Kucherov's Lightning exit reportedly also tied to friction with a teammate

A new report claims Nikita Kucherov and Lightning captain Victor Hedman have a conflict, adding another layer to the trade request in Tampa Bay.

The claim comes from Montreal Canadiens play-by-play announcer Martin McGuire, speaking in a French interview on 98.5 FM. He said the two stars are far from friends, and that it's fairly well known around the NHL and inside the Lightning organization.

McGuire added that head coach Jon Cooper won't discuss it publicly. Kucherov's agent, Dan Milstein, denied the report, as you'd expect.

That matters because Kucherov spoke to the media on Monday for the first time about the request. He pointed to "poor communication and respect" as the reason he wants out, and he didn't name Hedman.

The timeline is tight. Elliotte Friedman reported last Friday night that Kucherov won't re-sign after this season and has asked for a trade, but will keep playing. We covered Nikita Kucherov breaking his silence on the trade request a day before the Lightning faced Detroit.

Tampa Bay is playing the Red Wings tonight, so the on-ice picture matters here. The Lightning are 8-3-2 and sit fourth in the Atlantic, and Kucherov has 18 points in 13 games. Whatever is going on behind the scenes, he isn't coasting.

Would Kucherov even fit in Montreal?

McGuire doesn't sound convinced. He called Kucherov a winger who can turn a loss into a win, but said he wonders whether that clashes with what the Canadiens have been building for almost five years.

Friedman mentioned both Montreal and the Toronto Maple Leafs this week as teams Kucherov would likely approve a move to. Pierre LeBrun, meanwhile, said that Kucherov's relationship with Martin St-Louis cannot be ignored in this picture.

Montreal doesn't look like a team searching for a fix right now. The Canadiens have won five straight and are 8-1-1 over their last 10, and they sit second in the Atlantic.

A broadcaster's read on a locker room is still secondhand, and Tampa has not addressed it. But if Kucherov is leaving anyway, waiting until July to lose the franchise's all-time leading scorer for nothing is the worst outcome the Lightning could pick.

The Canadiens and Maple Leafs meet Saturday, November 7, with two of Kucherov's reported destinations on the same ice.

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