Player Discussion: Nikita Kucherov

[Sky04]

I own a Kuch jersey and it pains me to say this but if Stevie Y gets a good trade offer for Kuch, then I pull the trigger. Kuch really regressed on the defensive side this year and in today's NHL there is no way I give him a max deal for simply being a one way player! If Kuch can bring back an impact scoring power forward (or at least the potential to be one) then I am inclined to make the trade. The Bolts have to get bigger and stronger otherwise they will not get past the Pens and Capitals in the conference finals. And don't look now but the Panthers with there size is going to be the next road block in our division!

hahahahah what? rofllmao

 

[Sky04]

Can't believe people want to get rid of Kucherov. Worst move this could franchise could make aside from trading Hedman. So dumb.

Reactionary thinking with no supporting logic. Kucherov is this teams best playoff performer since Martin St.louis, and will likely be the best before his career's over.

 

[Sky04]

Stamkos is not playing wing.

 

[Sky04]

Wouldn't mind it. But it seems like we're not gonna put Stamkos on the wing long-term, and I wouldn't want to put Point on the wing.

But I mean:

Gourde-Point-Stamkos
Palat-Johnson-Kucherov

If TKO could even be a fraction of what they used to be, that's deadly.

Or:

Palat - (Johnson) - Kucherov
Killorn - Point - Gourde
(Miller) - Stamkos - Cirelli/Joseph

*(if they're still here)

Well a part of the reason they were split up is because they weren't a fraction of what they used to be... lots of cycling, passing but no scoring.

 

[DFC]

My gut feeling is that he's going to take 8.5 x 8 to match Stamkos, wouldn't be surprised if he gets 9-10 though (especially since cap will be goin up)

Under a higher cap, I think he gets 9.5. On the open market I think somebody would cough up 11+.

 

[DFC]

Well a part of the reason they were split up is because they weren't a fraction of what they used to be... lots of cycling, passing but no scoring.

Until the end of the 16/17 season, when they began the spark that sent us on our run. Then Johnson got injured, and Point took over seamlessly, if I remember correctly.

I just don't know why we didn't at least give it a go, considering how poorly everything else was working at the end.

 

[Todd1a]

Under a higher cap, I think he gets 9.5. On the open market I think somebody would cough up 11+.

Cap was much lower when stamkos signed so I agree I think Kucherov gets 9.5 to 10 per season especially if the cap goes up to 82 million. His agent mAde it sound like if they don’t get the long term deal they want then they got no problem with going to arbitration for a one year deal and test the market to press yzerman probably. I fear this contract negotiation with Kucherov this time because yzerman crushed him last time with that bridge deal! Now Kucherov has got all the leverage last time yzerman had all the leverage.

 

[DFC]

Cap was much lower when stamkos signed so I agree I think Kucherov gets 9.5 to 10 per season especially if the cap goes up to 82 million. His agent mAde it sound like if they don’t get the long term deal they want then they got no problem with going to arbitration for a one year deal and test the market to press yzerman probably. I fear this contract negotiation with Kucherov this time because yzerman crushed him last time with that bridge deal! Now Kucherov has got all the leverage last time yzerman had all the leverage.

The sky is not falling. It sounded like Kuch's agent believes there's no way Kucherov is leaving.

 

[Todd1a]

The sky is not falling. It sounded like Kuch's agent believes there's no way Kucherov is leaving.

I don’t think he is leaving but I get the feeling he is not taking a home town discount

 

[DFC]

I don’t think he is leaving but I get the feeling he is not taking a home town discount

I don't know if anybody takes a hometown discount so much as a takehome $ discount. Kuch will get his 9+ and, given that we just saw E. Kane sign 7x7, it's probably gonna be a bit of a discount.

 

[Steazy Doo]

People focus too much on raw numbers as opposed to the percentage of cap a player takes up when they discuss discounts. A 9 million dollar contract today is a 7 million five years ago.

 

[Hoek]

Can't believe people want to get rid of Kucherov. Worst move this could franchise could make aside from trading Hedman. So dumb.

Those people must be an bruins fans because only an dummies who've been dropped on their an heads would think like that. XD

 

[VoluntaryDom]

I don’t want Kuch to leave but damn based on his playoffs I might not be comfortable giving him 10 million

 

[waterboy65]

I don't want to get rid of Kuch just for the hell of it but we cant keep playing midget hockey! I see posts on here of trying to put together our top 2 lines for next year where not a single player is over 6.1" and most are under 5.10". Deep playoff runs are going to wear down small teams. Only small team to win Cups recently were the Blackhawks but besides that it has been dominated by teams with large forwards! If Kuch is willing to sign for $10M a year then I think we can work around that and trade Johnson to get some size.

