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2026-27 Canes Miscellaneous Thread

CanadaCanes said:
I think he realized he had no leverage, he had no money coming in and he was about to lose a full years worth of earning potential if he continued to sit at home and pout, hold out whatever you want to call it. Couple that with another mouth to feed and support on the home front and the fact the Canes never skipped a beat without him and it was probably best to get something done and get back to work!
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Yes, this should have been obvious from the start. And when no team was interested in what he was asking, he finally realized that sitting out the season wouldn't help him with any potential team anyway.
 
Look, I think how he....and more so his agent....handle this is total amateur hour BS. After a few hours of reflection..................Now that he is back, I am ready to welcome him back because he is OUR problem child. I am interested to see the reaction he gets in Raleigh that first game back. I hope it will be a good one, but I would not be surprised to hear some loud boos from the contingent that will eventually morph to begrudging cheers. If he plays well, realizes what his true value is and signs an extension, this will all be forgotten.
 
In my opinion, the worst outcome on Nikishin's side was sitting an entire NHL season and ending up exactly where he already was. A 10.2b player with zero leverage.

By signing for 1 season, as andyt noted, he will be a full RFA with arbitration rights AND offer sheet eligible. If he isn't traded before next July 1st, he won't need to rely on the Canes to find an acceptable trade anymore. He and his agent can try to get a contract from any team he would want to play for, unfettered by the Cands working out a trade.

With the Canes of course, this could play out multiple ways from here. He could play out the season, here, get to July 1st, and spend the entire summer trying to find the right offer sheet. We also could trade him at any point before the deadline or after our season ends.

Now, this is officially against the NHL CBA rules, but I would not be surprised if the Canes have a handshake agreement with Nikishin that if we don't trade him before the deadline, we will trade him in the offseason OR that we not match any offer sheet he signs after July 1st. (sory of a hush hust wink wink handshake agreement that is technically illegal but only if you get caught).
 
cmaleski2 said:
In my opinion, the worst outcome on Nikishin's side was sitting an entire NHL season and ending up exactly where he already was. A 10.2b player with zero leverage.

By signing for 1 season, as andyt noted, he will be a full RFA with arbitration rights AND offer sheet eligible. If he isn't traded before next July 1st, he won't need to rely on the Canes to find an acceptable trade anymore. He and his agent can try to get a contract from any team he would want to play for, unfettered by the Cands working out a trade.

With the Canes of course, this could play out multiple ways from here. He could play out the season, here, get to July 1st, and spend the entire summer trying to find the right offer sheet. We also could trade him at any point before the deadline or after our season ends.

Now, this is officially against the NHL CBA rules, but I would not be surprised if the Canes have a handshake agreement with Nikishin that if we don't trade him before the deadline, we will trade him in the offseason OR that we not match any offer sheet he signs after July 1st. (sory of a hush hust wink wink handshake agreement that is technically illegal but only if you get caught).
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If the compensation rules do not change, it appears that the Canes would reap a first a second and a third round pick if he was to sign an offer sheet in that $7.1 to $9 million dollar threshold area. That’s not peanuts in the grand scheme of things!
 
CanadaCanes said:
If the compensation rules do not change, it appears that the Canes would reap a first a second and a third round pick if he was to sign an offer sheet in that $7.1 to $9 million dollar threshold area. That’s not peanuts in the grand scheme of things!
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Are teams going to be willing to sign a 3rd pair dman to that dosh based on potential?
 
Apparently Nikishin thinks so.

The one potential outcome I didn't bother to list was Nikishin signing an extension with the Canes. I'm still assuming that Nikishin thinks he is a top 4 NHL Dman and will be looking to be paid as one and that whatever the Canes might offer him will be a non-starter.
 
andyt said:
Are teams going to be willing to sign a 3rd pair dman to that dosh based on potential?
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I mean, his camp are not wrong that the market for his level of player has shifted dramatically. Plenty of guys with similar (or worse) skill sets signed long term deals worth $7-9 million AAVs. And he's not really a third pairing defenseman, now is he? Not for well over half the league. But he IS a 3rd pairing guy here. I 100% understand why Nikishin agitated for a move even if I 100% don't respect the way he went about it.
 
Funny how stupid teams make stupid decisions and now I’m supposed to believe the entire market has shifted. Yea yea I know how it works so I’m not really expecting a response explaining it, I just find it funny in a bad way…..How a GM giving out a horrible contract all of a sudden means every average too good player is now worth 10 mill a year. I’d argue their are more important and valuable players on this roster that would garner more cash than Darling Nikki
 
Bottom lining my thoughts on Little Niki ...

