Nikita Kucherov has told the Tampa Bay Lightning he won’t sign an extension, and he has also asked to be traded, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
That alone would be headline-worthy. Coming from Kucherov, it lands with even more force.
He has become the face of the franchise in all but name, recently passing Steven Stamkos as Tampa Bay’s all-time points leader. In a season already packed with trade remands, this one sits at the top of the shock list.
The resume is already packed with hardware. Kucherov has spent his entire Lightning career since debuting in 2013-14, and in that span he’s won two Stanley Cups, three Art Ross Trophies, two Ted Lindsay Awards, and two Hart Memorial Trophies. Across 13 seasons, he has 405 goals and 1,139 points in 891 games.
The sticking point was always going to be money. Kucherov signed in 2019 for 11.6% of the salary cap, and his $9.5MM salary has been a bargain for Tampa Bay. But now he wants the kind of deal that matches both his production and his standing in the game.
That part has been building for a while. Tampa Bay gave Victor Hedman a four-year, $32MM extension through the 2028-29 season, and Hedman was 33 when he signed it - the same age Kucherov is now. A four-year term is believed to be on the table for Kucherov as well, but the price tag is where things likely fell apart.
In mid-September, TSN’s Chris Johnston reported that Kucherov was seeking a $20MM+ salary on his next contract. With salaries rising and Kucherov having posted 100-plus points in each of the last four seasons, he clearly sees himself in a different financial tier than the one Tampa Bay can comfortably meet.
That’s where the challenge gets real for the Lightning. They want to keep him, but they don’t have much room to bring in an anchor deal for an aging veteran, even one with Kucherov’s track record.
And if this does turn into a trade, Tampa Bay has some flexibility to work with. Kucherov does not have the same level of trade protection as some of the other stars who have asked out lately. He used to hold a full no-movement clause in his eight-year, $76MM contract, but now he can only block a move to 21 teams, leaving 10 teams available.
That still doesn’t make a deal easy. The Lightning are third in points percentage and nowhere near a rebuild, so if they move Kucherov, the return has to make sense for a team trying to win now. The problem is obvious: players who can truly replace Kucherov are not exactly hanging around.
That’s why this may end up being more rumor than resolution. As the Dylan Larkin situation with the Detroit Red Wings showed, a trade request doesn’t automatically mean a trade happens. If the Lightning can’t find an equitable deal, they could keep Kucherov as their own playoff rental and let him look elsewhere next summer.
For Tampa Bay, this would fit an uncomfortable pattern. Other than Victor Hedman and Brayden Point, the organization’s biggest names have usually found their way out.
Brad Richards was dealt to the Dallas Stars at the 2008 trade deadline after the Lightning ran into a salary crunch following Vincent Lecavalier’s 11-year contract. After the new Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2013, Tampa Bay used a compliance buyout on Lecavalier, then saw Martin St.
Louis request a trade and eventually go to the New York Rangers. A few summers ago, after the team lowballed Stamkos, he left for the Nashville Predators as an unrestricted free agent.
Now Kucherov has joined that list as another franchise legend looking at a path out of Tampa Bay.
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 🡒]