Should the Lightning sell Kucherov or go all-in on one final season?

Nov 2, 2026, 13:30 EST

Should the Lightning sell Kucherov or go all-in on one final season?

Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Following the shocking announcement that Nikita Kucherov isn’t willing to re-sign with the Tampa Bay Lightning, everyone is wondering what the team’s next move is going to be.

The Russian superstar is looking to move on from the only team he has ever known, which pushes the franchise closer to a new era. Yet, as Kucherov is going to stay in the lineup, many are keeping a close eye on general manager Julien BriseBois and what he’s going to do with one of the best playmakers in the NHL. BriseBois has already stated that he has “no intention” of trading Kucherov, meaning this is going to be one last hurrah for the Bolts.

On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Steven Ellis joined Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton to debate what the Lightning should do for the remainder of the year.

Steven Ellis: You’re not going to win a trade involving Nikita Kucherov. We’ve seen that with what happened with the Connor Hellebuyck trade and what’s probably going to happen with the Dylan Larkin trade. I think, in this case, Kucherov still being able to put up over 115 points in a season is going to put you in a really good spot to win. The timeline for, like, ‘Okay, we need to maybe go a little bit more all in this year…ecause once we lose Kucherov, if he’s gone next year, we’re not going to be as competitive.’

It’s going to be hard to fill those gaps, especially with the lack of top-end free agents available. I think when you look at this, I think it’s something where you kind of just have to bite the bullet, and if you lose him, you lose him, and it’s gonna hurt for sure, but they still want to win. Tampa’s window will start to dwindle here. Guys like Vasilevskiy aren’t getting younger. Obviously, you don’t have Stamkos there. They haven’t won the Cup in a couple years now. Like, the contention window is not gonna last forever here. So, try and go all in this year. Maybe make a big splash out. Go get Quinn Hughes. I don’t know how that’s going to work. Go get Dylan Larkin. Go out there and get those big pieces that all of a sudden make this team a true contender in potentially the toughest division to go out there and win.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I think I may be a little bit of the opposite there because I look at a team that’s lost in the first round four straight years and I say, ‘You know what, it’s not working with this core. Like, are you magically gonna go on a run with a team that’s a year older than they were a year ago?’ They didn’t have Hedman, and they’ve been running into the Panthers, who were a buzzsaw for a number of seasons. If I’m armchair GMing this, there’s a world where I go, ‘Hey, trade Kucherov, get a whole bunch of future assets.’ If you’re Brisebois, maybe if you play nice and he extends a la Mikko Rantanen in Dallas, maybe you get a really, really good haul for this guy, and maybe you can take 80% of what you get for Kucherov, and you can go get Dylan Larkin, who’s signed to a long-term deal. What’s better, one or half a season of Nikita Kucherov or six seasons of Dylan Larkin? To me, BriseBois’ stubbornness actually might not be all that good in this situation.