Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov has informed the team he won't be re-signing, therefore it's all but certain he's going to be traded.
On Friday evening, the NHL got a massive bit of news dropped on it as the Tampa Bay Lightning were informed that star winger Nikita Kucherov was not going to be re-signing with the team long-term, and that he will be testing the market when his contract expires.
The news was broken by Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on X:
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Pierre LeBrun later confirmed that Kucherov and his agent Dan Milstein have also requested a trade, though no details about a preferred destination or anything has been discussed publicly.
Kucherov has 15 points in 12 games this year and is a two-time Cup winner, a two-time Hart winner, a three-time Art Ross winner, and one of the greatest forwards of the modern era.
Kucherov's trade request just created a seismic shift in the NHL
It's a stunning bit of news to come out of Tampa though it seems to follow a trend of superstar players looking for new homes. Dylan Larkin has been at the centre of rumours and is likely to be dealt any day now but now Kucherov becomes the biggest fish in the pond.
There's no doubt there will be a king's ransom sent to Tampa in order to acquire Kucherov, and it may become one of the most polarizing and discussed trade packages in NHL history.
With 1,139 points in 891 games, Kucherov has been one of the greatest players of the modern era and has established himself as a future Hall of Famer even at only 33 years old.
With a few more years of elite production left, we could see him hit 500 goals and 1000 assists - an exclusive club that only a handful of NHL legends have joined.
More details to come.
Will the Lightning trade Nikita Kucherov?
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