Speculation: Kucherov Will Not Attend Training Camp

[HawkeyTalkMan]

Joe Smith
‏@TBTimes_JSmith
#tblightning GM Steve Yzerman said they were told by Nikita Kucherov's agent that the wing won't report to camp without a contract. Is RFA


Speculate the outcome as your heart desires.

Earlier rumors was he was weighing KHL offer

Click to read more...

 

[DFC]

Not exactly shocking. I don't think anyone expected him in camp without a deal.

 

[Maukkis]

Shall we go ahead and create a "Gaudreau won't be attending the Flames training camp" thread already, since it's pretty obvious?

 

[Super Cake]

He doesn't have a contract, so it is obvious that he wouldn't be attending training camp.

 

[M2Beezy]

Wow i would love Kuch on the Canucks but i fear Benning in trades

 

[SEALBound]

As a Penguins fan, I hope he goes to the KHL for the year. Tampa is the only team that worries me in the east.

 

[BHD]

In a perfect world, it would be a one-year deal, and then big time contract next summer.

 

[Toby Flenderson]

As a Penguins fan, I hope he goes to the KHL for the year. Tampa is the only team that worries me in the east.

Yeah then when fleury and Kunitz come off the cap we sign kucherov

 

[Skiffer55]

Oh no, better send a ton of low ball offers. Tampa will be lucky to get a 7th. Value is so low now.

/SARCASM/

 

[FinnLightning26]

Oh no, better send a ton of low ball offers. Tampa will be lucky to get a 7th. Value is so low now.

/SARCASM/

What a locker room cancer this guy is. He probably will get sent down and he'll request for a trade. Then we'll trade him for peanuts and Yzerman gets lynched on the town square.

 

[Randy Randerson]

Man, Yzerman has been tested as a negotiator/ego manager in the last couple of years with Stamkos/Drouin and now Kucherov. Tampa fans must be clamoring for one of these guys to just go along with the plan

 

[SI90]

In a perfect world, it would be a one-year deal, and then big time contract once other bodies are moved.

This makes sense to me. Kucherov most likely wants a long term deal right away though.

Hedman and Stamkos took big discounts for Tampa. I thought they'd for sure be able to lock Kucherov right up.

 

[Randy Randerson]

What a locker room cancer this guy is. He probably will get sent down and he'll request for a trade. Then we'll trade him for peanuts and Yzerman gets lynched on the town square.

Yzerman is totally gonna get lynched.....if anyone walking around the Tampa streets recognizes him

 

[PensandCaps]

maybe they shouldnt have dished out a big contract to killorn before getting kucherov done.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

So unless I'm missing something, Tampa has to either somehow get him signed under $5.5M per year or trade Bishop. Any other legitimate options out there? I don't really see anybody doing them a favor in taking Filppula, Coburn, Garrison without a hell of a sweetener.

I know offer sheets aren't a likelihood, but 5 x $7.5M puts them in a bit of a bind, having them move out ~$3M in salary, and is only a 1st+2nd+3rd.

 

[FinnLightning26]

So unless I'm missing something, Tampa has to either somehow get him signed under $5.5M per year or trade Bishop. Any other legitimate options out there? I don't really see anybody doing them a favor in taking Filppula, Coburn, Garrison without a hell of a sweetener.

I know offer sheets aren't a likelihood, but 5 x $7.5M puts them in a bit of a bind, having them move out ~$3M in salary.

Garrison doesn't need a sweetener. He's a solid top 4 guy and his contract isn't bad. I agree on Filppula and Coburn although Coburn's contract isn't horrible either.

 

[Claxton]

maybe they shouldnt have dished out a big contract to killorn before getting kucherov done.

and not seeing that Ryan Callahan types start a heavy decline once they reach 30, like Mike Richards and Dustin Brown.

 

[DFC]

So unless I'm missing something, Tampa has to either somehow get him signed under $5.5M per year or trade Bishop. Any other legitimate options out there? I don't really see anybody doing them a favor in taking Filppula, Coburn, Garrison without a hell of a sweetener.

I know offer sheets aren't a likelihood, but 5 x $7.5M puts them in a bit of a bind, having them move out ~$3M in salary, and is only a 1st+2nd+3rd.

We almost certainly have to make a move, but it doesn't necessarily have to be Bishop.

Yzerman is notorious for considering (and possibly exhausting) all his options before making a move. He might be spending all this time trying to move Filppula, for example, and then when he knows for sure it can't happen, he'll turn to someone like Bishop or maybe Garrison. But he doesn't like to make those tough calls until every other option is exhausted.

 

[Leonardo87]

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

We almost certainly have to make a move, but it doesn't necessarily have to be Bishop.

Yzerman is notorious for considering (and possibly exhausting) all his options before making a move. He might be spending all this time trying to move Filppula, for example, and then when he knows for sure it can't happen, he'll turn to someone like Bishop or maybe Garrison. But he doesn't like to make those tough calls until every other option is exhausted.

Just seems like he's cutting it really close, and didn't have to. He had to know that Kucherov's absolute floor value-wise was a Forsberg contract (6 x $6M), and likely more than that (closer to Tarasenko) when you factor in playoff production. Maybe he has options that he is sitting on with Bishop and Garrison, but things can change for those teams as well; young players impressing in camp and such. I'm sure this isn't a groundbreaking opinion, but his dealings with Killorn/Namestnikov and Kucherov were backwards to me.

 

[PensandCaps]

Callahan is not in the same boat as Richards or Brown, not even close.

brown and callahan are in the same boat. overpaid gritty wingers who got their money because of being a "leader" both had 28 points last year.

 

[cupcrazyman]

Yzerman is totally gonna get lynched.....if anyone walking around the Tampa streets recognizes him

Wearing a Red Wings ball cap will do that.

 

[CornKicker]

What a locker room cancer this guy is. He probably will get sent down and he'll request for a trade. Then we'll trade him for peanuts and Yzerman gets lynched on the town square.

100% lets trade problems

kucherov for yakupov and a 3rd

 

[Claxton]

Callahan is not in the same boat as Richards or Brown, not even close.

Yes, but either way is he that type of player and the starting signs are there.

I want to know how any Lightning fan can rationalize 5.8 million for 6 years with a NMC, despite the intangibles Callahan brings that can't be measured by statistics alone. I predict this will turn into a Chris Drury situation.

What happens next offseason with Palat, Johnson and Drouin?

 

[Leonardo87]

What happens next offseason with Palat, Johnson and Drouin?

With Drouin, Palat, and Johnson can sign these guys. Drouin will get a bridge deal, Palat and Johnson about 2.5 to 3.0 million raises. with Bishop and Filppula likely gone, can also shed Garrison and will also lose a contract at the expansion draft, perhaps Killorn. So not worried.