NHL Odds: Which team is the best fit for Nikita Kucherov?

Just when you though the NHL’s trade market couldn’t get crazier, Nikita Kucherov said “hold my beer”.

Since the off-season, we’ve seen marquee players like former Senators captain Brady Tkachuk and Jets superstar netminder Connor Hellebuyck force their way off teams, while ex-Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin refuses to play while demanding a trade.

However, the biggest bombshell dropped last Friday when the news broke that reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov is asking for a trade out of Tampa Bay.

There’s a lot up in the air at the moment. Kucherov says he feels disrespected and he will play this season, but he has no intention of re-signing with the Lightning, while GM Julien BriseBois says the team will not trade the two-time Stanley Cup winner.

From everything reported, it doesn’t seem like a negotiating tactic from Kucherov. And it seems unbelieveable that Tampa Bay would let a player of Kucherov’s calibre walk for nothing.

That makes trading Kucherov before the March deadline a much more likely scenario.

For our purposes today, we’ve come up with three tiers of teams that want Kucherov’s services:

• “Win now” – The elite tier of teams that are already Stanley Cup contenders, but also have the assets to trade for Kucherov. These teams may only have a couple of years left to win a Cup before the rebuild begins.
• “Last piece needed” – Current playoff bubble teams that could make some noise with Kucherov in the fold. Adding Kucherov is the difference between winning the first round vs. making an conference final or Stanley Cup Final.
• “Searching for star power” – Teams that want to take a step and make the playoffs. They won’t get out of the first round, but they have plenty of cap space and assets and they’re looking to make a big splash by adding a marquee name.

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Win now

Dallas Stars

Dallas makes the most sense for Kucherov for one main reason: Jason Robertson.

Contract negotiations have been incredibly tense between the Stars and Robertson and the team reportedly had two deals to trade him in the off-season. Robertson nixed those trades before agreeing to a one-year contract that walks him right to unrestricted free agency next year.

Much like the Lightning with Kucherov, the Stars can’t afford to let Robertson leave for nothing. This is a winger-for-winger, one-for-one deal.

Vegas Golden Knights

You can’t talk about a significant player being traded without mentioning the Vegas Golden Knights.

Vegas is always in on these deals and it’s a team that presumably would be appealing to Kucherov. It’s another warm, no-tax state and the organization is seemingly in Cup-or-bust mode every year.

The Golden Knights still have a few enticing trade chips in the cupboard, including rookie winger Trevor Connelly.

Imagine a one-two punch of Kucherov and Mitch Marner as the top two right wingers on Vegas, not to mention what they’d do together on the power play.

Last piece needed

San Jose Sharks

The Sharks missed the playoffs by four points last season and they look ready to fully emerge from their rebuild with a core of Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Ivar Stenberg and Michael Misa.

Adding the playmaking ability of Kucherov to the wing of a finisher like Celebrini would be lethal and would certainly add at least an extra few wins to San Jose’s total in the standings.

The Sharks are stacked with high-end draft picks, prospects and young roster players they could include in a trade package.

Utah Mammoth

Utah is another team with trade chips that is looking to make a big splash.

The Mammoth already took a step last season by making the playoffs, taking Vegas to six games in the first round, and you have to think they could have won that series with a player like Kucherov contributing.

Utah has a deep forward group, so would Tij Iginla or Caleb Desnoyers be a good starting point in an offer for Kucherov?

Desperate need of star power

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks are clearly not a “win-now” team for Kucherov, but pairing him with superstar Connor Bedard would definitely lead to more points in the standings.

With Bedard entering his fourth season, the Hawks are starting to get desperate to pull out of their rebuild. That was never more evident than when they traded for Bowen Byram in the off-season and immediately made him the highest paid defenceman in the NHL.

Chicago easily has the cap space to give Kucherov the $20 million AAV contract extension he reportedly wants.

New York Islanders

The Islanders have a stud on the blue line in Matthew Schaeffer, now they need some firepower up front.

There’s already a connection here as New York GM Mathieu Darche was BriseBois’ assistant GM when the Lightning and Kucherov won Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021.

Mathew Barzal would be an attractive trade chip to centre a package around. Barzal could thrive with a fresh start in Tampa Bay, he’d fit their high-end speed system better and his $9.15 million cap hit would offset what the Islanders would have to pay Kucherov next season and beyond.

Seattle Kraken

The Kraken have tried to take a couple major swings over the last year, only to rebuffed in trades for Artemi Panarin and Jason Roberston. Those types of attempted moves stink of Seattle taking a shot at Kucherov.

However, while Seattle is another no-tax state, it’s tough to see the appeal from Kucherov’s perspective. There’s no real supporting cast for him to work with and it’s almost as far away from Florida geographically as you can get in the NHL.

The Kraken will certainly try everything they can to land Kucherov, but I’d be surprised if the interest is mutual.