Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper is determined to not let Nikita Kucherov's trade request disrupt the locker room.
"I will sit here and tell you nothing has changed in what our goals are this year; just, maybe, the context of how it is going to go about," Cooper said Saturday, according to team reporter Gabby Shirley. "Kuch is 100% a part of this team. He wants to be part of this team for this season, and he is committed to be with the group that loves him and the group he loves."
Kucherov sent shockwaves through the NHL on Friday after reportedly telling the club and his teammates that he won't re-sign in Tampa Bay and wishes to play elsewhere.
Kucherov is eligible for unrestricted free agency July 1. Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said Friday that the club has no interest in trading the reigning NHL MVP.
"Jon Cooper will coach the team the way Jon Cooper has always coached the team, and Kuch is going to play like the superstar he is and the way he has for a decade and a half," the bench boss added. "That is how it is going to continue. All of the rest of it is outside noise, and for Kuch internally, what happens after our season is over, that's Kuch's right. He has earned that right for whatever happens. For us, it probably made the team stronger."
The Lightning drafted Kucherov 58th overall in 2011, and he broke into the league in 2013-14. He's played for Cooper his entire 13-year career and recently became Tampa Bay's all-time points leader.
Kucherov has notched 15 points in 12 games so far this season, helping the Lightning to an 8-3-1 record entering Saturday's meeting with the Nashville Predators.
