The Hurricanes begin their first round series against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, but there was plenty of news in the day before Carolina embarks on its seventh straight year in the playoffs.
1. For the first time, Alexander Nikishin participated in a practice with the Hurricanes. Nikishin, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound defenseman who has dominated the KHL for the past three seasons, arrived in Raleigh on Friday.
“He’s very excited to come to North America,” said goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, who translated for Nikishin. “He met (everyone) yesterday for team dinner and talked to them. … First practice, he feels good and is very excited to be here, and we’ll see what happens.”
Nikishin was a third round pick, 69th overall, in the 2020 draft, and he has totaled 45 goals and 157 points over the last three seasons for SKA Saint Petersburg. Nikishin spent the practice alongside Riley Stillman as the presumptive extra pairing during Saturday’s practice.
“Just get him acclimated and get him to figure out how it works and all that,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said when asked about the plan for Nikishin. “That takes a lot of time, especially with the language (barrier). But we just wanted to get him over here and then, I think, we’ll just progress as it goes. I don’t think we have a set-in-stone plan, but we’ve got to just get him on a learning curve.”
2. Brind’Amour said the team “will more than likely” start Frederik Andersen in Game 1.
While neither Andersen nor Kochetkov played particularly well down the stretch, Andersen has been the steadier of the two for the second half of the season. Brind’Amour, however, didn’t commit to sticking with one goalie — the team has rotated the two since Andersen returned from injury in late January.
“We liked how we did it just because I think it keeps guys fresh,” Brind’Amour said of alternating goalies. “But at this time of the year, is that the right move? I guess I’d say everything is up in the air on that.”
Andersen is 11-2-0 with a 2.08 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in his career against the Devils, including winning his four starts — all in the second round of the 2023 playoffs — since joining the Hurricanes in 2021-22. Kochetkov has also been good against New Jersey in his career, going 5-3-0 with a 2.25 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.
The team also recalled Ruslan Khazheyev to serve as the team’s third goalie, with Dustin Tokarski and Spencer Martin set to the man the net for the Chicago Wolves in the AHL playoffs.
3. Saturday’s practice gave a pretty good indication of how Brind’Amour will deploy his lineup Sunday afternoon.
As mentioned, Nikishin and Stillman look like the extras on defense, while Mark Jankowski and Tyson Jost appear to be the odd men out up front.
With Carolina fully healthy — with the exception of Jesper Fast, who has missed the entire season — the decisions likely weren’t easy for the coaching staff.
“I feel like this might be the first year we could say we’ve got all our guys heading into the postseason,” Brind’Amour said. “It felt like every year we were missing somebody, really, that you’re counting on. So it’s good that we have these decisions to make, and hopefully it remains that way.”
The Devils will be without franchise player Jack Hughes (out for the season) and shutdown defender Jonas Siegenthaler (doubtful for the series), though Brind’Amour said those absences won’t affect his team’s game plan.
“They wouldn’t change their approach if we were missing guys,” he said. “It’s just hard to win when your top guys are out. Like I said, it’s nice that we don’t have that issue. And, obviously, going through the run in the playoffs, that’s such a big deal.”
The Hurricanes’ lines were as such on Saturday:
F1: Jarvis – Aho – Blake
F2: Hall – Kotkaniemi – Svechnikov
F3: Martinook – Staal – Stankoven
F4: Carrier – Roslovic/Jankowski – Robinson
D1: Slavin – Burns
D2: Orlov – Chatfield
D3: Gostisbehere – Walker
D4: Nikishin – Stillman
Andersen
Kochetkov
Brind’Amour did tweak his power play units a bit, and Roslovic being on the second unit would indicate he will play over Jankowski in Game 1. The most notable change was Andrei Svechnikov moving back into PP1, with Taylor Hall going to the second unit.
Brind’Amour sounded like he made the move to motivate Svechnikov to get his game on track for the postseason.
“I don’t know if the groups will stay that way,” Brind’Amour said. “But he needs to be a factor if we want to reach the ultimate goal. So I guess you could look at it (as) just give him every opportunity here to come out of the gates flying. And that might be one little extra shift here or there to make that happen.”
4. The Carolina chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association handed out its annual awards Saturday, and Seth Jarvis was named Team MVP, while Sebastian Aho was given the Josef Vasicek Award for cooperation with the media.
Jarvis, who received the honor for the first time after winning the Vasicek award last season, led the Hurricanes in goals with 32 and was second to Aho in points with 67.
“I’ve got a lot of stuff I want to get better at and work on, and I think that’s the most exciting part for me is that I know there’s a lot of things, a lot more steps, I can take to grow my game and hopefully take those right steps to get there,” Jarvis said. “So it’s kind of fun when you don’t really know what your limit is and you just kind of work every day to get towards it. And so that’s kind of where my head’s at right now.”
Aho, who has been named Team MVP six times, has blossomed into a team leader, and his willingness and improvement in giving thoughtful answers to the media have made him a face of the franchise.
“It’s part of the business, and I definitely feel more comfortable these days than nine years ago when I got in the league,” Aho said. “I see more and kind of have a little bit of experience in certain areas of the game or out of the game, whatever. And I think I feel like I’m able to give you guys better answers and all that. …It’s nothing that I’ve been working hard on or anything, but just kind of a natural growth.”
5. Brent Burns was named the recipient of the Steve Chiasson Award, which is “given annually to the Hurricanes player that best exemplifies determination and dedication while proving to be an inspiration to his teammates through his performance and approach to the game.” The award is voted on by the team’s players.
The 40-year-old Burns, in his 21st NHL season and third with the Hurricanes, also won the award in 2022-23.
“Anytime it comes from the boys,” Burns said. “I think that means a lot. When you’re in it with the boys and that day-to-day grind — I mean, it’s the best job in the world, but it’s still a grind. And it’s fun.”
Burns is in the final year of his contract, but has he thought about his future beyond this season?
“Nope.”
