Nikita Kucherov asked out. The Lightning should not trade him

Why the Lightning should not trade Nikita Kucherov

Nikita Kucherov wants out, and he is still running this team. Tuesday was his first home game since the trade request. He set up both Brayden Point goals in the first period, one on the power play at 7:54 and one at 13:01, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2. Julien BriseBois should not trade him.

The numbers are not close. Kucherov has 16 assists and 20 points in 14 games, and both lead the team. Brandon Hagel is next with 16 points. Kucherov has five assists in the two games since he told the team he wants to be traded, and seven during a four-game point streak. That is not a player checking out. That is a player doing his job while the front office fight plays out in public.

Are the Lightning better than they were last season?

Yes, and the home record is why. Tampa Bay came in 6-0-0 at home per Last Call game data and left 7-0-0, a franchise record to start a season. The Lightning are 9-3-2. Through 14 games last season they were 7-5-2 overall and 3-3-0 at home. That is two more wins in the same number of games, and four more at home.

The win itself was built the way this team wants to win. Point scored twice, Anthony Cirelli made it 3-0 in the second, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 of 21 shots. When Detroit cut it to 3-2 on a J.T. Compher power-play goal in the third, Tampa Bay held on, and Ryan McDonagh hit the empty net with one second left. Jon Cooper called the first period as good as his team has played in a while. Kucherov was the reason.

Why did Nikita Kucherov ask for a trade?

Kucherov told the Lightning he will not re-sign and asked for a trade. He is in the final season of an eight-year, $76 million contract he signed in 2018, and he becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season. He said Monday the request is not about the money, and he said it plainly: "It was never about the money for me." His complaint is communication. He says he and BriseBois have had two conversations over the last four months, and that BriseBois made it clear he is free to leave on July 1.

BriseBois answered with one sentence: "We unequivocally have no intention of trading Nikita." The building took a side too. Fans held up signs in warmups Tuesday reading "We Stand with Kuch 86" and "Pay Stay Kuch."

The case for trading Kucherov now

Here is the fair side. Kucherov is 33, and if he walks on July 1, Tampa Bay gets nothing back. A contender would pay real prospects and picks for him today, and The Hockey News has already named Montreal, Dallas and Utah as fits. This team is also not perfect. The Lightning are 2-3-2 on the road, they had lost three of four before Tuesday, and Vasilevskiy has an .878 save percentage. If you think this roster is not winning a Cup, the smart play is to sell high and start over.

Why Tampa Bay keeps him anyway

Because you do not trade the reigning Hart Trophy winner in November with a 7-0-0 home record. Kucherov has won two Stanley Cups in Tampa, led the league in scoring three times and passed Steven Stamkos as the franchise's career points leader. Fourteen games into a season where his team is winning, the return does not matter as much as the player leaving the room.

The road record and the goaltending are fixable. A hole where the reigning MVP used to be is not. July 1 is a problem for July 1. We got Tampa Bay on Tuesday morning and it paid. Keep him, ride him to the playoffs and take your chances.