Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andre Vasilevskiy is still holding out for a resolution between the team and star winger Nikita Kucherov.
Kucherov set the hockey world alight with his public trade request on Oct. 30 after he and Lightning management were unable to come to terms on a potential extension.
“I mean, it was a surprise for all of us; maybe I was more prepared for that than other people, but it is still a big surprise for all of us,” Vasilevskiy told Joe Smith of The Athletic. “Again, there’s still a lot of time until July 1. So we’ll just wait and see and we’ll hope that something will change.
“Anything is possible nowadays,” he added. “I’m not familiar with all the details of what’s going on between the two sides. I understand both parts of that deal and I don’t want to get too much involved. I just hope that at the end of the day they will figure it out and both parties will be happy.”
Kucherov later cited “poor communication” and “respect” during negotiations as reasons for wanting out of Tampa, also telling reporters that there have been just two conversations with Lightning management on a potential extension since becoming eligible to sign on July 1 this past summer.
Lightning GM Julien BriseBois released a statement shortly after news broke of Kucherov’s request, saying that the team “unequivocally” has “no intention of trading Nikita.”
As things currently stand, Kucherov is set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, the last of an eight-year, $76 million contract signed in 2018.
The Russian superstar has since helped Tampa Bay win the Stanley Cup twice, led the NHL in scoring three times and was voted the recipient of the Hart Trophy in 2018-19 and 2025-26.
Vasilevskiy, a teammate of Kucherov’s for over a decade, has watched the situation unfold with his own contract set to expire at the end of next season.
Still, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner stated his intention to work out a deal to play out the rest of his career with Tampa Bay.
“To be honest, I don’t know if I’m worth $25 million, so I think my contract won’t be as high,” Vasilevskiy joked. “I mean, it’d be great if it will. Obviously my goal is to stay here. If I retire here, in this city, it will be my second biggest accomplishment after the Stanley Cup. Because it’s like, how many goalies played for one team ever? Only a few. That’s definitely one of my biggest accomplishments. It’s my goal for sure to stay with this team.
“I think it’s just so cool when you’re drafted and you play your full career for one organization. It says a lot about you as a person, as an athlete, obviously. That means they feel you were such a big piece of that organization, of that team, that they basically, it’s stuck with you for 20 years. So, yeah, that’ll be something to me for sure; it will mean a lot.”
The future Hall of Famer is a two-time Vezina winner, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, and the 2021 Conn Smythe Trophy winner in his 13-year career, all spent with the Lightning.