Five Teams That Should Target Alexander Nikishin In A Trade

As the the NHL season inches closer and defenseman Alexander Nikishin remains unsigned, the possibility that he has played his final game with the Carolina Hurricanes grows more distinct.

In an interview with RG, Nikishin seemed to confirm rumors that he wants a hefty payday, potentiallon his next contract, and that's frankly more than the Hurricanes will probably want to pay him.

The 24-year-old is coming off a solid rookie campaign, potting 11 goals and recording 33 points while averaging just 18:11 of ice time in the regular season and 15:01 in the playoffs.

His biggest value for the Stanley Cup champions, even unsigned, is on the trade market. While Nikishin is a Restricted Free Agent, he is ineligible to sign an offer sheet after receiving a qualifying offer from the Hurricanes earlier this summer.

In a market where everyone wants a right-handed defender, which teams have the combination of free cap space, tradeable assets, and need to target a lefty like Nikishin?

Here are a few potential landing spots.

The Calgary Flames have a ton of money to spend, a pretty poor left side of their D-core, and are clearly in a rebuild.

Having a young asset like Nikishin who plays on the opposite side from future No. 1 defenseman Zayne Parekh, and recently acquired reclamation project Simon Nemec, could be pretty attractive.

In this age of player empowerment, he would have to want to sign there. However, there's going to be plenty of opportunity for him to play big minutes and be an upgrade over a guy like Kevin Bahl or Joel Hanley.

The Philadelphia Flyers might still need to do some stuff to make last season's success sustainable, and the left side of their defense could use an upgrade.

Nikishin would also fit in with their competitive timeline alongside some of their younger defenders like Jamie Drysdale and Cam York. He could also be a little more of an offensive weapon on that side of the ice, having scored 11 goals as a rookie.

While the Hurricanes may be reluctant to trade Nikishin within their division, the Flyers have shown this summer they are willing to go above and beyond in pursuit of young talent.

If Nikishin were to end up with the Seattle Kraken, he would immediately become one of the youngest and most important blueliners on the roster.

Even with more tenured defenders in the lineup like Vince Dunn or Ryan Lindgren, there would still be a ton of opportunities for Nikishin to have an impact for the Kraken this season.

Maybe they could work out a package involving picks, Nikishin, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi heading to Seattle for more immediate veteran help and Shane Wright.

There would be some cap-related hurdles to get over in order to make a deal like that happen, but there is definitely a proposal there that both teams can justify getting behind.

The Vancouver Canucks are in a position where they need upgrades in all areas of the ice.

Nikishin would be an improvement both now and in the future over their current second-pairing option, Jamie Oleksiak.

Considering the rebuilding timeline that the Canucks are on, Nikishin's interest in signing might not be high after getting a taste of playoff hockey.

However, they can provide him with more playing opportunity than most teams, allowing him to prove he's worth a big pay day before trading him later on.

The Winnipeg Jets would have to move some money around to make this work, but if there's still a Connor Hellebuyck trade to be made with someone other than Buffalo, maybe Nikishin can be an integral part of that.

He won't play ahead of Josh Morrissey, but he could easily compete for minutes with Dylan Samberg or Mario Ferraro on the bottom two pairings of the team's left side.

The Jets are a team that can justify targeting Nikishin for their short and long-term goals.

If they are looking to contend again, then Nikishin's playoff experience would be valuable. If they plan on rebuilding, then his age may work with the timeline they are building around.

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