When teams with high expectations fail to make noise in the playoffs, it's natural to wonder whether or not big changes are coming. After a fourth straight early postseason exit, it stands to reason that the Tampa Bay Lightning will shake things up at least a little bit this summer. Trading Nikita Kucherov is probably a bridge too far, however.
Losing to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs stings for a franchise that fancied itself one of the few true Stanley Cup contenders in a wide-open 2025-26 season. Only four teams had more points on the year than Tampa's 106, and 50 wins is nothing to sneeze at.
Neither is having a finalist for nearly every individual trophy available to NHL players. And at least one nationally recognized NHL reporter believes that the Lightning could try to trade its way out of their playoff slump by dealing away Kucherov.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic recently wrote about the possibility of general manager Julien BriseBois moving on from the Hart Trophy finalist. "Kucherov had his moments in this series, but he was held pointless in the last three games and overall, his frustration showed throughout. That wasn’t Hart Trophy Kucherov in this series."
That is fair. That wasn't Hart Trophy Kucherov in the first round. But it was Hart Trophy Kucherov throughout the regular season, when he trailed only Connor McDavid in the point-scoring race with 130. And it was Hart Trophy Kucherov when he led the league in scoring a year ago. And the season before that.
Over the last three seasons, no one in the entire NHL has racked up more points than Kucherov. There's obviously more to the game of hockey than just scoring, but the idea that BriseBois would move on from this franchise icon just because he played hardball with a declining Steven Stamkos in 2024 is ludicrous.
Lightning have almost no chance of improvement by trading Nikita Kucherov
Here's a fun thought exercise. Let's name the four players who round out the top five in scoring over the last three seasons and ask ourselves if their respective teams would trade them after losing in Game 7 of the first round.
Would the Colorado Avalanche trade Nathan MacKinnon after a few playoff shortcomings? We can hear your laughter from here, and you are right to find the idea silly. What about the Edmonton Oilers and their pair of all-World talents in McDavid and Leon Draisaitl after postseason disappointments? We already know the answer to that question, and it is a resounding no. Does a reality exist where the Boston Bruins swap David Pastrnak for some spare parts in hopes of shaking up their roster? Nope. It doesn't.
So why would it behoove BriseBois to trade Kucherov just because he is due for a new contract and his trade protection is limited to just 10 teams? The short answer is that it wouldn't. Barring Edmonton tabling one of their top players or the San Jose Sharks losing it and offering Macklin Celebrini, this is a player the Lightning should be doing everything in their power to keep.
Even the best players in the world go through rough patches. There's no denying that Kucherov wasn't at his best against the Canadiens. But the outcome of all seven games was one goal. It went the distance, and Montreal is a fantastic team on the rise. BriseBois should be looking to retool around his talented players. Not move further away from them.
Barring a catastrophic fallout, getting Kucherov and his skill re-signed through to the end of his career should be toward the top of Tampa's to-do list. Trading him and expecting to get better? Not so much.
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