Stamkos responds to Kucherov saga with blunt message

Steven Stamkos admits the Nikita Kucherov situation caught him off guard, and the Predators center was candid about the Lightning star.

Eduardo A. Encina passed along Stamkos' comments Saturday, and they came with the Kucherov trade buzz still swirling. Stamkos kept it short, but he didn't dodge.

"I think my reaction was probably the same as all of yours," Stamkos said, adding that you don't expect to see something like that.

He didn't spell out what "that" was, and the context is not hard to fill in. Kucherov wants out of Tampa Bay, and Nikita Kucherov's trade demand and the $20M ask has been the talk of the league all day.

Stamkos also made clear where he stands on his former team's franchise player. "It is what it is at this point," he said, and he added that everyone knows what he thinks of Kucherov as a player and as a person.

Then came the line that matters on the ice. Stamkos said Kucherov "still looked pretty good up there tonight."

He has a point. Kucherov has 15 points in 12 games this season, built on 4 goals and 11 assists, and he is a +2.

Stamkos is no slouch himself at 36. He has 7 goals in 13 games for Nashville, including 3 on the power play, though he sits at -3.

Kucherov trade market is already taking shape

Kucherov is 33, and his contract runs through 2026-27 with UFA status at expiry. No extension has been signed, and the cap hit is $9,500,000.

That is the backdrop for every contender's phone call. The Nikita Kucherov landing spots featuring Canadiens and Oilers make clear how many teams are being matched with him.

Kucherov has 1138 career points. Stamkos, for the record, has 1271, which gives his opinion some weight when he calls a player's talent undeniable.

Moving a player producing at this pace, with no extension in place, is a hard sell for any front office. But losing him for nothing in free agency would be worse, and Tampa Bay knows it.

Stamkos was clear about what he saw from Kucherov Saturday night, and Encina relayed it in a post on X.

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Until the Lightning either move him or shut the door, every Kucherov shift will be read through the trade lens.

Also read on Markerzone.com:
Canadiens land Kucherov in a five-asset mock trade