The Carolina Hurricanes will open training camp without Alexander Nikishin, leaving one of their most intriguing young defensemen on the sidelines while his contract situation stays unresolved.
The team said Wednesday that the unsigned restricted free agent will not participate in camp. Nikishin remains under team control, but there’s no resolution yet on where things go next.
That uncertainty has been building for months. On Monday, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported that Nikishin asked for a trade after Carolina’s run through the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and that his side has held that position since. Before that report surfaced, there were already signs the Hurricanes were willing to move him if it helped them upgrade the roster.
Frank Seravalli reported in June that Nikishin was the main piece in Carolina’s offer to the Winnipeg Jets for Connor Hellebuyck. Other reports have also tied Nikishin to additional teams.
Carolina, meanwhile, has spent the offseason preparing for the possibility that Nikishin’s future lies elsewhere. General manager Eric Tulsky added more depth on the blue line by signing Mike Reilly and Pierre-Olivier Joseph to one-year deals. Reilly was Carolina’s seventh defenseman last season, and with Joel Nystrom and Charles-Alexis Legault already in the system, the Hurricanes now have four real options to pair with Shayne Gostisbehere on the third defensive pairing.
Nikishin’s path to this point has been a rapid rise. The Hurricanes picked him in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft, and his stock surged as he became one of the top players in the KHL in Russia. He signed his entry-level deal with Carolina after his KHL contract ended, then briefly made his NHL debut in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs when injuries opened the door.
The 24-year-old finally got a full-time shot in 2025-26 and delivered 33 points in 81 regular season games. That performance put him seventh in Calder Trophy voting and earned him a spot on the league’s All-Rookie team. His playoff numbers dipped, though, as he finished Carolina’s Cup run with one point in 17 games.
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