Alexander Nikishin shows promise in Carolina Hurricanes preseason opener

Alexander Nikishin shows promise in Carolina Hurricanes preseason opener

Let’s start with some good from uh from the preseason opener. Alexander Nikesian in a as simplest as I can tell it as simple as I can tell it passes the eye test. Big, tall, strong, fast, skilled. Uh there’s a lot to like about Alexander Nikesian who is no longer the stud prospect that was thrown into the deepest of the deepest choppiest of the choppiest waters late in a postseason run uh in with a team that didn’t know his his style and had no chemistry and he was in a a foreign land and he was talking a foreign language and and everything else. He was somebody who was like he was aware he was going to play in this game or in games around this time on the calendar for months. He could prepare. He could uh learn the language as much as he could in an offseason. And he went out there and played really really physical hockey. He had an absolute wagon of a hit right at center ice just to let everybody know what he’s working with. In football, we call it a dleader. I don’t know if we call it a D skater in hockey, but uh they should they should invent it for that type of hit. Which did my first thought was that’s a preseason hit for Nikeshan. Yeah, I want to see what a regular season hit from this guy looks like. Um but yeah, I mean it was it was what you hope from a guy that has been as hyped up as he has been uh as you know the best defenseman not in the NHL and and all those other things. Uh Rod Brydemore, the head coach, talked about Nikesian and the flashes he showed in last night’s game uh after the contest. He had his moments, right? Like he’s he’s definitely a super talented player. And then like I said, once he really understands what’s going on, like he’s just getting on and buy on talent right now and freewheeling it a little bit, which is great, but the little details that’ll come in, I’ll just, you know, once he really I think that communication thing starts happening and it’s a little more natural. I think he’s just uh keep getting better and better. M it actually is maybe one of the hardest things to do for a a franchise is to get a guy like Alexander Nikin into your building because you recognize his potential is like top dude in the league is like one of the best and it’s up to you and him and whatever whoever else is in that inner circle to develop him into that and that’s not an easy task no matter how gifted you are, right? Getting somebody to to reach that level is when expectations are that he reaches that level is not easy. It’s almost sometimes I wish or or you hope that like you you have a prospect who’s like your little secret, right? Who I I know he can be a top five guy in the league. I know he can be an all-star. I know he can be a Norris Trophy contender. I know, but nobody else does. So you almost get to develop him like in the dark away from the spotlight. Nikeshan is not that. Nikes is everybody thinks he’s that good and you have to go find a way to make it happen. You know it’s it’s I think similar to like Andre Fetchnikov right when he showed up right kind of the the gigantic draft prospect. You know, there were rumors that people were taking jobs just to work and draft Andre Fetchnikov. And then and and you know, the expectation was what, like actually, I saw this on Twitter two or three days ago, maybe yesterday, all bleeds together. Um there was an article out there that said, you know, scoring 50 goals is an is an alltime in a season is like an all-time threshold for a goal scorer. Here are the guys that haven’t done it yet in the NHL that have the potential. And there there’s an article listing bunch of other guys. Um, and one of the comments was like, “Here’s my year yearly announcement that I still think Andre Fetchnikov can do it.” Uh, it was just, you know, comment. I think it was from a fan. Pardon me if if I, uh, I’m misattributing it, but, uh, my thought went like, that’s how high that guy’s potential was. And then his second year in the league, he flashed so much and he’s been dealing with injuries and everything, but it is like gosh, that’s how high that’s what the the bar was for Andre Fetchnikov’s development was he’s got to be like an all-time goal scorer. And I’m getting similar vibes with Nikian where it’s like if he if he settles in as like a super duper solid second pair defenseman in the NHL, which is not easy to do for anybody. like that’s being a top four defenseman not an easy task. It’ll somehow feel a bit underwhelming for him based on size, speed, skill, the flashes that he’s shown, the the uh production he put on the ice in in the KHL and everything else. So like Rod Brymore saying like we got to get him on the details or we got to do that. It’s it’s a mountain to climb still from where he is to the potential highs he could reach. But he brings elements that the Canes lacked last year. Like that physicality that you saw in that play. Canes didn’t have that on their like across their lineup really. They really didn’t. At least especially on their defense. They didn’t have that guy that was that size that could skate like that that brought that level of physicality. I mean Brent Burns was a similar size but didn’t bring anywhere near that physical. Yeah. when you’re carrying the puck across the center of the ice when you’re carrying like you got to have your head on a swivel when Nikesha is out there for reasons that that hit display. And then you saw him even on the power play just the the way he was able to move laterally