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2026 Training Camp and Preseason Thread

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
Camp opens on September 17. There will be 2 groups, no word on the composition of them, but it’s usually been a NHL group and a Chicago group. It will be interesting to see which prospects end up in which group after the Prospects Tournament. I would at a minimum expect the guys that played for the Canes last year In the NHL grou….Nystrom, Legault, Nadeau, Robidas, Unger Sorum. Maybe Ryabkin and Cerrato.

All practices and morning skates are closed to the public.

www.nhl.com

Canes Announce Training Camp Schedule | Carolina Hurricanes

On-ice sessions begin Sept. 17 at Lane Arena
www.nhl.com www.nhl.com
 
The first thing that came to mind when I read this post and started thinking about the 'NHL group' is that KK is still on our roster.

For all of the talk about how Nadeau might get at least a solid 10 game NHL opportunity while we Jarvis heals from his shoulder surgery, we kind of glossed over the fact that, at least as of right now, KK is still here.

Nadeau could slide right into a top 6 spot while we wait for Seth Jarvis to return. That would make perfect sense. However, I still think that there is some sort of organizational hope that KK could still be useful. Are we lining up our kids for shots at the NHL roster and just permanently relegating KK to the press box?

Svech-Aho-Ehlers
Hall-Stankoven-Blake
Carrier-Staal-Martinook
Robinson-Jankowski-KK

Flip Carrier and KK as desired

OR DO WE GO

Svech-Aho-Nadeau
Hall-Stankoven-Blake
Ehlers-Staal-Martinook
Robinson-Jankowski-Carrier

And just continue to wait for a KK trade without KK actually playing any NHL hockey anymore? Who wants to trade for a guy with the term KK has left who hasn't played any meaningful hockey in a very long time? And in that regard, if we are never going to play KK, why in the world did we not buy him out at 1/3 when we had a final chance to?

Anyhow, this is what camp is for, but I definitely think that we might not have seen the last of KK in a Canes regular season game.
 
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...waiting for KK to start with the meaningful hockey bit. It's a shame he hasn't played up to his contract value. I think a decent NHL center would be snapped up. But what the hell do I know? Maybe the same as NHL GM's who used their own eyes.

I hate that he's such a whipping boy for me, but he's kinda earned it.

Jim
 
Perhaps if in fact the org is still open to giving KK another shot (since he's still here and on the roster), would Rod have any time and patience to see if KK has any new fire and motivation to earn a spot with a great training camp? If he actually came to camp pissed he did not play a single playoff game and still wants to truly play a meaningful role on this team, you would think something inside of him needs to change drastically. I guess the other shoe to drop in all of this would be to include KK in any trade for a guy like Hellebuyck or in a package trade with Nikishin at some point, but that would require an acquiring team to have enough cap space to fit both Nikishin on a new contract and KK...and that's a ton to ask for most teams with rosters pretty much accounted for unless the Canes are retaining a bunch of KK's hit.
 
Meh ... KK is just a placeholder at this point. I think the org has given him all the real chances he's gonna get. It was pretty widely known this summer that anybody who wanted him could come get him so long as they were willing to pay his full contract. No takers. His best bet now is to be included in a bigger deal, which is still on the table thanks to Nikishin's contract situation. Everybody involved seems good with it, so ... whatever. He can hold down a 4th line spot until Jarvy gets back or continue to be the 13th forward.

As for the Top 6, I see a lot of options but Brindy usually has a starting point in mind before Camp even opens. Whoever you see in the Jarvis slot whenever he starts a real top line in pre season will probably be the guy with the first crack. Nadeau has a shot to be that guy, and Blake has been there before and could easily slide up. Ehlers obviously has the game but hasn't been a natural fit with Aho so I'm less convinced about that one. Brindy loves to throw a curve, so maybe we see first line Martinook again for a little bit. I kind of feel like he might want to keep the 2nd and 3rd units intact, so part of me thinks Nadeau gets first whack at it. We'll see. That and whatever goes on with Nikishin are the only opportunities we have for palace intrigue this fall.
 
Not that we don't know this already, but Pierre LeBrun's mentions in his afternoon article in The Athletic today that Alexander Nikishin is still holding on to his request to be traded.

Other than the money, I still am pretty bothered about the fact that a player would get a top 6 NHL role, average 18 minutes a game as an NHL rookie, win a Stanley Cup in his first full NHL season, and then whine his way out of town. Really Nikishin? What the heck do you want?

Did Gleason and Brind'Amour coach him too hard and hurt his feelings? Does he really think that some other NHL team is going to hand him a $10 million+ AAV contract and immediately put him in a top pair/PP1 role?

I'm still all for the Canes unloading him to someplace like Seattle or Calgary where he can get his wish to play top 4 minutes on a really stinky team. Nikishin apparently doesn't care about winning, just his playing time. I also am all about the Canes refusing to trade him anywhere without getting appropriate value back. Even if that means Nikishin slinks back to Russia to play for $1 million a season while the Canes let him dangle in the wind.
 
cmaleski2 said:
Not that we don't know this already, but Pierre LeBrun's mentions in his afternoon article in The Athletic today that Alexander Nikishin is still holding on to his request to be traded.

Other than the money, I still am pretty bothered about the fact that a player would get a top 6 NHL role, average 18 minutes a game as an NHL rookie, win a Stanley Cup in his first full NHL season, and then whine his way out of town. Really Nikishin? What the heck do you want?

Did Gleason and Brind'Amour coach him too hard and hurt his feelings? Does he really think that some other NHL team is going to hand him a $10 million+ AAV contract and immediately put him in a top pair/PP1 role?

