While the top two picks from 2016 (Toronto’s Auston Matthews and Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine) have been pegged as the next two players that are set to surpass the $10MM mark in salary, Jared Clinton of The Hockey News suggests that Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov should also be in that mix. The 24-year-old is off to a flying start this season having scored in each of the first seven games which is quite a way to follow up a 2016-17 campaign where he finished fourth in league scoring with 86 points.
While it’s fair to suggest that GM Steve Yzerman would like to keep Kucherov at or below the $8.5MM that Steven Stamkos is making, that’s going to be a tough sell with some of the deals in the double-digit millions that have been handed out since then. The salary cap continues to go up (albeit only slightly recently) so his value will be higher through cap percentages while he will also have arbitration rights, something that wasn’t the case coming off of his rookie deal. Add those together and Tampa has a player that could very well be the next one to sign for $10MM or more as soon as next July.
More from Tampa Bay:
- The team has a decision to make in the coming days regarding defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, notes Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. The 19-year-old is one of the junior-aged players who will burn a year of their entry-level contract once they play in their tenth game and he has already played in seven, recording four assists while averaging nearly 12 minutes per night. Yzerman had the following to say on the situation: “For Mikhail as an individual, No. 1 it’s important that young players play. How many minutes is he going to play? How many games? From a team perspective, we’re trying to win. We’re trying to make the playoffs. Are we a better team with him or not? You weight all of those things and watch over the course of time, is he headed in the right direction? So far, he’s done fine.” At this point, it seems likely that Sergachev will play past the nine-game mark which will turn the focus to the 40th game. At that point, the Lightning won’t receive the conditional second-round pick from the Canadiens as part of the offseason trade that involved Jonathan Drouin while it will guarantee him a year accrued towards UFA eligibility as well.