Despite many questions from the Bolts Nation, Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman expects to sign defenseman Nikita Nesterov.
Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman sure had his hands full as the team entered into the off-season. There were a plethora of contracts that needed to be signed and not a whole lot of money to throw around. Thankfully, being the skilled General Manager Yzerman is, he has done a pretty terrific job in making miracles happen where doubt had once been.
He started out by securing the future of the Tampa Bay Lightning by signing Lightning captain Steven Stamkos to an eight-year contract extension. Soon after securing Stamkos, Yzerman was able to secure Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman to a similar eight-year contract extension. In the footsteps of the Hedman signing came the signing of a seven-year contract extension of Lightning center Alex Killorn.
As you can see, Yzerman has done a pretty amazing job at getting things done. Unfortunately, there are still two players who are in need of new contracts and the clock is ticking to get them locked down. Lightning star forward Nikita Kucherov and Lightning defenseman Nikita Nesterov have yet to be signed to new contracts for the upcoming season and both are set to become Restricted Free Agents.
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On Wednesday, we wrote an article that explained why the contract of Nikita Kucherov would be worked out before it was all said and done and the new season kicked off. This leaves just one question looming in the darkness. Why hasn’t the Tampa Bay Lightning secured a new contract for Nikita Nesterov as of yet?
Well, the answer may be right in front of our faces. The obvious answer is, these things take time. There are a lot of specifics that go into a player’s contract that doesn’t involve dollar signs. With everything that has been going on as of late, we’re sure Yzerman has his hands full of paperwork that needs to be analyzed and processed.
At the same time, the almighty dollar may, in fact, have at least a little to do with the holdup. This is not to say there has been a lack of effort on either side of the table; however, there are a few things to consider here. The Tampa Bay Lightning only has so much money to play with to be cap compliant.
Obviously, Nikita Kucherov is going to be looking for a bump up from the average annual value of $650,000 he’s made over the past three seasons. It could very well be that Yzerman is waiting to see how things pan out with Nikita Kucherov before digging into specifics with Nikita Nesterov.
Whatever the truth of the matter is, we wouldn’t worry entirely too much about whether or not a deal will be completed. Much like the situation with Nikita Kucherov, Steve Yzerman is confident he will be able to secure Nikita Nesterov to a new contract. According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Yzerman has been in constant contact with Nesterov’s team and expects to sign him to a new deal.
Unfortunately, the Tampa Bay Lightning has never been too giving in terms of details of a new contract before the ink has dried and the contracts have been filed. For right now, all Lightning fans can do is sit back and watch as the situation plays out. Hopefully, Yzerman is right and he will be able to secure a new contract for both Nikita Kucherov and Nikita Nesterov heading into next season.
Next: Nikita Kucherov Contract Will Work Out In Time
We just over two and a half months away from the Tampa Bay Lightning Home Opener against the Detroit Red Wings. While there is still time to get a deal done, one would hope they would come to a conclusion sooner rather than later so the team can get down to business and prepare for the upcoming season.