Canes, Nikishin Ready To 'Move Forward'

RALEIGH, N.C. - Here comes the more Boom.

Agreeing to a one-year contract extension on Sunday, Alexander Nikishin is set to continue patrolling the Carolina Hurricanes' blue line.

How that got to the finish line was anything but average. However, after a long few months, both parties have signed on the dotted line and are ready to put the past behind them.

“Sometimes it takes time to work through a process," Canes General Manager Eric Tulsky explained on The Sheet. "We had a lot of different things we were looking at, and we had to work through it. We had to get to a place where everyone was comfortable, and that happens at a different pace in different negotiations.”

In lockstep, Rod Brind'Amour understands the position from both a team standpoint and as a previous player himself.

"These things happen. We understand, and now we just move on. Move forward," the head coach expressed. "(Players) hire agents to tell them what to do. Sometimes it's good advice. Sometimes, [it's] not so good advice. At the end of the day, it doesn't affect us when we get guys in the locker room, and we're all together, and those guys are out of it."

From Nikishin's side, he relayed relief at the situation reaching an end on Tuesday when he met with reporters in Raleigh.

"It's been hard, being without the team, being in America, just waiting," he said through translator Andrei Svechnikov. "[You're] just waiting. You don't know what's going to happen. Obviously, it was hard. But now, it's all good."

It's all good.

Now, turning the page together, the goal is for Nikishin to build off of what was an impressive first season.

Putting both his scorching shot and his love for lowering his shoulder on display, the All-Rookie defenseman experienced simultaneous growth and adjustment to the North American game.

Nikishin, 25, scored a franchise-record 11 goals during the regular season, more than any other rookie defenseman in the club's history. His 33 total points also represented a team record (since relocation), and trailed only Calder Trophy winner Matthew Schaefer among the league's first-year blueliners.

The Orel, RUS native also finished among the top five rookie blueliners in hits (1st, 132), power-play goals (2nd, 4), shots on goal (2nd, 122), takeaways (2nd, 26), assists (T-2nd, 22), blocked shots (3rd, 94), total time on ice (3rd, 1,472:56), power-play points (4th, 10) and power-play assists (T-4th, 6).

"We knew there would be certain challenges in Alex’s first season here, from adjusting to our system to learning a new language," Tulsky said after Nikishin was given league honors in June. "Clearly, he handled those challenges well if he’s being named one of the top two rookie defensemen in the NHL this season. And we know he has room to get even better."

A lineup mainstay, playing in 98 of the team's 101 total games (regular season + postseason) during his first full go-around, Nikishin became just the ninth player in league history to be named to the All-Rookie team and win a Stanley Cup in the same campaign.

"He has a rocket (of a shot). He's good offensively when he has the puck. He's solid with it," Canes Assistant Coach Tim Gleason, who runs the defense for Brind'Amour, said during an interview last season. "It's all of the little things that we ask of him on the other side of the puck that will continue to be a growing process. We'll keep at it."

Now taking part in a "mini training camp" to get back to speed, it remains to be seen when exactly he'll make his season debut.

Charles Alexis Legault, Mike Reilly, and Juuso Välimäki have all filled in admirably next to Shayne Gostisbehere - a position Nikishin was slotted into for the majority of last year.

"That's the bright side of it. When you have injuries or have things that you didn't expect, you put people in positions that you would never give them," Brind'Amour said of his defensive depth. "You see, 'Well, okay, maybe they can handle it...' I think it just shows that we do have a lot of depth in this organization, which is great."

Depth still in hand, Nikishin is back in the mix, and soon to be an option for Brind'Amour's 18-skater lineup.

"(The contract situation is) bygones now. He's here, and we've got to get him up to speed as quickly as possible," Brind'Amour added.

To find out when Nikishin makes his first appearance of the 2026-27 season, make sure you're tuned into all the action on Hurricanes Hockey Network.