According to reports from the NHL's top insider Elliotte Friedman, Tampa Bay Lightning's forward Nikita Kucherov has requested a trade from the organization. Along with that news also came the news that he has no intention to re-sign with the club, therefore meaning that he will test the open market this summer, as he is an unrestricted free agent.
This news shocked the entire hockey world, as you'd expect. Kucherov just recently became the Lightning's all-time point leader, passing Steven Stamkos with 1,138. And now he wants out of the organization and would welcome the opportunity to play with star players. Which is where the Philadelphia Flyers come into play; although they are playing terribly, there is a silver lining: they have up-and-coming star players. One of whom is a fellow countryman of the Kucherov's and could be the perfect line mate for him.
Pairing Kucherov & Michkov makes a ton of sense
Of course, the player that is being referred to is Matvei Michkov, who has spent the majority of his career being the organization's whipping boy. Rather than just simply remembering that he wanted to be drafted by the Flyers and made that clear during his draft interviews. The coaching staff has consistently made sure that the fan base and media know that they aren't always thrilled with him.
Nevertheless, the Flyers want to see a drastic change within Michkov's game. They should look no further than Kucherov. His resume speaks for itself; he is a Stanley Cup winner, has had multiple 100+ point seasons, and is widely considered to be the second-best passer in the entire NHL.
If they were to acquire Kucherov, it would bring new life to Michkov's game. He would likely be able to score 20 more goals per season and also start to feel more comfortable about his game at the NHL level. Obviously, the asking price is going to be significant, and some teams may decide to back out of the runner because of it.
But for the Flyers, they have high-end players and prospects as well as draft picks that they could part with to land Kucherov, and there shouldn't be any debate about it. They are in desperate need for a player like him to take some pressure off the other young top players like Porter Martone.
Unfortunately, as mentioned before, there are reports that suggest that Kucherov wants to play with contending teams that have star players. That said, he also only has a 10-team no-trade clause, so if the Flyers aren't on that list, they should be pushing hard to land him.
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