Carolina Hurricanes get first look at defenseman Alexander Nikishin on the ice
Alexander Nikishin has taken the ice for the first time with the Carolina Hurricanes.
As for when the Russian defenseman will play in a game with the Hurricanes, that remains to be seen.
“I don’t think we have a set-in-stone plan,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Saturday. “We’ve just got to get him on the learning curve.”
The Hurricanes begin the Stanley Cup playoffs Sunday with Game 1 against the New Jersey Devils at the Lenovo Center. Nikishin, who arrived in Raleigh on Friday and got his first look at the arena, laced up the skates and got in his first practice Saturday.
Nikishin, 23, was paired with Riley Stillman as the top three defensive pairs — Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns, Dmitry Orlov-Jalen Chatfield, Shayne Gostisbehere-Sean Walker — remained the same.
Asked how he will use the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Nikishin in the playoffs, Brind’Amour said, “It’s day by day, getting him acclimated, seeing how it works. That takes a lot of time, especially with the language.”
Nikishin, 23, speaks a little, but not a lot of English. He had goalie Pyotr Kochetkov serve as an interpreter for the media after the practice.
“He said he’s really excited to come to America and for a first practice he felt good,” Kochetkov said.
Nikishin’s whirlwind journey
It has been quite the past few weeks for Nikishin. With SKA St. Petersburg bowing out of the KHL playoffs, the D-man quickly began plans to come to North America and the Canes.
After his contract with SKA was terminated by a mutual agreement, Nikishin agreed to a two-year entry-level contract with Carolina.
After signing him, the Canes applied for a P1 visa for a professional athlete. But there was a delay before that was issued, and a delay before he could get an appointment at an embassy to get it in his passport once it is issued.
With no U.S. embassy in Moscow, the Canes had to get him to a place where he could travel on a Russian passport and that has diplomatic relations with the US. They flew him to Istanbul, Turkey, because it’s a travel hub and friendly to Russians, and Nikishin waited about three days for the visa to be approved.
“I talked to him two or three times while he was in Turkey and tried to just help him,” Canes forward Andrei Svechnikov said Saturday. “I know how hard it is and I was just trying to help.”
Then they had to fly him to where there would be the shortest wait at the embassy. They got a call at 3 p.m. Saudi Arabia time that if he could be in Riyadh by 10 a.m. the next day, they could do it there. The Canes’ Russian scout accompanied him to Riyadh.
Nikishin was asked how challenging it was to get everything arranged and get to Raleigh.
“He said it was no big deal how many days he flies, that he just wanted to be here,” Kochetkov said.
Canes general manager Eric Tulsky said Saturday it took an “enormous effort” from his staff to get Nikishin to Raleigh as soon as possible.
‘I’ve heard a lot of great things’
Nikishin, a left-handed shooter, is coming off a season in the KHL that had him score 17 goals and finish with 46 points, serving as the team captain. He had two goals and an assist in SKA’s four playoff games.
Nikishin set a single-season scoring record by a Russian-born KHL defenseman in 2022-23 with his 11 goals and 55 points. He then set a new one in 2023-24 with 17 goals and 56 points.
The Hurricanes picked Nikishin in the third round, 69th overall, in the 2020 draft.
“I’ve heard a lot of great things and he looks good out there already,” Svechnikov said. “For his size, he moves very well and moves the puck very well. He’s a physical guy who crushes people sometimes. I think he’s going to be very good for us.”
After the 2023-24 season, former president and general manager Don Waddell said he hoped to pry Nikishin out of his KHL contract and get him to Raleigh, calling it a “work in progress.”
“We’ve spent more time on this player, trying to get him out of Russia, than anybody else,” Waddell said.
But Nikishin stayed in the KHL another season. Now, he’s here and ready for the NHL.
Luke DeCock contributed to this story.
This story was originally published April 19, 2025 at 1:51 PM with the headline "Carolina Hurricanes get first look at defenseman Alexander Nikishin on the ice."
