Shaking Things Up: Alexander Nikishin Makes Agent Change Amidst Contract Battle with Hurricanes

Friday morning, the Carolina Hurricanes announced that their Russian goaltender – Pyotr Kochetkov – had signed a two-year extension worth $3.95M annually. It was a job well done by his agent, Paul Theofanous of TMI, LLC. But, it wasn’t the only work Theofanous got into in the A.M.

In a shocking turn of events, less than thirty minutes before Kochetkov’s signing, news came out that the Hurricanes’ restricted free agent, Alexander Nikishin, had ditched his previous agent, Benjamin Kreyzerman of Quartexx, amidst his push for a new contract.

As previously reported, Kreyzerman did not appear to have any other contracts in the NHL than Nikishin’s – and truly seemed to be a blank slate.

Theofanous, on the other hand, has 10 active contracts in the league, which include Kochetkov, Hurricanes depth goaltender Cayden Primeau, Hurricanes prospect Ivan Ryabkin, and big names Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin, and Kirill Kaprizov – the latter of whom previously held the record for the highest paid contract in NHL history with $17M annually.

Currently, Theofanous’ total contract value he’s helped his clients secure in the NHL comes in at a staggering $203,666,666, with a total cap hit of $45,846,389.

With Nikishin’s stated desire of ‘more’ than $8M annually on his next contract, and in light of Zeev Buium’s $9.38M AAV signing, Theofanous may have the grit to get him such a gutsy deal – or may have the experience to bring his new client back to reality.

It is certainly a step in…some direction…for the Hurricanes’ Nikishin dilemma.

Also Read:Crunching Numbers: The Reality of Nikishin’s Contract Ask for the Hurricanes

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