![\"Alexander](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/colorado-avalanche-v-carolina-hurricanes-raleigh-north-carolina-january-03-alexander-e1785425328897..jpeg\")
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The Carolina Hurricanes<\/a> are set to run it back with mostly the same roster for the 2026-27 season. This is not necessarily a bad thing. After all, the Hurricanes recently collected their second Stanley Cup trophy in impressive fashion. Not only did they have the best record in the Eastern Conference last year, but they breezed through the playoffs<\/a> with a 16-3 record.<\/p>\n So far, Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky has not made a single NHL-level addition to his championship roster. Veteran goaltender Frederik Andersen is currently the club\u2019s lone significant subtraction. The netminder recently signed a one-year, $2.8 million deal<\/a> with the Edmonton Oilers<\/a>. There is, however, one more piece of important business for Carolina and Tulsky to handle this summer.<\/p>\n Star defenseman Alexander Nikishin is currently a restricted free agent after finishing out his two-year, $1.85 million<\/a> rookie contract. It was previously revealed that the blueliner is eyeing a massive $8 million AAV deal<\/a> this summer. Nevertheless, the player has now hinted that this particular number may not be enough.<\/p>\n In an exclusive interview with RG\u2019s Daria Tuboltseva<\/a>, Nikishin hinted that he wants \u201cmore\u201d than the suggested figure. The blueliner also claimed that there is no real update on his negotiations with the Carolina Hurricanes. \u201cMy agents handle that. I don\u2019t push the situation much; they take care of everything themselves,\u201d claimed Nikishin. \u201cIf something concrete comes up, they\u2019ll call me. Right now there\u2019s nothing concrete about the contract.\u201d<\/p>\n Carolina Hurricanes Unlikely to Meet Alexander Nikishin\u2019s Contract Demands GettyAlexander Nikishin saw a reduced role during the Carolina Hurricanes\u2019 successful playoff run.<\/p>\n Nikishin went on to assert that his contract demands align with other deals involving NHL blueliners. For instance, veterans Rasmus Andersson and Jacob Trouba recently earned contracts over the $8 million AAV mark. \u201cThe salary cap keeps growing<\/a>, and defensemen are getting bigger salaries,\u201d continued the blueliner. \u201cYou can already feel the difference. I think contracts will keep getting bigger and bigger over time.\u201d<\/p>\n According to\u00a0PuckPedia.com<\/a>, the Carolina Hurricanes can afford to reward Nikishin. The reigning Stanley Cup champions currently have nearly $10 million in projected cap space. However, it certainly seems as if Tulsky is hesitant to give the 24-year-old such a massive raise. Despite being regarded as a top prospect, the blueliner merely had a solid rookie campaign<\/a> in 2025-26.<\/p>\n Head coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour also reduced Nikishin\u2019s minutes<\/a> during their playoff run. In fact, the Russian averaged the fewest minutes per game<\/a> of all of Carolina\u2019s regular defensemen. Hurricanes beat reporter Cory Lavalette recently noted that Nikishin was perhaps the only Carolina player to not have \u201ca moment\u201d<\/a> en route to the Stanley Cup triumph.<\/p>\n Carolina May Offload Nikishin This Summer<\/p>\n Because of the contract standoff, the Carolina Hurricanes have been linked with trading away Nikishin. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman<\/a> previously claimed that the New York Rangers<\/a> were interested in acquiring the budding star. New York, however, likely lacks the assets Tulsky and the Hurricanes want.<\/p>\n The St. Louis Blues<\/a> are also in the mix for the defenseman<\/a>. While a trade is certainly possible, Lavalette ultimately believes that Carolina gives Nikishin a bridge deal to retain him. As the reporter points out, the Hurricanes made a similar move back in 2024 to keep Martin Necas for two years<\/a>. Assuming this is the case, the blueliner would still be in his prime when the short-term extension expires.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tChristopher Moore<\/a> Christopher Moore has been a Heavy.com contributor since 2025. With over a decade of experience in the industry, he has published thousands of articles reporting on multiple professional sports. He was previously a sports writer for World Soccer Talk, the Yahoo! Contributor Network, and the Maryland Sports Blog. More about Christopher Moore<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Carolina Hurricanes are set to run it back with mostly the same roster for the 2026-27…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-793873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Alexander](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/stanley-cup-final-carolina-hurricanes-v-vegas-golden-knights-game-six-7-e1782325377315.jpg\")
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