A. Nice to have this done. It was more of a nagging concern than a distraction, but it had gone on far too long.

B. Plug and play going forward. The Canes obviously weren't convinced by Reilly and don't want to endure a training wheels scenario with Legault or Nystrom unless they have to. I think Valimaki probably came closest to plugging that hole in the pairings and he's ... fine. There's more to Nikishin's game than either of those guys so they might as well wring out whatever's there while they have him available. The team is cohesive enough to absorb one malcontent, so I'm not worried about "the room" either.

C. His effort level will determine next steps, I think. If he puts his head down and does the job, he'll probably be given the chances he earns. If not, then the timeline for moving him accelerates. Tulsky now has the luxury of waiting for an offer that makes sense in the big picture. Then if you get to the end of the season, you figure something out. If he survives the season here, it will mean he's managed to keep his market value.

D. Almost forgot this one. If it was up to me, Nikishin 100% would have to play at least one game on a conditioning stint in Chicago before I'd add him to the roster on the big club. Just to make him pay for his obnoxious refusal to play one freaking game in the AHL when he came over in 2025.
 
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Fayettenamcanesfan said:
Funny how stupid teams make stupid decisions and now I’m supposed to believe the entire market has shifted. Yea yea I know how it works so I’m not really expecting a response explaining it, I just find it funny in a bad way…..How a GM giving out a horrible contract all of a sudden means every average too good player is now worth 10 mill a year. I’d argue their are more important and valuable players on this roster that would garner more cash than Darling Nikki
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Well, in sports, markets don't always change for good/smart reasons. In fact, they often change for stupid reasons. Philly's ridiculous offer sheet to Carlsson accelerated a player cost inflation that was always coming eventually because of the rising Cap. It was dumb on multiple levels, but it happened and it 100% impacted the player cost market for RFAs.
 
Fayettenamcanesfan said:
Funny how stupid teams make stupid decisions and now I’m supposed to believe the entire market has shifted. Yea yea I know how it works so I’m not really expecting a response explaining it, I just find it funny in a bad way…..How a GM giving out a horrible contract all of a sudden means every average too good player is now worth 10 mill a year
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💯 agree. It all started with the stupidity of that Philly offer sheet to Karlsson. Ever since then the overpays have been fast and furious. Some of them are well deserved like Celebrini in San Jose, others like Leneau are borderline insane.
 
andyt said:
Are teams going to be willing to sign a 3rd pair dman to that dosh based on potential?
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To be fair to Niki and his representation, he's probably not a 3rd pair on most other teams.

I guarantee you that Niki will be welcomed back into the locker with open arms. Every single player in there understands that he was dealing with the business side of the profession and will not begrudge him doing everything he can to make get a bigger payday. Sure, he overplayed his hand by a mile, but he's doing the same thing that business Tom is doing, getting that bag.
 
The Canes are practicing today. Hall is in a regular jersey. It looks like the KK at 3C experiment is over, Marty is at 3C with Hall and Jarvis. Janky skated with Daniels before practice, another good sign. No Nikishin yet.

Carrier - Aho - Svechnikov
Ehlers - Stankoven - Blake
Hall - Martinook - Jarvis
Robinson - Kotkaniemi - Brind'Amour
Deslauriers

Slavin - Chatfield
Miller - Walker
Gostisbehere - Välimäki
Reilly
 
FWIW, Nikishin has been in South Florida working out in a private facility with other unsigned NHLers. Carolina will probably want to do some benchmark work with Billy and then make a plan for getting him up to speed. He only signed last night, so I wouldn't expect him to be here until tomorrow. Again, I'd 100% send his ass to Chicago to play a couple of games before putting him on the active NHL roster ... both for practical and petty reasons.
 
andyt said:
The Canes are practicing today. Hall is in a regular jersey. It looks like the KK at 3C experiment is over, Marty is at 3C with Hall and Jarvis. Janky skated with Daniels before practice, another good sign. No Nikishin yet.

Carrier - Aho - Svechnikov
Ehlers - Stankoven - Blake
Hall - Martinook - Jarvis
Robinson - Kotkaniemi - Brind'Amour
Deslauriers

Slavin - Chatfield
Miller - Walker
Gostisbehere - Välimäki
Reilly
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Shame. My wife dubbed the Martinook/KK/Jarvis line the Best Friends Line and kept babbling about the power of friendship. I'll miss the levity
 
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