Tampa Bay Lightning: Yzerman Hopes To Have Nikita Kucherov Signed Following World Cup
Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman has a timeline in mind to re-sign Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have had a pretty tumultuous off-season. There have been players who have made their exit from the Bolts Nation, players who have found their way to the Sunshine State, and others who have secured their long-term future in a Tampa Bay Lightning jersey.
Amongst all the activity, there has been one vital piece to the puzzle that seemed to have gone missing altogether. We are now 34 days away from the official start of the 2016-17 hockey season and the Lightning still have not come to terms with their 2015-16 leading point scorer, Nikita Kucherov.
Needless to say, this has left many Tampa Bay Lightning fans in various states of panic. The questions are everywhere. Why hasn’t he signed a new deal yet? When will the Lightning finally come to terms with the Russian sniper on a new contract? Is Kucherov looking for too much money?
The questions just seem to go on and on. Unfortunately, as most Lightning fans know by now, the Lightning organization are not always forthcoming with information on player contracts. This is good to a certain extent. On the other hand, it would be nice if they threw fans a bone every now and then.
As far as the Nikita Kucherov contract situation goes, we have mostly been of the mind that a deal will happen in its own good time. Player contracts are usually pretty extensive and involve a lot more than a dollar sign. Besides…look at how long it took for Lightning captain Steven Stamkos to re-sign.
We see how that turned out, right?
In any case, one of our biggest suspicions seems to have a little more weight to it than it did a couple of days ago. In previous articles on this topic, we have always asserted that both sides of this ordeal were simply waiting until the conclusion of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, where Kucherov is representing his native Russia.
According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman said he was “hopeful” to have both Nikita Kucherov and Lightning defenseman Nikita Nesterov signed to a new deal by the time they return from competing in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Nothing is certain in this world, at least not until the ink has dried on the contract. On the other hand, if there is one thing Tampa Bay Lightning fans know for sure, it’s that they have one of the most skilled General Managers in the National Hockey League, and if there is anyone who can get the job done, it’s Yzerman.
This may not be the answer everyone was hoping for, but at least we can all agree this is a step in the right direction. At the very least, Lightning fans can now sit back and watch the World Cup of Hockey and not have to worry whether or not they’re missing out on anything. As we’ve said before, things will happen in good time.
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