Nikita Kucherov would have much rather ground through the season with his Tampa Bay Lightning teammates than sit out all 56 games while recovering from hip surgery. “Missing a whole year, you ask any player, you don’t want to be that guy,” Kucherov said. He now leads all scorers in the postseason as the stacked Lightning try to win back-to-back titles. “We lost to a team that’s $18 million over the cap or whatever they are, unbelievable goalie and all that stuff. There were grumbles then about cap circumvention, and the NHL investigated the Lightning this time.

Source: thestar June 15, 2021 05:48 UTC