hmm Aaron Portzline has different details than Jason Gregor on the details:
http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/...ade-block.html
Quote:
On Thursday, Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen granted the Oilers a 48-hour window to negotiate with Nikitin. If they sign him, the Blue Jackets will receive a fifth-round draft pick, likely the 137th overall pick that they traded to the Oilers in March for defenseman Nick Schultz. If Nikitin does not sign, the Blue Jackets receive nothing.
Trading the rights to pending unrestricted free agents has become the rage in the NHL. It allows another team to negotiate with a prospective unrestricted free agent and avoid tampering charges. The Blue Jackets signed defenseman James Wisniewski in 2011 this way after acquiring his rights from Montreal.
NHL sources told The Dispatch that multiple teams have contacted the Blue Jackets about Nikitin, and the 48-hour window with the Oilers does not preclude the Blue Jackets from granting another club permission.
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So if that's true. Oilers have up til today to sign him.
Also it has come out that Belov is good friends with Nikitin, and Belov blasted Eakins to the Russian media a few months ago, so I would say good chance Nikitin doesn't sign.