Alexander Nikishin officially ended his holdout on Sunday, signing a one-year, $3 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Nikishin’s deal came after he reportedly asked for a trade shortly after the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup last season and was looking to sign a long term contract worth around $9 million per season.
The Winnipeg Jets’ trade of superstar goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to New Jersey Devils appeared to end any chance of Nikishin playing elsewhere, leading to the short-term contract being signed, which makes the Russian defenseman both offer sheet and arbitration eligible in the summer.
Monday, when asked to address the deal and Nikishin’s holdout, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour agreed with a reporter that there were no hard feelings in the locker room, but appeared to blame Nikishin’s representation for him missing the first 13 games of the season due to his aggressive offseason tactics.
“You know these guys, they hire agents to tell them what to do,” Brind’Amour said. “Sometimes it’s good advice and then not so good advice. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t affect us. When we get the guys in the locker room, we’re all together.”
Nikishin was represented by Benjamin Kreyzerman and Ryan Barnes of Quartexx Management, before parting ways with them in late September and hiring Paul Theofanous, who represents other prominent Russian NHL players such as Kirill Kaprizov, Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, and fellow Hurricanes teammate Pyotr Kochetkov.
Nikishin’s trade request came after posting 33 points (11g, 22a) in 81 games last season. He then added an assist in 14 playoff games as the Hurricanes won their franchise’s second Stanley Cup.
“Sometimes it takes time to work through a process,” Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulksy said on The Sheet diplomatically. “We had a lot of different things we were looking at. We had to work through it, had to sort of get to a place that everyone was comfortable with. And that happens at a different pace in different negotiations.”
Tulky further explained, “I really believe in being pretty straightforward in every negotiation about what we are willing to do and what we aren’t. I’m not a believer in playing coy and bluffing and trying to trick someone into what you’re really willing to do because it feels like it just slows things down. It’s a barrier to getting things done. So when they change agents, it doesn’t change anything about our position or our messaging. It’s not like, ‘well, for this guy, we were willing to go to $12 million, but for you, it’s only $10.’ It’s just not how it works. So we have a new voice representing the player in the conversations. But on our side, the messaging doesn’t change.”
As for when the Hurricanes expect Nikishin to be back with the team, Brind’Amour responded, “I don’t know, man. I haven’t heard.”
He was also unsure how soon the 6-foot-3, 215-pound defenseman would eventually return to game action after missing the entire preseason.
“It’s going to be way different as far as the timeline because he hasn’t done anything,” Brind’Amour said. “He missed all the training camp. So we’re a little different window there. I haven’t seen him. Hopefully, he’s healthy and we’re not dealing with any of that and it’s just a matter of getting through a mini training camp before we can get him going.”
Despite being without their star rearguard, the Hurricanes have won nine of their first 13 games of the season, jumping to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
