Two Hurricanes Prospects Off to Hot Starts in Russia

For many NHL teams, drafting prospects out of Russia is seen as a dangerous game. From transfer agreements prolonging time out of their systems to political concerns to even a lack of in-person scouting, Russia poses a lot of potential red flags that scare some teams off.

However, the Carolina Hurricanes are not one of those teams.

The Canes have built a steady system of Russian prospects over the last several drafts and because of that, they're starting to find some true gems.

Two of those prospects, Alexander Nikishin in the KHL and Alexander Rykov in the VHL, are starting to show that they may be the steals of their respective drafts.

Nikishin is a 21-year-old defenseman who is regarded as perhaps the top defensive prospect outside of the NHL.

His 55 point season last year broke several KHL records, including the most points by a SKA Saint Petersburg defenseman in a single season, the most points in a single season by a Russian-born defenseman, the third most points by any defenseman in a single season and the second most assists by any defenseman in a single season (44).

And his ridiculous scoring pace has only continued. The 2020 third-round pick has already produced six points in his first four games of the season playing on SKA's top pair and top PP unit.

“Nikishin was able to build off the record setting year that he had," said Hurricanes AGM Darren Yorke. "It’s been great to watch the growth from him from the time we drafted him to now. The physicality was always there, the offensive ability at the MHL level was there. At 18 years old though, when he was playing in KHL games, it probably wasn’t as prevalent. Now he’s just been able to add more layers to his game. We’re excited for where he is.”

It seems fairly obvious that Nikishin is only going to continue to grow into more and more of a dominant player in the KHL and the Hurricanes are excited for what they have in store with him.

In fact, Nikishin is reportedly one of Carolina's untouchables according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

LeBrun wrote this in regards to Carolina's potential trade package for Timo Meier back in February:

"...But the one young player they never relented in not wanting to move is Russian blueliner Alexander Nikishin. It might have been a game-changer had Carolina included him in the package, but I don’t blame the Canes for wanting to keep him. They have big plans for him."

However, those big plans are going to have to wait at least a few more years as Nikishin's KHL contract runs through 2024-25.

Playing for Chelmet Chelyabinsk in the VHL, Russia's second-highest league, Rykov is averaging 16:58 of ice time per game and it looks like he'll have a strong season if he can just stay healthy.

"I’m a two-way forward," Rykov said after being drafted, through a translator. "I can play in the defensive and offensive zone. I can score or I can pass. I can do everything in the defensive zone that I need to for the team.

While it's still too early to say anything definitively about Rykov given that the 18 year old was just drafted (2023 fourth-round pick), what he's been able to do so far is impressive.

After setting the VHL record last season for points per game for a U-18 player, he kept the ball rolling into this year with six points in his first four games.

“Rykov had a record setting-year in the VHL from a per-game basis," Yorke said. "So there was always that ability, he just didn’t get opportunities due to different injuries. That was unfortunate, but now he has six points in the last four games.

"The last game I watched video of, he had a nice little slick move on his edges and then makes a play. That type of ability to know what he’s going to do, set the D up and make those types of quick reads is exciting.”