The Lightning first offered Nikita Kucherov $13M a year, then moved to $15M after Leo Carlsson's deal, according to Kevin Weekes.
The details landed Sunday, a day after Kucherov piled up three assists in Tampa Bay's 5-4 shootout loss in Nashville. His team now sits 8-3-2, and the contract noise hasn't slowed his production.
Weekes reported that the original proposal was $13M AAV. After Carlsson's contract came in, the Lightning revised it to $15M.
Carlsson's cap hit is $18,000,000 through 2030-31. That figure reset the market, and it left Tampa Bay's revised number $3M short of it.
Kucherov is on a $9,500,000 cap hit that runs out after this season, with unrestricted free agency waiting at expiry. Even the revised offer is $5.5M more than he makes now.
Why the Lightning's first offer missed the mark
Opening at $13M for a 33-year-old with 1141 career points and 177 more in the playoffs was always going to be tested. A first offer that needed a $2M bump once a younger player set the bar looks like a team that was behind the market, and that's a bad place to negotiate from with a franchise cornerstone.
Elliotte Friedman had already placed Carlsson's AAV at the center of Kucherov's contract talks and Carlsson's AAV. Weekes now supplies the actual dollar figures behind that.
Carlsson and Kucherov even sit level on the scoresheet this season, each with 18 points in 13 games. The difference is the standings. Carlsson's Ducks are 5-7-1 and host Ottawa today, while Kucherov's team is 6-0-0 at home.
Tampa Bay's road record is 2-3-2, and Saturday's loss was its latest stumble away from home. Teams around the league are watching how the situation develops, and the Kucherov mock trade to the Utah Mammoth shows how quickly the speculation spreads.
The Lightning host Detroit on Tuesday, November 3. Kucherov, Julien Brisebois and the unanswered contract question will all be in the building.
Should the Lightning pay Nikita Kucherov more than $15M a year to keep him?
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