Tampa Bay had inner turmoil surface in the organization during the weekend’s one-off road trip to Nashville, but the Lightning’s top offensive star did not let that turmoil affect his game.
The club will play its first contest within the Atlantic Division on Tuesday night when it hosts the Detroit Red Wings to open a two-game homestand.
Despite its strong start one month into the new season, Tampa Bay was forced to deal with an off-ice situation that everyone knew was looming: What will the franchise do with star forward Nikita Kucherov?
The two-time Hart Trophy winner, who will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, is in the final season of an eight-year, $76 million contract.
Kucherov, 33, laid blame about the situation on general manager Julien BriseBois on Monday in his first public comments since requesting a trade over the weekend.
“It was never about the money for me,” Kucherov said. “It was more about poor communication and respect. Over the last four months, we only have had two conversations, and (general manager Julien BriseBois) in the end made it clear that I’m free to walk on July 1.”
Shortly after Kucherov’s trade request became public, BriseBois said the Lightning weren’t interested in fulfilling the forward’s wishes.
“We are aware of the media reports regarding the future of Nikita Kucherov with the Lightning,” BriseBois said in a statement posted on X by the club. “We unequivocally have no intention of trading Nikita.”
Kucherov recorded three assists and a plus-3 rating in Saturday’s 5-4 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators. He has 18 points for the season (four goals, 14 assists).
“I will sit here and tell you nothing has changed in what our goals are this year; just, maybe, the context of how it is going to go about,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Kuch is 100% a part of this team. He wants to be a part of this team for this season, and he is committed to be with the group that loves him and the group he loves. For us, it probably made the team stronger.”
Former Lightning great and current Predators forward Steven Stamkos, whom BriseBois let walk following the 2023-24 campaign, was shocked by it all.
“I think my reaction was the same as all of yours, right?” said Stamkos, who had his Lightning career points record broken by Kucherov recently. “You don’t expect to see something like that. … He’s a huge part of my success, (and) it is what it is at this point.”
Detroit has its own disgruntled player in Dylan Larkin, a skilled skater and six-time 30-goal scorer who requested a trade during the offseason and was stripped of his captaincy in September.
The team suspended Larkin, 30, without pay late last week.
The Wings’ No. 1 center, a homegrown talent from the Detroit suburb of Waterford, has hamstrung the franchise because of the limited amount of teams on his trade list.
“With the teams that Dylan has on his list, it’s difficult to get something done,” Detroit interim general manager Shawn Horcoff said. “A trade like this, there are significant challenges when you’re trying to put a salary like Dylan’s into a team, trying to find the right pieces to give in return. So, it’s difficult.”
Detroit opened its two-game Florida road swing with Monday night’s 5-3 victory over the Panthers. Second-year center Emmitt Finnie sealed the win with an empty-net goal as Florida goaltender Jacob Markstrom was on the bench.
Finnie is tied with Alex DeBrincat with seven goals this season, one shy of Viktor Arvidsson’s team-leading total.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, who assisted on defenseman Justin Faulk’s power-play tally, recorded his first career game-winning goal.
