‘Just playing hockey’ helps Hurricanes’ rookie Russian defender acclimate quickly
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Nikishin adapts to NHL play despite limited English; teammates fill gaps.
- Coach Brind’Amour tolerates mistakes while testing Nikishin’s instincts and growth.
- Nikishin records early assists and defensive plays while language skills improve.
The ability to communicate in any team sport, particularly in the heat of a game, is vital, but it’s also a concept that should never be taken for granted.
Case in point: defenseman Alexander Nikishin of the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Russian has all the tools needed to be a strong, productive defender in the NHL. He has the size at 6-foot-3 and 218 pounds. He’s mobile. He appears to have good instincts on playing the puck.
The one thing Nikishin lacks — for now — is the ability to speak English well. Teammates Andrei Svechnikov and Pyotr Kochetkov, both Russian, have no language problems. And Nikishin is trying. The want-to is there.
“He’s better, for sure,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said during preseason training camp. “In a perfect world this wouldn’t be an issue but it is. You can’t hide from it.”
Shayne Gostisbehere has been Nikishin’s defensive partner in the Canes’ 2-0 start after wins against New Jersey in the opener, then in overtime Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers. Nikishin had assists in each victory, and Nikishin and Gostisbehere each had a plus-3 plus/minus rating against the Devils in the 6-3 win.
Before the Flyers game, Gostisbehere downplayed the communication issue to a degree.
“It’s not that tough,” he said. “It’s simple for me, obviously, because I’m doing all the talking and he’s doing all the listening and learning.
“He understands, although sometimes, I think he understands and he doesn’t. But it’s little things, little cadences. It’s ‘There’s a rimmed puck’ or ‘Over, over, over.’ It’s simple words and he speaks way better than people think. He’s not totally out there by himself.”
Nikishin’s route to the NHL
Few have had tougher entrances into the NHL than Nikishin, 24, one of the best defensemen in Russia’s KHL the past few seasons and a third-round pick by the Canes in 2020.
After SKA St. Petersburg ended its 2024-25 season, Niksihin was released and quickly began plans to get to North America and join the Canes. After resolving various visa problems, he finally joined the team and made his NHL debut in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Washington Capitals.
After a game against the Caps, his last three came in the Eastern Conference final against the Florida Panthers, the Cup winners. He was hurled into the mix in the toughest of hockey cauldrons, unsure about the Canes’ system of play and, yes, unable to speak much English.
Nikishin did the best he could on the ice and earned his first Stanley Cup playoff point by assisting on a Logan Stankoven goal.
Niksihin then came to training camp in September feeling better about his situation, with a bigger comfort zone. He moved into an apartment. His English had incrementally improved after some tutoring.
In a short interview Saturday in the Canes locker room, Nikishin was able to convey that he felt he “played good” in the win over New Jersey and is more at ease in both the Canes’ system and with his surroundings.
“More comfortable, yes,” he said. “Just playing hockey.”
A helpful partner
Niksihin said he was able to communicate well enough with Gostisbehere, on the ice and on the bench, saying, “Yes, we talk.”
Added Gostisbehere: “He always asks me what we’re doing before every faceoff and whatnot, like normal partners do. It was definitely smoother than I thought, for sure, especially in the first game. And us having a good game helps.”
Nikishin notched his first regular-season NHL point with an assist on the Canes’ first goal of the season, a deflection by Taylor Hall early in the game, as Gostisbehere had the primary helper.
Niksihin had three hits and two blocks in the opener, and one shot in 15:34 of ice time. Against the Flyers, Nikishin was in for 16:48 and had four hits and two shots.
“We know he’s got the skill and he’s got the bomb, and whenever he gets the puck I’m like, ‘Shoot, Shoot, shoot!’” Gostisbehere said.
He smiled, adding, “Unless I’m open.”
‘Getting better each day’
Nikishin was on the ice Saturday when four goals were scored, two by each team. His sharp pass up the left boards helped lead to the Canes’ first goal, by Stankoven.
“We’re probably still a year or two away from really seeing what this kid can do because I think he’s getting by on just pure talent at this point,” Brind’Amour said. “He’s got to be able to play and trust his instincts. You don’t want to be in his ear after every shift when you know he’s probably not getting it anyway.
“So living with the few mistakes that are going to happen and then (talking) to him after is really the way we’re approaching it.”
In Saturday’s game at the Lenovo Center, Nikishin tried to stop a shot by the Flyers’ Bobby Brink but inadvertently screened goalie Frederik Andersen as Brink scored. Nikishin, angered by the goal, turned and smacked his stick against the end boards.
Later, Brink had another opening and loaded up a shot, only to have Nikishin come sliding across the ice for a block in a not-again kind of defensive move..
Last season, Nikishin had veteran Dmitry Orlov, another Russian D-man, to help explain the Canes’ defensive wrinkles. Closer in age to Svechnikov and Kochetkov, he spent much of his free time with them off the ice.
Orlov left in free agency but Svechnikov and Kochetkov remain, and Nikishin often is seen chatting with Chatfield, who sits next to him in the room at Lenovo Center.
“He’s getting better,” Svechnikov said. “I was playing (junior hockey) in North America for two years before I played in the NHL and had a chance to learn the language. He’s getting better each day.”
The Canes left Monday for a six-game road trip beginning Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks, Orlov’s new team. Former Canes forward Jeff Skinner also signed with the Sharks and has two goals in the Sharks’ 0-0-2 start after overtime losses to Vegas and Anaheim.
