a sensational player, but it’s clear the Hurricanes front office thinks they can use Nikishin as a piece to improve the roster more than the player himself does. Fans haven’t agreed with this sentiment, but there is undeniable logic in this process.

Nikishin’s Skillset

Listed at 6’3, 218 lbs, it would be easy to assume Nikishin is just a big pillar on the blueline. Just someone who fills the old mantra of “see it, hit it” as a defenseman. While Nikishin is mostly known for his big hits, earning him the nickname “Boom” among parts of the Hurricanes fanbase, he’s quite a capable player too. It’s a rare combination of size and skill on the blueline that has drawn interest, according to Elliotte Friedman.

Look no further than his great puck movement. With a shot capable of reaching 100 mph, Nikishin can beat goaltenders from long range relatively routinely. It’s also a shot the Hurricanes benefited from in the playoffs as a team. Opposing players don’t love getting in front of normal-speed NHL shots, and the Nikishin bomb from the point was enough to dissuade a lot of people from jumping in the shooting lane.

Nikishin had the third-highest point total among Hurricanes defensemen in the 2025-26 regular season with 33, including becoming the first rookie defenseman in Hurricanes franchise history to reach the 10-goal mark, finishing the season with 11. That’s while playing on the third pairing and with limited deployment. As he continues to improve and grow in the NHL, he’ll increase his production.

All of this makes Nikishin sound like a can’t-miss defenseman, someone the Hurricanes have to sign and bring back to the remainder of the Stanley Cup Championship roster. However, the Hurricanes do not give up on players they believe will improve their roster. So, why is Nikishin someone that Carolina hasn’t pursued re-signing with any urgency at this point?

Nikishin’s Weakness

According to Natural Stat Trick, only one Hurricanes defenseman who played at least 200 5-on-5 minutes this season had a worse expected goals against per 60 (xGA/60) than Nikishin did: Jalen Chatfield. Nikishin’s pairing struggled to get it right defensively in the Hurricanes system. Admittedly, it’s a tough system to learn, and playing with Shayne Gostisbehere meant the rookie had to play with a more defence-first mentality than he’d like, but it doesn’t explain such struggles.

If we shift this to the postseason, Nikishin had the worst 5-on-5 xGA/60 among Hurricanes defensemen. That issue in his own zone was evident the entire way through. It’s not like he was utterly bad, though; with a 2.45 xGA/60, he was only 0.02 worse than his partner, Gostisbehere, and only 0.10 worse than Chatfield. It’s not like he was utterly unusable. Some were calling for him to be healthy scratched at various points in the Stanley Cup Final; he wasn’t that bad. That’s just an overreaction in a stressful situation, but it does highlight his struggles.

Stiff Competition and High Value

There is one other unfortunate issue for Nikishin. I mentioned Nikishin was the second-worst defenseman in the regular season in xGA/60 for the Hurricanes. Do you know who the best was among the guys who played 200 or more minutes? It was Joel Nystrom, who had an excellent season in a limited sample size. If you’re not a Hurricanes fan and you’re going “who’s that”, that’s kind of the point. Carolina has these defensive prospects bursting at the seams to get into the NHL, and Nikishin playing on his off-side makes it easier for these right-side defence prospects to move.

There is also the fact that Carolina loves hunting for the big fish. If the Canes are going to reel in another big fish, they’ve got to find a way to match the value of the player. Nikishin is the easiest of the Hurricanes’ high-value pieces to move. His absence would hurt the roster construction less than moving off one of the younger forwards.

In the most recent 32 Thoughts Podcast at the time of writing, Friedman notes that Nikishin’s contractual ask has scared a few teams off. That’s a sign that the player may be asking for more money than anyone is comfortable paying him right now. As a 10.2c RFA, Nikishin is not eligible for an offer sheet. While it does relieve the Hurricanes of that headache, it continues to add complexity to the situation.

So, does it make more sense to sign Nikishin or to trade him? Well, that’s a question the Hurricanes front office has to weigh up. As Tulsky loves to say, anything can change with a single phone call. Carolina will not trade him for the sake of it, so it would have to be a deal that works for both sides. Is that something the Hurricanes can make work in the coming weeks and months? We’ll have to find out.