Alexander Nikishin’s next contract is starting to come into focus, and the number is a big one.
The Carolina Hurricanes defenseman is seeking a five-year, $45MM deal, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on First Up with Korolnek and Colaicovo. That would lock in a $9MM salary, putting Nikishin in rare company for a young blueliner.
It’s also the latest twist in a tense standoff that has left the restricted free agent without a deal for the 2026-27 season. Nikishin asked for a trade away from Carolina earlier in the summer, and a move to the New York Rangers nearly got done before falling apart during New York’s contract talks with him.
The ask is eye-catching because of where Nikishin is in his NHL career. He spent most of his rookie season on Carolina’s bottom pair, working behind more established veterans in a managed role. That makes his request feel steep when stacked against other young defensemen who have landed similarly rich contracts after spending more time proving themselves at the NHL level.
Jackson LaCombe, Luke Hughes, and Lane Hutson all signed at that $9MM mark right after their entry-level deals, but each of those players also came in on seven- or eight-year terms and had already built up multiple NHL seasons. LaCombe and Hutson, in particular, had already broken through as top-pair players and star defenders before getting paid.
A more useful comparison may be Vancouver Canucks defenseman Zeev Buium, who signed an eight-year, $75.04MM contract that begins next season. Buium got his deal after just one NHL season split between the Minnesota Wild and Canucks, but he did so with six goals, 26 points, and a minus-33 in 76 games - numbers that still trail Nikishin’s rookie output. Vancouver still bet on the long term, leaning on the promise he showed after a strong collegiate career that included a National Championship.
Nikishin’s own rookie numbers explain why there’s so much interest in him despite the contract impasse. He finished with 11 goals, 33 points, 33 penalty minutes, and a plus-18. Since 2010, only 25 other rookie defensemen have matched or topped that scoring total, and only four of them also had at least 100 hits: Moritz Seider, Aaron Ekblad, Nikita Zaitsev, and Colton Parayko.
That production came in a sheltered role, but it still points to a defenseman with a real edge. Nikishin had already shown what he could do in Russia’s KHL, where he was arguably the league’s best defenseman from 2022 to 2025. Over that stretch, he averaged 15 goals, 52 points, and 64 games per season.
His game is built around a blend that’s hard to find now. In the NHL, only 23 defensemen active after 2020 have had at least one season with double-digit goals and triple-digit hits, a group that includes Drew Doughty and Kris Letang, along with names like Carson Soucy, Dmitry Orlov, and Sean Walker.
For now, Nikishin remains in the middle of a messy situation: a Stanley Cup winner trying to turn one NHL season into a major payday while holding firm on a trade request. He has made it clear that a return to the KHL is off the table.
Teams including the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators have shown interest throughout the summer, and a clearer picture of his contract demands could be what gets that market moving again.
In Other News...
Canes Showed Something Important In Wild Road Win Over Canadiens
The Hurricanes left Montreal with a road win that felt like more than just two points, mostly because it asked them to respond after spotting the Canadiens an early lead. Carolina settled in from there, got goals in both the second and third periods, and turned a shaky opening into a 6-4 victory at Bell Centre. Taylor Hall was central to the push, while Sebastian Aho helped drive the offense as the game tilted back in Carolinas favor.
For a team trying to stack together the kind of complete efforts that matter later, this was the sort of night that can travel. The Hurricanes did not need everything to go cleanly at the start to find their game, and they showed enough pace and finish to recover on the road against a Montreal team that kept the pressure on. The bigger question now is whether this was just a one-night comeback or another sign Carolina is starting to find a more reliable gear away from home. [Read more 🡒]
Canes Got The Road Win But One Big Question Still Lingers
The Hurricanes left Montreal with a 6-4 road win and a needed early-season boost, and plenty of the familiar names showed up in the kind of game Carolina can build on. Taylor Hall, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov all played key roles as the Canes erased an early deficit and kept pushing until the scoreboard finally tilted their way, a good sign for a team trying to settle in on the road.
Even so, the night carried one major subplot in net, where Brandon Bussi was under the microscope after getting the start and working through a shaky beginning before the game settled down. For Carolina, the result mattered more than the style points, but the larger question around the crease is still hanging out there as the schedule keeps moving. [Read more 🡒]
Hurricanes Look Dangerous Again In Rivalry Win That Got Wild
The last time Carolina and Montreal mattered this much to each other, the stakes were a lot higher, and the noise around this matchup at the Bell Centre still carried some of that edge. The Hurricanes handled the kind of game that can get messy fast, with Taylor Hall leading the way, Sebastian Aho adding a goal and an assist, and Andrei Svechnikov helping put the finish on a rivalry win that felt more pointed than routine.
Brandon Bussi had to work through his share of trouble, but Carolina still tilted the ice hard enough to come away with a result that looked convincing in all the ways that matter. The shot count told the story of a team that was pressuring Montreal for long stretches, and the way the Hurricanes kept answering after the Canadiens tried to push back only added to the sense that this group can look dangerous again when its top players start rolling. [Read more 🡒]