By Mike Rifkin
On Friday it was reported that Lightning superstar and the reigning Hart Trophy (MVP) winner Nikita Kucherov has requested a trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kucherov, who is in the final season of a eight year 76 million dollar contract. Reportedly the Lightning offered Kucherov a four year contract with an AAV of 15 million dollars, which is almost six million less than the league max.
Julian Brisebois put out a statement saying “ We are aware of the media reports regarding the future of Nikita Kucherov with the Lightning. We unequivocally have no intention of trading Nikita.” Now while the Lightning are off to a good start this season (8-3-2), which is good for fourth in the Atlantic and they have games in hand, the Lightning might want to look at the bigger picture. They are the fifth oldest team in the league and haven’t won a playoff series since they lost to the Avs on their quest for a threepeat. The Lightning should consider trading Kucherov and ask is this the beginning of a partial teardown?
Let’s start with the team that should trade for Kucherov. I would throw away every team within the Atlantic Division unless the teardown is a real consideration (we’ll get there). But if the Lightning want to consider a “retool” the spot for Kucherov is simple for me… The Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks make a ton of sense because they have young players and prospects and draft picks (3 in the first round in 27). Let’s be honest about something most in the hockey world expected the Blackhawks to be splashy over the summer and all they did was trade the fourth overall pick for Bo Byram and bring back fan favorite Patrick Kane. But if Kyle Davidson wants to make a big splash Kucherov is the guy. He is the guy who should be put on a line with Connor Bedard. Let’s be honest about the Lightning players there is a lot of mileage on a lot of those players because of playoff games, so trading some of these players gives you an interesting idea on how long a retool could take.
Brayden Point’s full no move clause turns into a ten team no trade over the summer, Jake Guentzel also has a full no move clause for the next two seasons, John Carlsson also has a no move clause. Victor Hedman and Ryan Mcdonagh also might lean towards retirement soon. Andrei Vasilevskiy has one year left at 9.5 million and has a 10 team no trade.
One thing about the Lightning if they want to proceed with a retool is that they have the coach in Jon Cooper, who has done a fantastic job navigating everything that has been thrown his way.
In a way trading Kucherov would put this era of Lightning hockey, which wound up with them winning two Cups to an end. But this era truly ended when they let Steven Stamkos walk away. But if you want to close the book on this chapter, I think Brisebois and company need to close it all the way.
