Nikita Kucherov has told the Tampa Bay Lightning he wants out, and the star winger will keep playing for the team while the trade process unfolds.
Sources told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that Kucherov informed Tampa Bay he won’t re-sign and wants to be traded. The request came Friday in a meeting with general manager Julien BriseBois. According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Kucherov then relayed the news to teammates on the flight to Nashville, where the Lightning are set to play Saturday.
The 33-year-old is in the final season of a contract that carries a $9.5 million cap hit. In stalled extension talks with Tampa Bay, he had been seeking a six-year deal with an average annual value of around $20 million, sources told The Athletic’s Chris Johnston.
Kucherov’s contract also includes a modified no-trade clause, with 10 teams on a list he would accept a move to, per LeBrun. The teams on that list have not been identified.
What makes this even bigger is the body of work Kucherov is leaving behind in Tampa. He has spent his entire 13-year NHL career with the Lightning, helping drive the franchise’s back-to-back Stanley Cup runs in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Last week, he passed Steven Stamkos to become the team’s all-time points leader. He also holds the Lightning record for assists and sits second in goals behind Stamkos.
His résumé is stacked: two MVPs, five first-team All-Star selections, three Art Ross Trophies, and six 100-point seasons. His 144 points in 2023-24 remain the single-season record for a Russian-born player.
Even now, he’s producing at a high level. Through 12 games this season, Kucherov has four goals, 15 points, and a team-high 11 assists.
Tampa Bay, meanwhile, remains a club that has been in the postseason picture for years. The Lightning have reached the playoffs in nine straight seasons and 12 of the last 13, winning two Cups and making four trips to the finals in that stretch. Still, they haven’t gotten beyond the first round since 2021-22, when they fell to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final.
In Other News...
Lightning Lineup Change Just Delivered A Huge Early Return
An injury to Zemgus Girgensons gave Jon Cooper a reason to shuffle his lines, and the change paid off quickly in Tampa Bays 6-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Pontus Holmberg was bumped into a top-six role and suddenly found himself in a much bigger offensive spotlight, the kind of opportunity that can reset how a coach views a players fit in the lineup.
Holmberg responded with his first career four-point game, setting up multiple goals and adding one of his own in a game the Lightning needed to keep rolling at home. The victory extended Tampa Bays home win streak to six, tying a franchise record, and it also left one question hanging over the next few games: whether Cooper keeps Holmberg in that elevated role once the lineup gets healthy again. [Read more 🡒]
Lightning Cash In As Another Opponent Starts Unraveling
Winnipegs slide kept rolling against Tampa Bay, and the Lightning took full advantage of a team that looked increasingly fragile as the game wore on. The Jets were already in trouble late in the second period, and the loss extended their skid to seven straight after a night that again exposed how quickly things can unravel when mistakes start piling up.
The Jets did show some fight by clawing back after falling behind big, but the gap was too much to erase in the end. Afterward, head coach Scott Arniel and players Neal Pionk and Kyle Connor pointed to mental errors and inconsistency as the issues that kept sinking them, which has become an uncomfortable theme during this losing stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Lightning Just Matched A Start Tampa Fans Have Every Reason To Trust
The Lightning kept their perfect October rolling with a 6-4 win over the Jets, tying a franchise record by opening the season with six straight home victories. It was the kind of early-season home form Tampa fans have learned to trust over the years, and it added another layer to a month that ended without a blemish while also showcasing one of the clubs promising young pieces in Dominic James.
The special teams trend has been especially encouraging, with the power play scoring in five straight games as the Lightning continue to look more dangerous with the extra man. Theres also some roster movement to track in the days ahead, with Zemgus Girgensons ruled out for the next game and Yanni Gourde now expected back sooner than originally thought, giving Tampa Bay a little more intrigue as it tries to keep the run going. [Read more 🡒]