Elliotte Friedman said on NHL Now that the Lightning and Wild will keep Nikita Kucherov and Quinn Hughes and go for the Stanley Cup.
Both stars are on contracts that run through this season and expire with unrestricted free agency, and neither has signed an extension. That is why their names keep coming up whenever trade talk starts.
Friedman said Friday that he sees Tampa Bay and Minnesota in the same spot, both pushing for the Cup rather than moving their key players.
-
The Kucherov chatter was already loud. Earlier this month, Kirill Kaprizov's wish to play with Kucherov added fuel, and it pulled Minnesota into a conversation that had been about Tampa Bay alone.
Hughes sits on the other side of that picture as a Wild defenseman with 28 points in 21 games. Kucherov has the same 28 points, but in 19 games, with a +12 rating.
Production like that is a hard thing to sell.
Why selling makes little sense for the Lightning and Wild
Look at the standings and Friedman's read is easy to follow. Minnesota is 14-3-4 and went 8-0-2 over its last 10, with John Hynes behind the bench.
Tampa Bay is 13-4-2 under Jon Cooper and hasn't lost at home, going 8-0-0 at Amalie Arena. A team playing like that doesn't move its best player, and we think trading either star now would be a mistake for the club that did it.
This is still Friedman's read, not a statement from the teams. Neither Bill Guerin nor Julien Brisebois has said anything in the post, and the contract situations remain open.
The two clubs are back on the ice later today. The Wild visit Boston, and the Lightning host Detroit, each riding a two-game winning streak.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
Which star is more likely to be traded before his contract expires?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Video surfaces of Connor Hellebuyck being verbally abused at Winnipeg hotel
