- The window to hand Nikita Kucherov an eight-year extension shut Sept. 15 and the Lightning let it pass
- Kucherov spoke at media day Wednesday and said his focus is the season, not the contract
- Read below for what agent Dan Milstein and Julien BriseBois have said about a new deal
Nikita Kucherov can no longer sign an eight-year extension in Tampa.
That window shut Sept. 15 when the old CBA expired. The new agreement took effect Wednesday, and it caps a club at seven years on its own player. Tampa Bay had since July 1 to use the extra year and never did.
Kucherov walked into media day the next morning and made it clear he is not carrying any of it around. He was asked what goes through his head heading into the final season of his deal.
“What’s in my mind? My mind is trying to help the team this year. I control what I can control and I’ll do my best with what I can on the ice and that’s what I’m focusing on right now and not much more I can say.”
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His agent is saying even less. Pierre LeBrun reported Wednesday morning that Dan Milstein turned down another chance to talk about it, the same answer he has given for months.
Julien BriseBois has never sounded like a man in a hurry here. The general manager said this summer that the two sides had talked and that free agents and trades jumped the line.
“We’ve had chats. Just because there wasn’t a pressing deadline to accomplish something versus these free agents, if you don’t sign them today, they’re gone,” BriseBois said. “We’ll circle back to his representative, and when we have something to announce, we’ll make an announcement.”
The player they are slow-playing just won his second Hart Trophy. Kucherov piled up 130 points in 76 games last season and led the NHL at 1.71 points per game.
He turned 33 in June and is playing out the eight-year, $76 million contract he signed in 2018. The $9.5 million cap hit looks smaller every year the ceiling climbs, and it comes off the books next summer.
Tampa Bay gets a full season to sort this out before he can talk to 31 other teams on July 1. Seven years is the most it can put in front of him now.
