News Hurricanes Team Notes

[Carolina Hurricanes]

Hurricanes @ Capitals - Preview and Game Thread

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Canes look for first win of this road trip tonight

The Carolina Hurricanes (46-27-4) are in our nation’s capital to take on the Washington Capitals (49-19-9) tonight with game time at 7:30 P.M. The game is televised by ESPN+, Hulu, and other related options.

The Canes are riding a three game losing streak, all on the road. They are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games.

All the drama over Ovechkin breaking the record is over, so it will be interesting to see the Caps play without this taking the spotlight. Although, there will be another ceremony for the sniper before the game tonight.

The Caps are on a bit of a bender as well. They lost their last game against the Islanders and they are 5-4-1 in their last 10.

The last time these teams met, there were eight game misconducts handed out as well as 140 plus minutes of penalties.

With the Hurricanes leading 5-1, it doesn’t seem likely that they would be the instigators in the melee late in the game. Regardless, there has been a lot of big talk by the Caps, especially regarding the take down by Jalen Chatfield in his fight with Connor McMichael.

Chatfield was criticized by the Caps and by many in the media for his take down, but Chatfield is not known as a “dirty” player and this was the first fight he had been involved with since 2022.

https://www.hockeyfights.com/players/21800

Recently, Rod Brind’Amour was asked by Ryan Henkel about the controversary and the outspoken coach called the media, “morons”.

“The media’s the one that (made drama out of) it, and they’re morons, typically,” Brind’Amour told reporters. “If you’re going to say what happened at the end was anything more than what I’ve seen a thousand times before, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Go look at the game exactly before.”

I asked Rod Brind'Amour if he felt there would be any carryover into Thursday's rematch with Washington after all the drama around Jalen Chatfield: "The media was the one who made drama out of it and they're morons, typically."

"If you're going to say what happened at the end…

— Ryan Henkel (@RyanHenkel_) April 7, 2025​

Even though there were no injuries on the play, the Caps might be seeking retribution tonight. Tom Wilson, who is not exactly known as a “choir boy”, will be worth following closely.

Frederick Andersen should be in net for Carolina, according to the typical goalie rotation.

The lineups will be announced in the comments later.

Team’s Preview-

https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/preview-april-10-at-washington

Source: https://www.canescountry.com/2025/4/10/24405442/hurricanes-capitals-preview-and-game-thread

 

[Carolina Hurricanes]

Capitals 5, Hurricanes 4 - SO

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 10: Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals scores na goal in the second period during a game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena on April 10, 2025 in Washington, D.C. | Photo by John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images

Canes lose fourth in a row, this time in a shootout

This was a game of ups and downs as the Carolina Hurricanes jumped out to a dominating 2-0 lead in the first period, only to fall behind in the second, as they went on to lose to the Washington Capitals, 5-4 in a shootout at the Capital One Arena.

After a long ceremony for Alex Ovechkin, the Caps were a step behind as the Canes outshot them and outscored them, 2-0.

Pierre Luc Dubois would make it 2-1 before the end of the period and then the Caps came on strong in the second.

In that second period, the Caps came storming back to score three goals and they took a 4-2 lead.

The Canes never quit though and they scored twice in the third to tie the game, one on a Martinook shot and another by Seth Jarvis, as he knocked an Ovechkin shot at an open net out of the air to set up the play with just a minute and change left.

After a scoreless overtime, in which Brent Burns was called for tripping on a questionable call, the contest went to a shootout, which the Canes have yet to win this season.

Brind’Amour went with Blake, Svechnikov and Walker, none of whom came close to scoring.

Dubois scored the game-winner for Washington.

There were no fireworks in this game like the previous one, although Jalen Chatfield had to answer the call for his criticized take down in his last fight.

Apparently, PK Subban was one of the “morons” Brind’Amour talked about concerning the media who made a big deal about the previous Chatfield take down. During the ESPN+ telecast, he said he thought there should have been a suspension.

He also ranked Carolina number eight, out of the eight teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs. He predicted a first round exit and a loss to the Devils.

By the way, the point earned tonight gave the Canes the home ice advantage against the Devils in their first round matchup.

The Hurricanes have played poorly recently but the Devils have not been lighting anything up either. Hopefully, this will be bulletin board material for Carolina.

After losing all four games on their road trip, the team returns home for a game against the Rangers on Saturday night.

Game Summary - https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20242025/GS021252.HTM

Event Summary - https://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20242025/ES021252.HTM

Team Recap - https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/recap-canes-pick-up-point-against-caps

Source: https://www.canescountry.com/2025/4/11/24405974/capitals-5-hurricanes-4-so

 

[Carolina Hurricanes]

Alexander Nikishin headed to Hurricanes

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

The moment the Canes have been readying for is finally at hand

***Update—The Canes have made this all official

BRINGING THE BOOM TO RALEIGH!!!

The #Canes have signed defenseman Alexander Nikishin to a two-year, entry-level contract

Details » https://t.co/JRuEVBIma9 pic.twitter.com/MJTh3qR30l

— x - Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) April 11, 2025​

---

Alexander Nikishin, the star Russian defensman that the Carolina Hurricanes snagged in the third round of the 2020 NHL draft, looks to be headed to the United States and play with the team that drafted him.

