Alexander Nikishin officially signs Carolina Hurricanes Deal

There had been some worries thanks to an agent quote on Friday—but now it’s officially official

Before Game Three on Friday Night in, Canes Nation had been rattled thanks to some tough words by the Russian Agent for Alexander Nikishin. It stirred up a bunch of fears that fans have had with players that have slipped through the team’s fingers.

The timing of the post was like tossing a hand grenade into a fan base clustered around the hope that a new franchise defenseman was just a few games away from appearing on the ice. What was going on?

A little later in the day, hockey insider Elliotte Friedman appear to tamp down the furor by getting word from Nikishin’s representation in North America.

It turns out, there was a simple explanation for the Canes not signing Nikishin to his deal: the AHL playoffs. Due to the timing of the end of the KHL season plus how long it took Nikishin to get to North America, if he actually signed his NHL deal he would be ineligible to play in the AHL.

So as Tom points out here, the Canes had missed the deadline to get him on the roster before the AHL playoffs began but that rule wouldn’t apply if he signed a professional or amateur tryout contract to play specifically for the Wolves. Understandably, everyone involved had been hoping that Nikishin would get some games in Chicago, so they didn’t want to preclude him from doing so. However, the Wolves’ first series was simply a best of three with a short turnaround, so the timing to get him over there and to sign one of those deals was presumably a little too short to have him there in time.

Unfortunately for Chicago, their season ended on Friday Night thanks to a 5-0 loss to the Rockford Ice Hogs, and so the chances for Nikishin to play with the Canes’ minor league affiliate evaporated as soon as the final horn sounded.

Thus, around 24 hours after the furor had started with the words from the Russian agent, it was put to bed officially by the team:

Looking backwards it seems pretty clear how this all played out. Ryan Barnes’ quote to Friedman on Friday was about the most polite “hey shut up” to his Russian counterpart he could release, and the fact the team didn’t feel the need to say anything before the game meant that this side of the pond was all on the same page. Tulsky seemed to affirm that with his statement today about “agreeing with his agents.”

The miscommunication likely stems from the Russian side not having a full understanding of the intricacies of the NHL CBA. It also didn’t help that one player on SKA had been able to get into games with Montreal while Nikishin still sat on the sidelines. They also don’t understand the different situation Montreal and Carolina are in, but logic would dictate that the Canes weren’t going to go through the trouble they did of brining the Russian over unless they intended to sign him. Remember, they had to negotiate with SKA to get Nikishin sent over early, and you don’t do that unless your intent is to get the contract signed.

Either way, Nikishin is now officially part of the Carolina roster, continuing to practice with the team, and now that the season is over for Chicago, look for a fleet of Wolves to make their way up to the main club so that they can practice with the team. Don’t expect Nikishin on the ice this season unless there’s an injury to one of the defensemen, and even then it’s likely Rod Brind’Amour would go with someone like Scott Morrow first.