Nikita Kucherov is extension-eligible and is looking for BIG money
The Chris Johnston Show: Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov is eligible to sign a contract extension. He may be looking for the highest cap hit for a forward. The Lightning have a history of not being afraid to make tough decisions. Chris Johnston comments on his situation.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Johnston: “You know, Kucherov’s situation is a little different, and you know, he’s age 33, turning towards 34. You know, coming off a Hart Trophy. I mean, obviously, wildly productive player, great player, special player.
But you know, signing guys at that age comes with even added risk from, from the deals you make with 25 or 26-year-olds. And we know Tampa’s not afraid to make hard decisions. You know, they, they drew it right down to the wire with Steven Stamkos. They tried to keep him. Ultimately, left him as a free agent.
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And so, be fascinated to see where it goes with Kucherov because, you know, I heard some pretty big numbers that he was looking for. Something like $20 million range on like, a six-year deal.
You know, based on look at it, look at he’s stacking 120, 130-point seasons, but there’s, there’s a lot of risk there. And you know, I is I can’t really imagine him moving on from Tampa, big picture, to be honest. Like he’s, he’s their guy. They know, they, they know how valuable he is.
But you know, in, in this environment where the money’s going crazy, and, and it’ll just be interesting how that one ends up playing out. Now, the beauty they have, you know, he and Julian BriseBois addressed at start of training camp. No one’s really going to be talking about it too much until, until they make a decision one way or the other.
You know, they get a little, they get a benefit in in Tampa that it’s not a, it’s not a daily conversation in that marketplace. But he’s probably the most interesting, you know, veteran player that didn’t sign before that deadline. Ond the only reason to think he might have is we’ve seen the Lightning go long term into their 40s with, with guys before to keep the AAV down, and now they’ve lost the ability to do that.
Producer Drew: “Do you think he’s a guy on July one that could go get $20 million as a UFA from …”
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Johnston: “100%”
Drew: “… like essentially from anyone he wants?
Johnston: “Yeah, yeah. I think as a free agent, it’s a different proposition. I mean, you’re adding them just for the, the cap space.
And you know, if I look around the league, Drew, like, there’s not enough great players to go around, and you know, we’ve seen Seattle, you know, take a swing at getting (Artemi) Panarin and didn’t get him, and obviously they, they were involved with Jason Robertson, didn’t get him. You know, teams like that are, are looking for star power, and they’re not alone. I just they jump the mind because it’s been so apparent in the last you know number of months that they’re, they’re swinging for that kind of guy.
And so, in a world, if Kucherov ever hit the open market, I, you know, I think he’s gonna get a massive deal. But I can’t believe he really wants that, and, and I don’t think Lightning want that. I mean, this is, you know, the the thing is, is Julian BriseBois as a general manager does not manage with his heart or his his like he’s, he’s very methodical.
He sticks to his plan, and if, if you’re willing to walk away from Steven Stamkos at the time they did, you’re probably willing to walk away from anyone, you know. He was a franchise player. He helped bring them two Stanley Cups, and you know they’d had a lot of success. And then ultimately, they they didn’t get a deal done.
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Now there’s all kinds of time for this still to play out, but I just think if you look at, if you look at the Lightning side of the table, we’ve seen it in the past that they will make a hard decision if it’s there to make. And so, you know, I do think there’s time to find that compromise, but if not, there’s a pot of gold waiting for Nikita Kucherov on July 1st.
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