His contact wasn’t due to expire with his KHL club SKA St. Petersburg until May 31, but SKA was ousted in the KHL playoffs and so discussions began between the club and the Hurricanes to go ahead and get him stateside. Overnight, SKA made it official that they and Nikishin had mutually agreed to terminate his contract.

Good luck, captain!

SKA Hockey Club and Alexander Nikishin have mutually terminated his contract, with the defenseman joining the Carolina Hurricanes.

His KHL rights remain with SKA. pic.twitter.com/jjgNPpJDkO

— SKA Ice Hockey Club (@hcSKA_News) April 11, 2025​

If you’re any sort of fan of the team, you’re aware just how huge this news is. Within the first year of his drafting it was clear the Hurricanes had gotten a steal in the big Russian defenseman. If you follow Canes Prospects on Twitter/X you’ve been flooded with highlights as the defenseman quickly became a star and the captain of SKA. One post isn’t going to do him justice—you should probably go to his timeline to get a better timeline—but just to have an idea of how strong he is:

Alexander Nikishin after 6 seasons in the KHL:

- 323 games (including playoffs)
- 62 goals
- 130 assists
- 192 points

Holds the SKA records for Most goals, assists, and points by a defenseman. One of the best defenseman the KHL has seen in years pic.twitter.com/HpGAjao8Lk

— Canes Prospects (@CanesProspects) April 11, 2025​

It’s been clear for a while that the Hurricanes were building their defense with him and Scott Morrow in mind to play for the team long term as both Dmitry Orlov’s and Brent Burns’ contracts are due to expire after this season. Now the question becomes when the Canes will be able to get Nikishin to the US in order to start acclimating him to the NHL and the Canes’ style of hockey.

As rumblings had increased that the Canes were close to getting Nikishin signed—helped by a post from GM Eric Tulsky that was just an airplane emoji—internet sleuths were discerning just how long it may take to get him over to the US. A familiar one used her connection at work to explain just how cumbersome the process is now to get a US Visa if you’re a Russian Citizen right now.

I work with a woman from Moscow who recently got her US citizenship. Also a hockey fan! She tells me that with the US Embassy in Russia closed, all visa applications must be made in person at a US Embassy in another country. Istanbul, Tukiye is apparently the 1st choice these days. 1/3

— x - Carolyn O (@hmof2.bsky.social) 2025-04-10T17:35:16.061Z

Also, Tom Edwards of OG Media went into what to look for contract wise and why both the Canes and Nikishin would be eager to go ahead and get this contract signed for it to count to the 2025 season:

You know, I *did* go into this in detail last week on OG Fans (subscribe today!) which I’ll link below, but I’ll give the quick and dirty here in a ogtriangle.supportingcast.fm/posts/nikish...

— Tom Edwards (@mrworkrate.com) 2025-04-10T16:29:10.261Z

The short explanation—due to his age Nikishin’s Entry Level Contract can only be two years, and if you sign him for the 2024-25 season as year one, the collective bargaining agreement allows the team and player to go ahead and negotiate an extension. This is why Nikishin and his representatives would be eager to get him into the NHL as quickly as possible, and honestly why the Hurricanes would as well to go ahead and get him locked up long term.

The question remains if Nikishin will draw into the lineup in the playoffs, or if the Canes will just use it more as a prolonged training camp for the Russian so they can get him comfortable in the area. There’s little question about him drawing into the lineup over the last four regular season games if they can get him to the United States, now that the Canes have clinched home ice for the first round in their series against the Devils.

Finally, this from Frank Seravalli this morning.

With his release from SKA St. Petersburg secured, #Canes will soon sign top prospect Alexander Nikishin to his entry-level deal.

Visa process will take some time; his #NHL debut with #RaiseUp will be in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs against #njdevils.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) April 11, 2025​

Source: https://www.canescountry.com/2025/4/11/24406071/alexander-nikishin-headed-to-hurricanes

 

[Carolina Hurricanes]

Rangers @ Hurricanes - Preview and Game Thread

Photo by Michael Mooney/NHLI via Getty Images

Canes return home and will try to break their four game losing streak

The Carolina Hurricanes (46-27-5) have returned home and will take on the New York Rangers (37-35-7) this afternoon at the Lenovo Center. The game has a special start time of 3 P.M. and will be televised by ABC and ESPN+.

The Canes have lost four games in a row including a 5-4 shootout loss to the Capitals Thursday night. They are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games.

The Rangers have had a disappointing season. They are coming off a win against the Islanders but they also have a 4-5-1 record in their last 10.

This is the first game of a back-to-back for Carolina so look for them to stick with their goalie rotation which would put Pyotr Kochetkov in net.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi has been fighting an injury and may or may not play. William Carrier has been practicing, but there has been no announcement whether or not he will play.

The lineups will be posted in the comment section a bit later.

Team’s preview is next.

https://www.nhl.com/hurricanes/news/preview-april-12-vs-ny-rangers

Source: https://www.canescountry.com/2025/4/12/24406718/rangers-hurricanes-preview-and-game-thread