Hurricanes end Nikishin holdout with one-year, $3M deal

Deal ends 13-game stalemate

The Carolina Hurricanes signed defenseman Alexander Nikishin to a one-year, $3 million contract on Sunday, ending a stalemate that kept him out all season, the club announced.

The 25-year-old missed training camp, the pre-season and the first 13 games of Carolina’s 2026-27 campaign while unsigned. His $3 million cap hit ranks sixth among Hurricanes defensemen and 15th on the team payroll, and it replaces the $925,000 hit on the two-year entry-level contract that expired at the end of last season. His name had reportedly come up as a potential trade candidate while he sat out, though neither the team nor the player has said a trade was requested.

What the champs get back

Carolina regains a 25-year-old blueliner who played 81 games in his rookie year, scoring 11 goals and 33 points with a plus-18 rating and 18:11 of ice time a night. He then appeared in 17 of 19 postseason games as a third-pairing defenseman, averaging 14:50, as the Hurricanes won the second Stanley Cup in franchise history, the other in 2006. He debuted in the 2025 playoffs when injuries forced him into the lineup, and that run ended with a loss to Florida in the Eastern Conference Final.

Next negotiation already looms

The bridge deal resolves this season but not the longer question. When it expires next summer, Nikishin will again be a restricted free agent, this time with arbitration rights, which gives both sides a new card next time. General manager Eric Tulsky said in the announcement, “This has been a long process, but we look forward to him re-entering our locker room ready to contribute with the Hurricanes, as he did during a Stanley Cup championship season last year.”

The Hurricanes did not say when Nikishin will return to the lineup.