with the puck and protect the puck even with pressure. And there were a couple times where I think he passed up on some shots that he could could have got towards the net probably just deferring too much. But once he starts again like you heard Robert Brendmore say when he starts to learn the intricacies of the system and those kinds of things it it’s the the ceiling is the roof as Michael Jordan would say for him. But in all honesty the the sky is the limit for him and you could see it just playing last night. you’re like, “Oh, wow.” The raw physical talent and everything is there once he starts putting it together. And if he’s like, I mean, most teams would kill for that to be a top pair of defenseman on their team and he might be the number five guy on this team, that’s awesome because if he goes out there on the IC and Shane Gossipar and they’re going up against another team’s fourth line, the dude could feast. and and the guys he is looking up at on the depth chart are such great examples. And also if you learn to do the things that they do with your physical skill set, that’s the the like, you know, fever dream of of a Rod Bindmore where it’s like if you pick up the the ways that Slavven uses technique to be so locked down and you do it with his size, skill, and and everything else, if you find the things that Jaylen Chatfield has developed to overcome some of his deficiencies, only you don’t have some of those deficiencies, you know, size and and a few other things, It’s it’s like goodness gracious, what could you be? And that’s where from the outside we just get to like, you know, draw pictures of our imagination of how incredible it could be and then it’s on them to go do it. Uh which is which is a tall task. Uh Rod Brendmore also we did we we spoke heavily about this at the top of the show, but we didn’t air the the the audio from Rod. Uh after the game, he did talk about if he was able to get a good assessment of uh Stanky, Logan Stanovven at center, uh which is, you know, really our first time seeing him do that in Kane’s uniform. Here’s Rod. You know, it’s tough with all the penalties, so you’re really getting no flow and then you you’re looking, but I I thought he did a good job. Um I mean, he was obviously I mean that line was pretty good. They just didn’t score. Uh you know, five on five, got one of the power play, but snapped it around pretty well and I thought he looked good up the middle. We’re already to that point in hockey season. They played well, they didn’t score. Uh he’s talking obviously about Stanovven centering Blake and Hall. Um, again, I’m I’m gonna lean on what we said earlier. There was no glaring, okay, he Yeah, he shouldn’t do that, which is which is what you’re almost looking for, right? you’re looking when when somebody like Logan Stanovven is so good as a winger and he and he proved so vital, so important to your team as a winger in the postseason and you’re thinking about moving him to center, you’re almost seeking out reasons to go, okay, no, no, no, let’s move him to wing because you know it works and it’s safe and and you don’t have to take the risk of moving him. Last night I I didn’t see any reasons to move him, right? Which is which is like good enough for me. you take it to the next time he’s out there on the ice and you keep developing and you keep searching for that reason to move him back. And if at the end of the preseason you don’t find any, you’re still going, “No, I think he’s good.” Then you play him at center and you you see how long he remains. You see how long he can keep it there. I I would imagine we will see Rod Brendmore experiment quite a bit more moving forward in in this preseason, but uh but overall, I think it was a solid week one or game one. Um, do you think that little like too many penalties comment was like directly to Javanni Smith? Like just Yeah, it’s hard to evaluate anybody on the ice with all those penalties. Javanni, he wasn’t the only one, but yeah, there was definitely quite a few penalty minutes, something like that. It’s like, oh, okay. Uh, and there’s there’s a role for everybody and he was trying to play his dropped the gloves just like our guy Micah predicted. Wild prediction, by the way. Yeah, to predict that in a preseason game and on the money. Great job, Micah. Um, but also I I and I say this every year for preseason in football, it’s why your your studs, your dudes have to have every bit of awareness on the ice when they’re playing with guys that are scratching and clawing for everything. Like, you know, other guys, Javanni Smith, just, you know, AHL players that dream of playing the NHL and haven’t done it yet. Uh, people that are dreaming of of solidifying their spot on an AHL roster, right? Everybody that is out there looking to to elevate their status is going to be going extra hard and uh trying to make physical plays and trying to do the things that they think will advance their their career. So, if you’re a guy already, you know, locked into a roster spot, just be aware of the energy other guys are bringing. Not everybody is out there just, you know, doing the the 35 and older men’s league basketball move like I’m just trying to stretch it out, just trying to get some cardio, trying to get ready. There are guys out there trying to make a team. So head on head on a swivel.

Tim Donnelly & Dennis Cox discuss the Carolina Hurricanes preseason opener, including how Alexander Nikishin looked on defense, and how well Logan Stankoven fit in as a center for head coach Rod Brind’Amour.

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