Looking at his stats, a 4th. If he doesn't come to NA, then a 7th. He may change his mind though. I mean, that's my opinion.

Patrick Kane 75% retained actually

Nikishin is one of the fastest rising prospects playing outside of North America at the moment. He’s probably the 2nd or 3rd best prospect in the Canes pipeline.

There is risk he never plays in North America, so I highly doubt he’s traded.

He will be in KHL for a while...has long extension in place. I think 5 years.

If he were closer to NHL, he'd cost a lot.

True

lol. Kane 75% retained for JUST Nikishin alone? You must be some kinda funny guy, ain't ya? Some kinda jokester... Some kinda trickster!

Elite prospects only shows him under contract through the current season. But even so, the NHL announced they cut ties with the KHL and any agreements they may have, following the invasion of Ukraine. So, if players are willing to leave their contracts in the KHL behind, I don't think NHL clubs would have any problem with it.

A player's contract can't get more than 50% retained, so, unless Chicago pays the league a lot of money to do this or they find some sort of rule in the rule book (if they can), than just no

True

Nikishin has 3 years left on his KHL deal, but he's also the best D man in the KHL at the age of 21. There's nothing you would want to offer the Canes would consider for Nikishin.

Yeah. That is why I was kind of thinking he might be traded cheaper than he would be otherwise. Especially since Carolina is pretty stacked at LHD, which would give him trouble working up the depth charts. That would probably make the decision of coming over to NA difficult for him. Whereas a team in a rebuild like CHI would have ample opportunity for a player like him to take a roster spot if he wanted it.

If he was to come over in a year or two, Chicago would probably have to give up a 3rd or 2nd. But, Chicago because they are rebuilding probably won't do that.

I think what he is referring to is paying a third party to retain 50% of Kane's remaining salary, for a total of 75%.

Yeah. That's why I was thinking it would be part of a larger deal. I also doubt CHI is buying on any players any time soon.

Ohhhh, got it

NHL and KHL didn't have an agreement in place before the invasion so not much changed really.

But if he were to break his agreement, which would be notable considering how much SKA paid to acquire him, and was headed to play in North America next season, he would probably cost a similarly valued prospect (ie, Korchinski, Nazar, tier of guys)

Humor me. What do you think his value is?

Yeah they did. It was called the "Memorandum of understanding" or something like that.

Contracts can get retained twice. So Chicago retains 50%, a third team is paid picks to retain 50% of remaining (25% overall). And Carolina gets him at 25% of original AAV.

(See, trades for Nick Foligno, David Savard, etc)

I know. I just thought that he meant Chicago retained the whole 75%

It was just an exchange of information about players, salaries, etc. It had no enforceable rules.

It wasn't just an exchange of information. It was closer to a handshake deal than any sort of binding agreement, but it included that they would honor each others contracts unless discussed and agreed upon AND exchange information openly. Regardless, if a player wanted to walk away from the KHL and come over I don't think anyone would argue too much if they had good reason. They would probably just be fined by the KHL or whatever. My bigger concern would be something retaliatory or blocking them from/by the Russian government.

Chicago right now doesn’t have anything that would entice the Canes to give up Nikishin. His potential alone if he comes to NA, is too high to sell right now.

Agreed - No chance Nikishin comes over until his agreement with SKA is over. I don’t see any Russian player, especially a young ‘Star’ in the KHL and who plays for SKA, breaking that agreement. He’s already done interviews where he’s saying what they want him to say about being a life long KHL’er. SKA just traded 9 different assets to get him.

If he was a Canadian kid playing the the CHL, and was in the draft, he’d be a top 10 pick.

It was just easier for me to type haha, but yeah meant double retention.

I know it sounds crazy, but it really would require a crazy over payment and a crazy GM to over pay for a player who is no better than 50/50 to ever play in the NHL.