Alexander Nikishin isn’t sounding like a player in a hurry, and the Carolina Hurricanes don’t appear to be rushing either.
Daria Tuboltseva of RG.org reported that Nikishin remains unsigned, with both sides taking their time on contract talks. The Hurricanes may not have enough cap space, and the defenseman said there’s no real movement yet.
There had been chatter that Nikishin was seeking $8 million a season, and when he was asked about it, he answered “more” with a smile. Even so, he made it clear he isn’t stressing the situation.
“My agents handle that. I don’t push the situation much, they take care of everything themselves.
If something concrete comes up, they’ll call me. Right now there’s nothing concrete about the contract.”
He also didn’t tip his hand on whether he wants a short-term deal or something longer, but he did point to where the market is headed.
“The salary cap keeps growing, and defencemen are getting bigger salaries. You can already feel the difference. I think contracts will keep getting bigger and bigger over time.”
In Boston, the idea of a Shane Wright trade doesn’t seem to have much traction.
On CLNS, Joe Haggerty argued the Bruins shouldn’t be in on the Seattle Kraken center. His view is that Wright hasn’t shown enough to be considered a high-end center, and Boston may already have better internal options.
“I’m not sure he’s the real deal, like based on what he’s done to this point in his NHL career. And I think the players (the Bruins) have might be better.
Like Fraser Minton, I think might end up being a better player than Shane Wright when it’s all said and done. And, you know, why you’re going to bring somebody in that’s going to like potentially block Fraser Minton when you think Fraser Minton may top out as, as a first or a second line center, and seems to be on that track.
And James Hagen’s, you’re going to want to start dipping into the center position this year even if he starts on wing and start grooming him to potentially be a center, if that’s where he’s going to go. And then you have Dean Letourneau coming the year after that, or maybe even at the end of this year to get a few looks.
Like I, that’s a player that I’m not, if they’re going to get a young center, it’s got to be a guy that’s, like, that, that’s a higher end as far as what he’s already done in the league, rather than getting somebody that you’re not sure if he’s going to make it or not.”
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