Kucherov, a man of few words, offered his fair share of them recently. So what do they mean?

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
April 27, 2017

A man of few words had plenty to say recently.

Throughout the season, Tampa Bay Lightning All-Star Nikita Kucherov did not hold many sessions with the media. When it did, they were usually short.

That tends to happen when he is asked his reaction to being named to the NHL All-Star game results in a two-word answer of, “I’m excited’’. That was it, didn’t expand on the thought, didn’t share why he was excited to be heading to Los Angeles to play in the league’s showcase event. He didn’t even crack a smile while saying it.

No real problem with that, English is not his native tongue and it’s not uncommon for players from Russia not wanting to open up to the North American media in case something gets twisted and the wrong message gets out. And quite honestly, since Kucherov arrived in Tampa, he’s always been a bit shy and reserved when it comes to a lot of media attention. In one-on-one interviews, he’s more relaxed and tends to be more open if it’s with somebody he feels a sense of trust with.

Well, on Wednesday, an interview with Kucherov conducted in his native tongue was posted and made the rounds. And apparently, Kucherov had a lot to say.

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The entire transcript of the full interview, translated, can be found here.

But there are two particular passages in there that made the rounds in social media that caught the attention of many.

I’ll try to give my best interpretation, taking on one at a time.

Bombshell #1 from Kucherov. He told this in interview to @plysenkov from Sovetsky Sport. pic.twitter.com/woMv2XK4i5

— Sergey Demidov (@smdemidov) April 26, 2017

Now, the words here are a bit different than you can find in the link above. They are pretty much the same and the meaning doesn’t really get twisted around between the two translations. And there is nothing all together damning here.

This feels like, to me, the voice of a frustrated player, which seems a bit odd that he finished tied for second in the league in goals and tied for fifth in league scoring. But to me, it reads like the voice of a top level player expressing frustration over a situation that fell apart. Kucherov is right, he had some great chemistry with Steven Stamkos and Vladislav Namestnikov. For the two weeks or so the trio was together, they were magical. The game at New York against the Islanders was one of the best games I’ve seen from a line in a long time.

So when Stamkos got injured, it obviously took a mental toll on Kucherov. It didn’t really seem to affect his game, but that’s probably just a testament to Kucherov’s sheer determination and desire to be a winner and a champion. He knew, because of the injuries, being able to step up at a time when the team needed somebody to step up was going to help the team. And he nearly put the team on his shoulders and carried them in to the playoffs.

Here’s one thing that I’ve learned through my years being around the NHL, elite players want to play with elite players. Those type of players tend to see the game differently, think the game differently and when they are not playing with players of that caliber, it can be frustrating. So with Kucherov making a statement about all the line shuffling that took place, it’s understandable. Certainly injuries played a factor in to all the juggling and not knowing who you are going to play with on a given night can take a toll. It’s probably no coincidence that during January, when the injuries started to pile up, that Kucherov’s production dipped.

Some are looking at this as an indictment to the coaching staff, and in particular Jon Cooper. But for a team the was besieged with injuries and had issues scoring at even strength, there is not much a coach can do but try and shake things around while trying to find combinations that work.

Now, about that second statement.

Bombshell #2 from Kucherov. He told this in interview to @plysenkov from Sovetsky Sport. pic.twitter.com/ySH8i976Ac

— Sergey Demidov (@smdemidov) April 26, 2017

This one has a little more bite to it, but I’ll try to look beyond the surface of some of the words.

First, let’s look at the “They’ve got their money and stopped working’’ comment. I can’t help but think there is a least a tad bit of bitterness inside Kucherov regarding his contract situation. He signed a bridge deal the day before the start of the regular season, a three-year deal worth $4.76 million per season when, based on comparable contracts at the time, he probably was in the $6-6.5 million range on a longer term deal. And, as referenced in the link to the translation above, when he was asked about his contract, he didn’t want to talk about it.

Second, it’s pretty obvious that Kucherov is likely talking about Alex Killorn here. Now, we can’t be 100-percent sure on this front, but it’s not too hard to deduce that Killorn can be the only player to fall in to this category. Of the contracts signed by forwards last off-season, there were only three to sign big money deals – Stamkos, Kucherov and Killorn. There are already glowing words for Stamkos and Kucherov clearly is not referring to himself in the first period. That leaves Killorn, who inked a seven-year deal worth $4.45 million per season. And Killorn, who enjoyed a strong start to the season, faded down the stretch.

Again, some frustration likely coming out that despite not getting the deal he was likely hoping for over the summer, Kucherov didn’t let it affect his play as he went on to have a career year. Probably doesn’t factor in, but Kucherov’s next deal, when he has arbitration rights, will probably be around double what his current deal is. But that won’t happen until July 1, 2018, when he is next eligible to negotiate a new contract.

I also think there is a third element in here, something that has been underlying inside the locker room for some time and that’s the use of Jonathan Drouin. Inside the room, I believe there is a feeling – and I know the fan base feels this way as they’ve shared with me many times – that the players think Drouin is being under utilized. And as mentioned a few paragraphs up, elite players play better when they play with elite players. At times this year, Drouin played in a third-line role. As a rookie he played in a fourth-line role. So, when Kucherov says he didn’t play with Drouin much, particularly when the team was hit with injuries, I’m thinking this is what he means.

Now, from a coaching standpoint, there are a couple of theories in play here. At one point, Drouin and Kucherov were far and above the most offensively talented forwards on the team. A coach can either load up and hope they produce together, or split them up hoping it spreads out the opposing teams matchups and creates more balance within the lines.

But in the end, I think this was a bit of an underlying message when directly mentioning Drouin by name here.

I don’t feel as if there will be any ramifications from Kucherov’s comments. There doesn’t feel like there is any overly damning in his comments. Perhaps Killorn would like to have a conversation with Kucherov, but I don’t see any potential conflicts here. Killorn is probably the first to tell you that he wasn’t at top level down the stretch. Does that have anything to do with his contract? Probably not, but whether fair or not, he will be judged by his contract, even by his own teammates at times.

So, that’s my interpretation of the comments and I’m sure there are varying opinions from many different sources and outlets. Share yours in the comment section below.

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