I'm still all for the Canes unloading him to someplace like Seattle or Calgary where he can get his wish to play top 4 minutes on a really stinky team. Nikishin apparently doesn't care about winning, just his playing time. I also am all about the Canes refusing to trade him anywhere without getting appropriate value back. Even if that means Nikishin slinks back to Russia to play for $1 million a season while the Canes let him dangle in the wind.
Click to expand...
Be careful. You’re not allowed to say anything critical about Nikishin
 
cmaleski2 said:
Not that we don't know this already, but Pierre LeBrun's mentions in his afternoon article in The Athletic today that Alexander Nikishin is still holding on to his request to be traded.

Other than the money, I still am pretty bothered about the fact that a player would get a top 6 NHL role, average 18 minutes a game as an NHL rookie, win a Stanley Cup in his first full NHL season, and then whine his way out of town. Really Nikishin? What the heck do you want?

Did Gleason and Brind'Amour coach him too hard and hurt his feelings? Does he really think that some other NHL team is going to hand him a $10 million+ AAV contract and immediately put him in a top pair/PP1 role?

I'm still all for the Canes unloading him to someplace like Seattle or Calgary where he can get his wish to play top 4 minutes on a really stinky team. Nikishin apparently doesn't care about winning, just his playing time. I also am all about the Canes refusing to trade him anywhere without getting appropriate value back. Even if that means Nikishin slinks back to Russia to play for $1 million a season while the Canes let him dangle in the wind.
Click to expand...
If he goes back to Russia, how long do the Canes retain his rights? Forever or until he would have become a UFA?
 
Nikishin is an immature and petulant baby and guys like that don’t belong on this team. I like the Canes position in this relationship—- who’s your daddy?
 
Everybody knows where I stand on Nikishin at this point, but let's reiterate anyway ...

1. The player calls the shots, so this blaming the agent stuff is pretty weak. If people didn't have so much invested in the player being good, that wouldn't be happening, IMO.

2. The gap between the KHL and the NHL is bigger than it used to be, and growing. A player who dominates in the KHL is no longer guaranteed to even move the needle in the NHL, and especially not right from the start. That layer of this bean dip seems to be completely lost in the discourse. You want a young player to have a strong belief in himself, but Niki thought he was at a Kaprisov/Panarin kind of level and he's just not. He's a nice young player, but he's already 24 and should be more polished given his professional experience. That said, he's a moderately valuable asset and not somebody you just trade away for whatever.

3. The kind of guy who asks to be traded from the defending Cup winner because he's not getting opportunities he hasn't really earned is not the kind of guy you bend over backwards to keep, IMO. And make no mistake, the kid asked to be traded. The money and usage expectations make trading him tricky, but I think the Canes should take him up on it whenever they get an offer that makes sense.

Bottom line ... the Canes don't actually need Nikishin right now. It would certainly be nice to have a 2nd PP point guy with his skill set, but otherwise he's just not that much of an impact player. If this drags out then it's probably bad for his trade value, but there's no rush for the Canes otherwise. You want to play big boy games, then the other guy gets to participate as well. Have fun in purgatory, kid.
 
One insider gives a story and every outlet twists it and publishes it with opinions sprinkled in. Funny how many people think their GM will aquire Nikishin for a washed up vet or prospect. Tulsky will let him rot on the vine before giving him away for a draft pick. No one is going to trade for him without a sign and trade type deal. Too much risk. Can't trust him nor his agent.
 
From Nikishin's (and his agent's) perspective, the best case scenario for him would be a sign and trade TODAY so Nikishin could maximize those signing bonuses and get an 8 year contract.

If that doesn't happen today, then really the only other remaining deadline that means anything would be December 1st...the time by which Nikishin, as an RFA, has to have a contract signed in order to play in the NHL for the 26-27 season.

Given this is the last day for 8 year contracts, this might be the day Nikishin is traded. If not, then December 1st is the key date to watch for....
 
cmaleski2 said:
From Nikishin's (and his agent's) perspective, the best case scenario for him would be a sign and trade TODAY so Nikishin could maximize those signing bonuses and get an 8 year contract.

If that doesn't happen today, then really the only other remaining deadline that means anything would be December 1st...the time by which Nikishin, as an RFA, has to have a contract signed in order to play in the NHL for the 26-27 season.

Given this is the last day for 8 year contracts, this might be the day Nikishin is traded. If not, then December 1st is the key date to watch for....
Click to expand...
Adam Gold says the 12/1 date doesn’t apply. I don’t think that’s correct but whatever.


View: https://x.com/agoldfan/status/2099865608225526165?s=61
 
Hmm....I will have to dig at that later. Could be the rule for 10.2(c) players are different.

(and....yes, Adam Gold is correct). Because 10.2(c) players are not truly RFAs (because they cannot sign offer sheets), the Dec 1st date does not apply. Really those 10.2(c) players are more 'R's than 'RFA's. They cannot negotiate contract with other teams freely, so they are not really free agents.

I stand corrected.
 
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All of which really neither helps nor hurts Carolina. So long as they don't take any action with Nikishin today, the song remains the same for him ... they can trade his rights, sign him and trade him or let him go play in Russia and retain his NHL rights. That's about it, because I really don't see a scenario where he wears a Hurricanes jersey this season. Hell, if they want to let him pound sand for a month or so until some other team inevitably has some injuries and gets desperate, then ... fine.

Personally, I wouldn't let him within 5 miles of the practice rink without a contract though. I've seen fans speculating about that and screw that noise.
 
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