Carolina Hurricanes front office: time to think about next year

WINNIPEG, CANADA - APRIL 11: Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck #37 of the Winnipeg Jets looks on prior to NHL action against the Philadelphia Flyers at Canada Life Centre on April 11, 2026 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images Well it was nice while it lasted. We’ve been so locked into the Stanley Cup Final that it’s been forgotten that the rest of the league–except the Vegas Golden Knights–has been done for at least three weeks, and some as long as two months.

That’s a lot of time to take a hard look at what you need to improve on your team. At least they let the Champs have their week to celebrate as well as the parade, but once that was done, the offseason was on. This last week has seen Brady Tkachuk head to Florida, Alex Tuch head to Washington, Bowen Byram head to Chicago, Buffalo get the fourth pick, and William Eklund head to Ottawa.

With a free agent market that is just considered one of the weakest of all time and a load of teams with cap room, the trade market isn’t expected to slow down over the next few days. That includes the Canes. While the team had been able to enjoy the post-Stanley Cup glow as long as it could, with the Draft and Free Agency around the corner the front office is doing what it should be–looking at how to make sure the Cup is awarded to the Canes once again.

There was no greater sign of that than on Wednesday night when TSN’s Darren Dreger posted that up to six teams had been circling around Alexander Nikishin. While the Hurricanes didn’t have much in the way of free agents this offseason, Nikishin was a big one. He’s a restricted free agent, as his initial entry deal officially started last season which allowed him to play in the playoffs.

That talk developed further on Thursday when Frank Seravalli reported that the Canes had made an offer for Winnipeg goalie and Jaccob Slavin USA Teammate Connor Hellebuyck, and that trade proposal included Nikishin. Nikishin has long bee