Alexander Nikishin still doesn't have a contract, and on Friday his agent decided the Carolina Hurricanes needed to hear about it in public.
Alexander Chernykh didn't soften it. Teams are ready to get him, and Carolina refuses.
The claim is that a sign and trade is sitting there waiting, with the club holding it up. Nothing moves until the defenceman agrees to terms somewhere new.
If that's accurate, it's a strange position for a front office to take. Camp is running without him, and that helps exactly nobody.
The case for the player is real. He skated in 81 games last season and put up 33 points from the back end.
He did that at a $925,000 cap hit. That gap between production and price is the entire reason this standoff exists.
Then there's the other file. Seventeen postseason games, one assist. Not the springboard anyone wants walking into a negotiation like this.
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Alexander Nikishin's agent drops trade bombshell on the Hurricanes
The Russia talk is finished, at least from his side. Chernykh said the player is not going back and isn't close to considering it.
He added that Alexander will be in North America waiting for the contract situation to resolve. That's a camp expecting this to end in the NHL.
There's a personal layer too. His wife is expecting their first child, which makes a transatlantic gamble a much harder sell.
The reported ask for Nikishin started north of $8 million per season. Salaries jumped across the league this summer, and expectations moved with them.
Carolina already has money committed on the blue line. K'Andre Miller carries a $7,500,000 cap hit and Jaccob Slavin sits at $6,396,062.
Shayne Gostisbehere led that group with 50 points. The depth chart is crowded, which is probably half of what's happening here.
The Hurricanes finished 53-22-7 last season and landed second overall. This is not a club asking anybody for patience.
They scored 296 goals and gave up 240. Rod Brind'Amour has built a structure that absorbs absences, and this one is testing it early.
Seth Jarvis is on injured reserve with a shoulder issue and an estimated return of October 24. The holes keep stacking.
So who blinks? A standoff like this works like two drivers at a four way stop, both waving the other through, neither one touching the gas.
Eric Tulsky is sitting on a 113-point roster and one very loud unsigned file. The agent just told the league the offers exist, and camp doesn't pause for either side.
Should Eric Tulsky trade Alexander Nikishin before the season opens?
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