6 NHL Landing Spots for Hurricanes' Alexander Nikishin After Revealed Trade Request

According to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun as of Monday, Hurricanes defenseman and RFA Alex Nikishin is "not backing off" from his trade request. 

The 24-year-old, who remains unsigned, was drafted at No. 69 in 2020 and was a highly touted prospect before joining the Canes during the 2024-25 playoffs. Now he's got his first regular season and a Cup-winning playoff run under his belt, but the Hurricanes are so stacked on the blue line that there hasn't been much space for Nikishin to evolve.

Nikishin has shown potential and deserves a shot at quarterbacking a power play and a bigger opportunity overall than the Canes can currently give him, so a change of scenery is for the best overall.

Which teams could give him the shot to develop into one of their best defensemen?

Calgary Flames

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Matthew Coronato

The Flames made a major move to shore up their defense and accelerate their rebuild when they traded for Simon Nemec, a former No. 2 overall Devils pick. Could Nikishin be the next edition that takes them into their long-awaited future?

They're swimming in cap space and would be able to dish out the raise the RFA is expecting. They've got a huge hole on their left side, where Nikishin naturally plays, and this could provide some healthy competition with Nemec as both vie for the No. 1 power play quarter back spot.

Plus, he'd be a great complement to top Flames defenseman of the future, Zayne Parekh. If Nikishin is seeking a true opportunity to play big minutes and become "the guy," the answer could be Calgary.

Nashville Predators

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Steven Stamkos

The Predators are at a crossroads, and they finally went in a new direction by naming savvy former Avalanche brass Chris MacFarland as the new GM. MacFarland has already made a few splashes, like acquiring Ross Colton and Jack Drury from his former team.

Could Nikishin make sense as another big structural change here? The Predators have some newly acquired draft capital to toss around, which seems like the answer for the Hurricanes, who don't want to take on too much cap space in any potential deal.

Philadelphia Flyers

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Porter Martone

The Flyers had a thrilling, if unexpected, trip to the playoffs last season, but they'll have to build on that roster and keep increasing the talent around Porter, Martone, and Trevor Zegras if they're to maintain last season's success and/or take the next step. They attempted to do this by tendering Leo Carlsson an offer sheet, but it was famously matched by his home team, the Ducks.

Now the Flyers clearly have tons of cap space and aren't afraid to use it. They certainly could use more scoring and skill on defense — particularly on the left side. Nikishin would join the likes of Jamie Drysdale and Cam York as the younger defensive core in Philly shapes up.

St. Louis Blues

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Robert Thomas

The Blues are another team on this list looking to continue fleshing out talent around a younger core. St. Louis finally parted ways with Jordan Kyrou in a difficult — but probably necessary — commitment to working on their future.

Highly skilled Philip Broberg is the Blues' best defenseman and will stay on the first pairing on the left side, but Nikishin could slot into the second pairing. In this situation, he'd still upgrade from the Hurricanes' third line, play bigger minutes, and have an opportunity to quarterback the top power-play unit.

This would be an option where both sides could feel comfortable easing into a less risky jump in minutes for Nikishin.

Vancouver Canucks

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Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk

When it comes to the 2026-27 Vancouver Canucks, the question will be "why not?" in every sense of the word. The rebuild is on, and there is time, space, and money to explore upgrades at every position on the ice.

With the Canucks, Nikishin would truly want to ask himself if the bigger role and better opportunity as an individual player are worth the sacrifice of a few years of missing the playoffs. He is coming off of a Stanley Cup win, after all.

If the Canucks are willing to invest in the 24-year-old, it could pay off down the line when he is still in his prime and the tides start turning for the team overall. Worst-case scenario, they flip him to a more competitive team for different assets if it doesn't work out later.

Winnipeg Jets

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Connor Hellebuyck

The Winnipeg Jets have the hockey world ablaze right now as we await the aftermath of Connor Hellebuyck's trade request.

Acquiring Nikishin seems unlikely from a cap standpoint, and unfortunately, for them, unloading Hellebuyck doesn't do much to alleviate cap concerns.

Still, if they're going to be without the best goaltender in the world, they'll want to shore up their defense. He won't win the No. 1 spot on the left side, which belongs indefinitely to Josh Morrissey, but he will provide competition on the second and third pairings with left-siders Dylan Samberg and Mario Ferraro.

It's unclear exactly where the Jets are headed, but a player like Nikishin could help them stay competitive if they intend to make it back to the playoffs, or he could make a rebuild less painful if that's where the Jets want to take this.