Hurricanes GM admits Alexander Nikishin's trade details amid growing interest

The Alexander Nikishin situation in Carolina is starting to feel like one of the more interesting storylines of the summer.

Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky made it clear this week that his phone hasn't stopped ringing when it comes to the 24 year old defenseman, and he isn't slamming the door on a trade if the right one comes along.

Nikishin just wrapped up his first full NHL season after making the jump from the KHL, and he made an immediate impact.

He posted 11 goals and 22 assists across 81 games while playing in 17 of Carolina's 19 playoff contests during their run to the Stanley Cup.

Those numbers helped explain why teams keep circling back on him even though he remains unsigned.

Carolina is sitting with roughly $9.8 million in space, and Nikishin is the only regular on the roster still without a deal for next season.

He can't sign an offer sheet and doesn't have arbitration rights, which strips away some of the usual leverage in these standoffs and leaves the ball mostly in Carolina's court on whether this ends in a new contract or a trade package heading out of town.

Anaheim and Philadelphia have both been mentioned as landing spots worth watching, along with continued interest from teams looking for help on the back end.

With training camp approaching and no deal in place yet, this feels like one of the stories worth following closely as the offseason winds down.

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