 

[Sky04]

I don't want to get rid of Kuch just for the hell of it but we cant keep playing midget hockey! I see posts on here of trying to put together our top 2 lines for next year where not a single player is over 6.1" and most are under 5.10". Deep playoff runs are going to wear down small teams. Only small team to win Cups recently were the Blackhawks but besides that it has been dominated by teams with large forwards! If Kuch is willing to sign for $10M a year then I think we can work around that and trade Johnson to get some size.

Nikita Kucherov: 6'0
Sidney Crosby: 5'11
Patrick Kane: 5'10

How did the big bad LA Kings do this year? San Jose?

 

[Todd1a]

I don't want to get rid of Kuch just for the hell of it but we cant keep playing midget hockey! I see posts on here of trying to put together our top 2 lines for next year where not a single player is over 6.1" and most are under 5.10". Deep playoff runs are going to wear down small teams. Only small team to win Cups recently were the Blackhawks but besides that it has been dominated by teams with large forwards! If Kuch is willing to sign for $10M a year then I think we can work around that and trade Johnson to get some size.

10 avv won’t be bad for Kucherov if the cap keeps going up it might go as high as 82 million this offseason

 

[Sky04]

I don’t want Kuch to leave but damn based on his playoffs I might not be comfortable giving him 10 million

huh? What about his other playoffs then? his 100 point season? you kids are silly.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I don't want to get rid of Kuch just for the hell of it but we cant keep playing midget hockey! I see posts on here of trying to put together our top 2 lines for next year where not a single player is over 6.1" and most are under 5.10". Deep playoff runs are going to wear down small teams. Only small team to win Cups recently were the Blackhawks but besides that it has been dominated by teams with large forwards! If Kuch is willing to sign for $10M a year then I think we can work around that and trade Johnson to get some size.

I agree to an extent. Kuch still scores goals and that is probably the hardest thing to find in this league. We need some size but not at the expense of our skill. I also think our D needs to be quicker/tougher in puck retrieval in our own end and in getting it out. The way we played in our back end does not help our smaller guys out. So I think its kind of a combo of both.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

huh? What about his other playoffs then? his 100 point season? you kids are silly.

Idk, he has mailed it in since January

 

[waterboy65]

Nikita Kucherov: 6'0
Sidney Crosby: 5'11
Patrick Kane: 5'10

How did the big bad LA Kings do this year? San Jose?

I have stood next to Kucherov at fan fest and he is no taller than 5'10" and is listed around 175 lbs. Crosby may be a shade under 6' but he is one of the toughest SOBs around. Doesn't hurt that he plays with guys like Malkin either.

Kings and San Jose were beaten this year by Vegas who also has decent size with most of their forwards at 6 feet or taller so clearly not a small team.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I have stood next to Kucherov at fan fest and he is no taller than 5'10" and is listed around 175 lbs. Crosby may be a shade under 6' but he is one of the toughest SOBs around. Doesn't hurt that he plays with guys like Malkin either.

Kings and San Jose were beaten this year by Vegas who also has decent size with most of their forwards at 6 feet or taller so clearly not a small team.

Size is important but I think the more important thing is your teams intensity/effort level to go with your teams skill. The Caps had a pretty big team the last few years and they never got by Pittsburgh who I would argue is not a bigger team than the Caps. It wasnt until they upped their intensity/effort level that they got by them. Also Pittsburgh did not bring the intensity they did the previous 2 cups. They looked dead. I didnt think we were much bigger than the Devils or Bruins. We might have been smaller but we just played bigger. Our intensity level was off the charts. The Caps this year was bigger than us, just as skilled, but their intensity/effort level was much better than ours in those last couple of games. At that point too much to handle. So I think we do need to add some size yes but we need to play with a much higher effort/intensity/urgency than we did late. Thats not going to cut it in any round. We would have gotten beat by the Devils or Bruins with that kind of intensity/effort.

 

[Steazy Doo]

Those people must be an bruins fans because only an dummies who've been dropped on their an heads would think like that. XD

An well said! Lowly broos infiltrating an boards? Spooky!

 

[DFC]

I have stood next to Kucherov at fan fest and he is no taller than 5'10" and is listed around 175 lbs. Crosby may be a shade under 6' but he is one of the toughest SOBs around. Doesn't hurt that he plays with guys like Malkin either.

Kings and San Jose were beaten this year by Vegas who also has decent size with most of their forwards at 6 feet or taller so clearly not a small team.

I've always heard Crosby's closer to 5'9.

 

[DFC]

It might come down to the Caps just being that damn good. It feels like they're on their way, and, yet again, we might wind up being the team that pushed the eventual champs to their longest series.

 

[Rschmitz]

I was really gulping the Kucherov kool-aid at one point, but now he looks like a shell of the man who helped carry us through the 2015 and 2016 playoffs. That guy could score from anywhere.

Not saying we deal him, but IMO Point has leapfrogged him into the category of vital players we have to keep no matter what.