Nikita Kucherov asked the Tampa Bay Lightning to trade him on Friday and said on Monday it was about poor communication and respect rather than money. Montreal radio has offered a different theory about what’s going on.
Martin McGuire, who has called Canadiens games on 98.5 Sports since 2003, told host Mario Langlois on Monday that the answer might be found in the dressing room.
“Kucherov is at odds with Victor Hedman. The two aren’t really able to go out to dinner together on the road, I can tell you that,” McGuire said. “I think it’s something that’s fairly well known around the NHL and around the Lightning. Jon Cooper isn’t going to go public to talk about these things, but Hedman and Kucherov, you wouldn’t invite them to the same party.”
Nikita Kucherov last season:
| Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 76 | 44 | 86 | 130 |
Is there a rift between Kucherov and Hedman?
Nobody in Tampa has said so. McGuire covers the Montreal Canadiens rather than the Lightning, he has offered no source for the claim beyond his own information, and neither player has addressed it. The club has commented on the trade request and said nothing whatsoever about this.
What does exist on the record points the other way. Kucherov described his teammates as family when he spoke on Monday, and made a point of saying they heard about the request from him before anybody read it.
“They heard it from me first,” he said. “Those guys are my family, and this will never change.”
Brandon Hagel was asked directly whether the request had damaged the room and spent most of his answer defending Kucherov, saying the club loves him and asking supporters not to take their frustration out on him. Jon Cooper has said Kucherov remains 100 percent part of the team.
The claim has still traveled. National Hockey Now’s regional sites picked it up across Wednesday, with the general assessment being that a rift wouldn’t be the reason behind the trade request but wouldn’t help matters either.
It is also worth noting where it surfaced. Montreal has spent the week being linked with Kucherov from every direction, with Pierre LeBrun pointing out that head coach Martin St. Louis has a relationship with him and that the Canadiens are a rising team in a market he might find appealing.
Kucherov is in the final season of a contract carrying a $9.5 million cap hit and becomes a free agent on July 1. He has 18 points in 13 games and Tampa Bay sit near the top of the Atlantic.
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