{"id":2313,"date":"2016-10-11T11:51:31","date_gmt":"2016-10-11T15:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=2313"},"modified":"2016-10-11T11:56:01","modified_gmt":"2016-10-11T15:56:01","slug":"nikita-kucherov-re-signs-with-tampa-bay-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2016\/10\/11\/nikita-kucherov-re-signs-with-tampa-bay-lightning\/","title":{"rendered":"Nikita Kucherov Re-Signs With Tampa Bay Lightning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Nikita Kucherov<\/strong> has signed a new three-year contract with the <strong>Tampa Bay Lightning<\/strong> after missing training camp in a contract dispute. The deal is worth $14.3 million and carries a cap hit of $4.766\u00a0million per season. Kucherov lead the Lightning in points last year with 30 goals, 36 assists for 66 points, finishing ahead of captain\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/stamkst01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steven Stamkos<\/a><\/strong>. The signing leaves the Lightning with approximately $780,000 in cap space.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Lightning have re-signed forward Nikita Kucherov to a 3-year contract worth an average of $4.7666 million per season. &#8211; from team<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Erik Erlendsson (@Erik_Erlendsson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Erik_Erlendsson\/status\/785868062906015744\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 11, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Kucherov Re-Signs With Tampa Bay Lightning<\/h2>\n<p>While the Lightning successfully got all their players under contract this year they will have tough choices next off-season. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/j\/johnsty01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Johnson<\/a><\/strong> will need a raise from the $3.3 million he is currently making. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/palaton01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ondrej Palat<\/a><\/strong> will likely need a raise as will defenceman <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/sustran01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrej Sustr<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/n\/nesteni01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikita Nesterov<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0The only cap relief in sight will be <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/bishobe01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Bishop<\/a><\/strong> who will likely won&#8217;t be re-signed allowing <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/v\/vasilan02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrei Vasilevskiy<\/a><\/strong> to take the reigns.<\/p>\n<h3>Missing Camp Not An Issue<\/h3>\n<p>In most years missing training camp would lead to a slow start for a restricted free agent who sits out of camp. \u00a0However, Kucherov represented <strong>Russia<\/strong> in the <strong>2016 World Cup of Hockey<\/strong> leaving him in game shape. Kucherov was impressive for a team that fell shorter than expectations scoring two goals and one assist in four games. Russia was eliminated by <strong>Canada<\/strong> in the semi-final game.<\/p>\n<p>With Kucherov under contract and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/stamkst01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steven Stamkos<\/a> returning the Lightning will continue to be favorites to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final.\u00a0Kucherov will be expected to continue playing on a line with <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/j\/johnsty01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Johnson<\/a><\/strong> that will give the Lightning two dominant lines of offense. With the fire power that the Lightning have under contract, they will be a difficult team to defend against.<\/p>\n<h3>Other RFA&#8217;s Still Out There<\/h3>\n<p>Now that <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/2016\/10\/10\/johnny-gaudreau-signs-extension-with-calgary\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Johnny Gaudreau<\/strong><\/a> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kucheni01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikita Kucherov<\/a><\/strong> are under contract only four restricted free agents remain unsigned. The <strong>Anaheim\u00a0Ducks<\/strong> have the most potentially the most pressing free agents to get under contract.\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/rakelri01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rickard Rakell<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lindhha01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hampus Lindholm<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0both remain without a contract and while the Ducks do have cap space they are limited by an internal cap imposed by their owners. The <strong>Buffalo Sabres<\/strong> have yet to come to terms with defenseman <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/ristora01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rasmus Ristolainen<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0Finally, the <strong>Winnipeg Jets<\/strong> are the furthest away from signing their restricted free agent defenceman\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/troubja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jacob Trouba<\/a> <\/strong>who has asked for a trade.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/533625334\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.666667% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/533625334?et=ww1gL8bKSvxrbVPAMRrYJw&#038;viewMoreLink=on&#038;sig=k1cIN9ZF2-z401zxS5XYn53UiBOBOySu5_AhyvGgKdA=&#038;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin:0;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nikita Kucherov has signed a new three-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning after missing training camp in a contract dispute. The deal is worth $14.3 million and carries a cap hit of $4.766\u00a0million per season. Kucherov lead the Lightning in points last year with 30 goals, 36 assists for 66 points, finishing ahead of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1650,"featured_media":2354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,34],"tags":[37,38,583,42],"class_list":["post-2313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lightning","category-news","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-nikita-kucherov","tag-tampa-bay-lightning"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}