Nikita Kucherov is heading into his 14th season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the next chapter of his NHL career is still very much unresolved.
The reigning Hart Trophy winner is entering the final year of the $9.5MM AAV extension he signed in July 2018, and right now he’s slated to reach the open market next summer. According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, neither Kucherov’s agent, Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey, nor Lightning GM Julien Brisebois would discuss where things stand. LeBrun noted that Brisebois typically stays quiet on active negotiations, while Milstein, who is usually more open about other clients, has “reiterated” that he won’t address Kucherov’s situation with the media.
Even so, LeBrun said he still believes Kucherov will ultimately remain in Tampa Bay. What’s surprising, in his view, is that a deal still hasn’t come together.
The market keeps moving, and so do the numbers. New deals for stars like Kirill Kaprizov and Cale Makar have reset the bar, and Kucherov has a strong case to be paid right alongside the league’s elite after winning two MVPs and leading the NHL in scoring three times.
The one obvious wrinkle is age: he’ll be 34 when his next contract would begin, and that naturally gives Tampa Bay something to weigh. Still, if the Lightning want to keep chasing a third Stanley Cup and fifth Prince of Wales Trophy with Kucherov in the fold, they’re going to have to find a way to make it happen.
Around the league, the most notable unsigned player for the upcoming season is Anaheim Ducks winger Cutter Gauthier. The 2022 No. 5 pick exploded last season with 41 goals and 69 points, then added 12 points in 12 playoff games.
LeBrun reported yesterday that “the sides have kept the dialogue going” in talks, but there’s still no agreement in place. The five-year, $15MM AAV extension Connor Bedard signed with Chicago this summer has been mentioned as a possible comparable for Gauthier, though Anaheim may need to do more cap maneuvering to fit that kind of number.
The Ducks have a little over $9MM in cap space right now, per PuckPedia, and could free up just over $4.5MM by moving veteran Frank Vatrano, who finished last season with nine points in 50 games.
There was also a notable college switch on the prospect front. Boston College announced earlier this week that St.
Louis Blues prospect Luke Schairer has joined the program for the 2026-27 season after previously committing to Boston University. The Charlotte, North Carolina native was taken by St.
Louis in the third round, No. 75 overall, at this year’s draft. At 6’3″ and 195 pounds, the defenseman was viewed by most public rankings as a second- to early third-round talent, with projections ranging from No. 57 at Elite Prospects to No. 156 at McKeen’s Hockey.
He’ll now land in Chestnut Hill alongside a deep group of NHL prospects that includes first-rounders Oscar Hemming and Dean Letourneau.
In Other News...
Blues Right Wing Pipeline Carries One Huge Question Into 2026
The Blues right wing pipeline has a real mix of certainty and projection as the organization looks ahead to the 2026-27 season. Justin Carbonneau, Maddox Dagenais, Dmitry Buchelnikov, Lars Steiner and Dylan Peterson give St. Louis a group with different timelines, different skill sets and different levels of polish, which is exactly why this spot in the system has become worth watching. Some of the names are still in development, while others are already pushing toward roles that could matter when the roster starts to turn over.
Carbonneaus scoring jump in junior has put him in the spotlight, and the rest of the group carries its own kind of intrigue, from draft pedigree to the way each player fits the Blues long-term plans. Buchelnikovs path is especially interesting after arriving in the Justin Faulk trade deadline package, while the bigger question for the entire pipeline is which of these right wings can actually become an NHL regular and not just a prospect with promise. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Camp Will Put Early Roster Battles Front And Center
The Blues are setting the stage for a training camp that should feel more like an open audition than a routine tune-up, with the club announcing its 2026-27 camp schedule and a mix of familiar names and young talent ready to sort out early roles. Robert Thomas, Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud are among the players expected to be in the mix as head coach Jim Montgomery begins the process of sorting through a roster that still has competition baked into just about every line.
For St. Louis, the appeal goes beyond the usual camp buzz because this is where the first real clues emerge about how the depth chart might look once the season gets going. The organization is also planning to give the younger players a chance to show what they can do in preseason action against the Dallas Stars on September 19, which should offer another important look at who is ready to push for a spot and who still has work to do. [Read more 🡒]
Jim Montgomery Enters A Make-Or-Break Season With The Blues
Jim Montgomery arrived in St. Louis with the kind of midseason rescue mission that can reshape a season, stepping in after the Blues fired Drew Bannister and helping steer the club into the playoffs. The relationship has since moved into a far less forgiving stage, though, with the team coming off a disappointing follow-up season that ended without a postseason berth and left Montgomery facing a far different kind of scrutiny.
The next chapter could be even trickier, because the Blues are expected to lean on a younger roster and that usually means a stretch of growing pains before the results catch up. Montgomery still has the benefit of his early success, but the margin for error is thin now, and the opening weeks may say as much about the direction of the team as anything that happens later in the year. [Read more 🡒]