Top Defense Prospect to Join Hurricanes This Season From Overseas

It's been a long time coming, but Carolina Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky is fully expecting his team's No. 1 prospect, Russian left-shot defenseman Alexander Nikishin to join the team late this NHL season.

As soon as his contract ends, we expect him to come over and hit our lineup and provide us a boost right away.

Nikishin's contract ends after the KHL season, which wraps up in late April. So it's conceivable that the big, two-way talent will be on the Canes blueline sometime in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The 22-year-old was Carolina's third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, and after a couple of unremarkable seasons with Moscow Spartak, he moved to SKA St. Petersburg and has been dominant, leading the KHL in points by a defenseman for the second straight season.

This past year, the 6'3" d-man posted 17 goals and 56 points in 67 games. But it's not just his offense that the Canes are excited about, as evidenced by his plus/minus of +32.

"He's able to create on his own, he's able to make others better, and he's one of the hardest players to play against," assistant GM Darren Yorke told Tom Gulitti of nhl.com. "So, you're really looking at a unicorn of a defenceman."

The Hurricanes will have a re-made blueline this season after the departures in free agency of Brady Skjei to the Nashville Predators, Brett Pesce to the New Jersey Devils, and Tony DeAngelo who's still unsigned. They added Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere. But Nikishin should immediately push those newcomers down a slot on the defense depth chart when he arrives.