The Tampa Bay Lightning’s plans just took a jolt. NHL MVP Nikita Kucherov has reportedly told the organization that he does not plan to re-sign, and the latest word is that he has asked for a trade.
According to Pierre LeBrun, Kucherov and his agent, Dan Milstein, met with Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois and informed him that the Hart Trophy winner wants to be traded. LeBrun also reported that Kucherov told his teammates on the plane. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the superstar has requested a trade.
The timing makes this even more striking. Tampa Bay had been saying publicly that it wanted to keep Kucherov, with BriseBois saying just last month that the goal was to sign him to a contract that would keep him in Tampa for “many years to come.”
That picture looks very different now.
Kucherov is in the final year of the eight-year, $76 million deal he signed, a contract that carries a $9.5 million annual cap hit. He is coming off a massive 2025-26 season, too, piling up 130 points and winning his second Hart Trophy.
The Lightning are now staring at a huge decision involving one of the defining players in franchise history. Tampa Bay drafted Kucherov in the second round of the 2011 NHL Draft, and he has spent his entire NHL career there. He recently moved past Steven Stamkos to become the team’s all-time leading scorer, and he was a central part of the back-to-back Stanley Cup runs in 2020 and 2021.
There’s also a hard roster-business wrinkle here. With Kucherov in the last season of his contract, Tampa Bay could face the possibility of losing him for nothing if there’s no deal before he reaches unrestricted free agency.
On top of that, Kucherov has a 10-team trade list, so he holds real leverage in shaping what happens next.
For now, the reasons behind his reported decision are not clear, and there’s no indication yet of where he might go. But after years of looking like a fixture in Tampa Bay, Kucherov’s future with the Lightning is suddenly very much in doubt.
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