Nikita Kucherov Requests Trade From Lightning in Ultimate Team Plane Power Move

Nikita Kucherov just pulled the ultimate group-chat exit in real life. According to Pierre LeBrun and Elliotte Friedman, the reigning NHL MVP and his agent Dan Milstein just sat down with Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois to formally request a trade, and then Kucherov casually broke the news to his teammates on the team plane.

There is no good way to handle a flight after the guy who drives your entire offense announces he wants out. You just have to stare at the seatback in front of you for three hours while the superstar with a $9.5 million cap hit watches an in-flight movie.

"Pierre LeBrun reported that Kucherov and Milstein met with BriseBois to advise that the Hart Trophy winner is asking for a trade."

This is a spectacular pivot from where things stood this summer. Back in July, BriseBois told everyone that extending the 33-year-old was a top priority. Instead of locking up the guy who just dropped 100 assists and won his second Hart Trophy, Tampa Bay spent the start of free agency signing John Carlson and Ilya Mikheyev. Now, Kucherov is entering the final stretch of his contract and wants a new zip code.

You can probably trace the frustration directly to the ice. The Lightning are bleeding goals right now, dropping recent games to the Colorado Avalanche, Utah Hockey Club, and taking a 6-4 loss to the Winnipeg Jets just yesterday. When you are an aging star with a history of major hip surgeries, you do not have the patience to sit through a defensive collapse.

This completely detonates the NHL landscape. A healthy Kucherov hitting the trade block mid-season is the kind of market-moving earthquake that forces oddsmakers to pull down Eastern Conference futures and scramble the MVP odds board. You do not just replace a guy who dictates the entire pace of a power play.

The Lightning are scheduled to play the Nashville Predators tomorrow night. Whether Kucherov is actually in the lineup for that puck drop, or if he is already packing his bags, is the only thing anyone in the league will be watching.