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2026-27 NHL Miscellaneous Thread

I’m guessing Nikishin doesn’t want to sign in Detroit and or Edvinsson doesn’t want to extend here. Or that makes too much sense.
 
I feel like we’ve almost certainly offered him reasonable bridge and long term deals (unless he had previously made it clear he would not be re-signing here.

I also feel like there have been offers presented to him involving trades that he shot down because he doesn’t want to play there either.

Finally I believe I heard he has no interest in signing an extension here at all.

Extra post finally finally, I don’t think we’ll send have any interest in bringing him back to the team at this point regardless.

Those are my assumptions.

I don’t think we’ll send him to FL or NYR or COL etc. ant all, assuming that’s a representative set of teams he would sign for.

I guess when you’re the bug having a short list of suitable acceptable trade destinations kind of makes it impossible.

There is no way in hell GMET would cut our losses to the Panthers benefit for example. Thus he’s the bug and he can kick rocks. We can much more affordably absorb the loss of the asset than he can afford to be done in the NHL.
 
If the kid wants to play hard ball to the extent of even limiting the Canes to a handful of 2-3 teams than I think you put the screws to him and let him sit penny less all year. The Canes getting the screw job on a trade because a restricted free agent is a dick is not where you want to cave to the guy and give him everything he wants. At least on principle alone I’d let him rot.
 
OK ... so, I haven't listened to it but apparently Freidman had some info on Nikishin on his most recent 32 Thoughts pod. Looks like, with Nikishin sticking to his short list of places he'd be willing to sign, the possibility of a bridge contract is back on the table. That would let him play while giving Carolina more time to figure out a deal that makes sense for both parties. I'm not a huge fan of a dead man walking in the lineup or in the room, but if there was a team that could absorb that without letting it be a distraction then it's this Canes group.

Edit ... I listened to the segment. Freidman does this thing where he has clearly talked to people but he couches the information as his own speculation. It DOES sound like Nikishin's camp are starting to realize that he will probably have to do a bridge with the Canes, if for no other reason than he doesn't bank another NHL service year if he doesn't play 10 games somewhere. So, it sounds like Carolina has convinced the player's camp that they are actually willing to just let him rot this season after having at least one deal screwed up by the player, and that Niki's camp are at least thinking about reaching for the white flag. Progress? I guess. I still don't think the juice is worth the squeeze with this guy. He's fine, but not worth half this amount of bother.
 
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jeffbear said:
OK ... so, I haven't listened to it but apparently Freidman had some info on Nikishin on his most recent 32 Thoughts pod. Looks like, with Nikishin sticking to his short list of places he'd be willing to sign, the possibility of a bridge contract is back on the table. That would let him play while giving Carolina more time to figure out a deal that makes sense for both parties. I'm not a huge fan of a dead man walking in the lineup or in the room, but if there was a team that could absorb that without letting it be a distraction then it's this Canes group.

Edit ... I listened to the segment. Freidman does this thing where he has clearly talked to people but he couches the information as his own speculation. It DOES sound like Nikishin's camp are starting to realize that he will probably have to do a bridge with the Canes, if for no other reason than he doesn't bank another NHL service year if he doesn't play 10 games somewhere. So, it sounds like Carolina is playing hardball after having at least one deal screwed up by the player and that Niki's camp are at least thinking about reaching for the white flag. Progress? I guess.
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That could be a disaster in the locker room. No thanks.....either dump him to a team and get something....even if its a bag of pucks.....or maybe some more hotdogs for $2 hot dog night, or let him sit until he is on the Russian equivalent of social security. If he does come back I hope the fans let him know when he steps on the ice what an asshat he has been!
 
At this point the only way to get rid of the guy might be playing him enough to get him offer sheet eligible this summer and then just taking whatever you get out of that. I'm at the point where I just want the whole drama done and dusted.
 
Nikishin is toxic. He should get the Sheldon Souray treatment. Don’t put his toxic self in the locker room, but send him to a non Canes AHL affiliate— Manitoba is the closest we have to Siberia.
 
