There's good and bad news for fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team has a cap issue for the upcoming season that needs to be solved. There is now word that may no longer be a problem. However, it comes at the expense of losing a major impact player.
"TB's cap issues may be solved by LTIR (long-term injured reserve)," reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. "There is word Nikita Kucherov is battling an injury that may keep him out awhile. No comment from team/agent, so details are sketchy -- but clarity expected this week. If unable to play (unfortunately), it will clear room for the Lightning."
According to TSN's Pierre LeBrun, Kucherov had a "hip shot" last week and the team is waiting to see how he feels before making a decision.
The Lightning are currently close to $2 million over the cap of $81.5 million. However, moving Kucherov to LTIR would free up $9.5 million in cap space, which would give the team room to sign restricted free agents Anthony Cirelli and Eric Cernak. Of course, the issue would still need to be dealt with once Kucherov is ready to return. However, it would buy the team some time to make the moves it needs to ensure it is cap compliant when he's ready to get back in the lineup.
All that said, there's no doubt Tampa Bay would rather not solve their cap issues by losing Kucherov. The 27-year-old winger had 85 points (33 goals, 52 assists) in the regular season for the Lightning in 2019-20, while adding another 34 points (7 goals, 27 assists) in the team's Stanley Cup run.
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