The latest saga in the Alexander Nikishin-Carolina Hurricanes trade drama took another turn on Friday morning when Nikishin’s agent called out the Carolina Hurricanes for ‘moving too slowly’ in the process of trying to grant Nikishin a ‘change of scenery’.
Nikishin reportedly asked out of Carolina at the end of June (when the Canes won the Stanley Cup), and the Hurricanes front office has supposedly been searching for a suitor ever since.
A few teams that come to mind as potential suitors include the Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators, and St. Louis Blues.
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What Did Alexander Nikishin Say to Hurricanes?
Via a social media post by Alexander Nikishin’s agent, here is what Alexander Chernykh had to say about the Hurricanes and his client potentially returning to the KHL before the situation is resolved:
“Agent Alexander Chernykh, who represents the interests of Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Alexander Nikishin in Russia, told Match TV that his client has no intention of returning to the
KHL for now.”
Chernykh was asked about how many teams are interested in his client:
“That depends on which club we manage to reach an agreement with. Again: there are teams that are ready. Right now the main issue is Carolina. Many teams are ready to get Nikishin. But Carolina refuses. It’s a situation familiar from the KHL: a player wants to move to another team, but the club won’t let him go. You could even draw a parallel with Spartak. So Sasha isn’t going to the KHL. He’ll wait in America for his contract situation to be resolved,” Chernykh told a Match TV correspondent.”
“Right now the main issue is Carolina.”
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More on Alexander Nikishin
Alexander Nikishin is a very promising D-man in the NHL.
He’s just 24 years old, and recently put together a solid rookie campaign.
The “issue” for Nikishin is that he likely sees himself blocked on the Hurricanes’ left-side defensive pairings, and he wants to ink a contract extension/get an opportunity to be a 1-2 pairing on defense elsewhere.
It will be very interesting to see how this saga concludes, and if it will result in Nikishin getting what he wants.
Important note*: Nikishin is an RFA and is not currently under contract.
Alexander Nikishin Calls Out Carolina Hurricanes For Slow Trade Process