Fayettenamcanesfan said:
That could be a disaster in the locker room. No thanks.....either dump him to a team and get something....even if its a bag of pucks.....or maybe some more hotdogs for $2 hot dog night, or let him sit until he is on the Russian equivalent of social security. If he does come back I hope the fans let him know when he steps on the ice what an asshat he has been!
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Nah, trading him away for nothing is insanity, that essentially gives him his cake and letting him eat it too. Why would Tulsky let a young asset like that walk for peanuts and get nothing in return…play the long game, let him sit without a pay check and let him and the agent think about how much money they are losing.
 
CanadaCanes said:
Nah, trading him away for nothing is insanity, that essentially gives him his cake and letting him eat it too. Why would Tulsky let a young asset like that walk for peanuts and get nothing in return…play the long game, let him sit without a pay check and let him and the agent think about how much money they are losing.
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I agree to a point, but you're also not getting anything for him while he is sitting in the US playing Pokemon go. Someone will blink first, and it will likely be the player....but at some point you have to cut bait or decide to let a him rot for eternity until his Visa expires in 4 years.
 
If they can bridge him, and then showcase him, as long as he plays decent, you can move him easily at the deadline. Don't give him any form of NTC.
 
Honestly, one thing Nikishin should be concerned about ... if he isn't already ... is that if he does sign a bridge deal with Carolina, then his lack of trade protection means they could literally find ANY other NHL team willing to risk his next deal and ship him to where ever they want ... for whatever they want. This is probably why Carolina has been insisteing on a 2 season bridge for Nikishin. That means somebody would be anteing up for 2 seasons of the kind, not just one. This is the NHL, somebody's going to figure that if you give Nikishin Top 4 minutes and offer him a big bag of cash, he'll figure out how not to hate your city.

Heck, Vancouver is a beautiful, cosmopolitan city and Nikishin would be probably their second best D right out of the box. The only downside is sucking and the kid already won a Cup that he don't seem to care about. Comb their system, find something shiny, make the deal, be happy.
 
Every time I start thinking about how petty things are between Nikishin and the Hurricanes, I remember that this little labor situation is out there.
 
Yeah, that team is dead ordinary without Shesterkin ... or worse. And with Quick having retired and Korpisalo on IR, their backup situation ain't great either. They do have old friend Spencer Martin in the minors (who may also be hurt, it seems), but you have to figure they'll make a move if Shesterkin is going to be out for a significant amount of time. And look, no shade on Dylan Garand. He's been their AHL guy for several years and done decent work. A slightly Bussi-like trajectory, but I feel like they'll want to have somebody more seasoned to platoon with the guy ... at a minimum. Of course, the Rangers being the Rangers, there's no Cap space. That's going to be one impactful diagnosis.
 
jeffbear said:
Yeah, that team is dead ordinary without Shesterkin ... or worse. And with Quick having retired and Korpisalo on IR, their backup situation ain't great either. They do have old friend Spencer Martin in the minors (who may also be hurt, it seems), but you have to figure they'll make a move if Shesterkin is going to be out for a significant amount of time. And look, no shade on Dylan Garand. He's been their AHL guy for several years and done decent work. A slightly Bussi-like trajectory, but I feel like they'll want to have somebody more seasoned to platoon with the guy ... at a minimum. Of course, the Rangers being the Rangers, there's no Cap space. That's going to be one impactful diagnosis.
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Martin is hurt, so it’s Garand and Callum Tung, who split last year between ECHL Bloomington (where he was OK) and Hartford (where he wasn’t). He allowed 2 goals in 2 games in Hartford this season and has a .971 Save %.
 
Tough spot for the Rangers to be in. That hot start doesn't necessarily mean they have turned the corner and are ready to be a playoffs factor again, so moving out assets for a #1A goalie is not ideal.

Hellebuyck isn't actually a great option because what happens when you get to NEXT season? Are you really going to trade away a whole bunch to get Hellebuyck and then be left figuring out what to do with one #1 goalie with 4 years at $8.25 million AAV left on his contract and your returning #1 goalie with 6 years at $11.6 million left on his deal? I suspect Hellebuyck wouldn't be all that interested in being a one year placeholder for the Rangers, knowing he is going to stay in NY.

Spencer Martin was recalled today, so there is the current replacement. They also have Joonas Korpisalo, but he is expected to be out at least another month due to injury.
 
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