“Anything is possible nowadays,” Andrei Vasilevskiy said as he discussed what’s going on with Nikita Kucherov and the Tampa Bay Lightning, while also revealing where he stands on his potential contract extension.
The goaltender has one more season after this on his current deal. At that time, he’ll go through a similar process with the Lightning, talking about a monster extension and hoping he can stay with the organization.
Kucherov Doesn’t Want to Leave The Lightning
“I’m not familiar with all the details of what’s going on between the two sides. I understand both parts of that deal and I don’t want to get too much involved. I just hope that at the end of the day they will figure it out and both parties will be happy.”
For Kucherov, being happy means playing somewhere else. He’s told the Lightning he doesn’t intend to re-sign and he’d like to be traded. He’s willing to play out the season, but he’ll test the market as a free agent, likely landing somewhere in the ballpark of $20 million per season.
Vasilevskiy is hoping it doesn’t come to that with the Lightning.
“Obviously my goal is to stay here. If I retire here, in this city, it will be my second biggest accomplishment after the Stanley Cup. Because it’s like, how many goalies played for one team ever? Only a few. That’s definitely one of my biggest accomplishments. It’s my goal for sure to stay with this team.”
“I think it’s just so cool when you’re drafted and you play your full career for one organization,” Vasilevskiy said.
What Does His Next Contract Look Like?
Vasilevskiy seemed to hint that he’d be willing to take a team-friendly deal to stay. That said, he’s got high hopes for what the offer would be. It doesn’t sound like he’ll let the Lightning lowball him, but he also isn’t sure he’s worth the kind of money that would shock people.
“To be honest, I don’t know if I’m worth $25 million, so I think my contract won’t be as high,” Vasilevskiy said, laughing. “I mean, it’d be great if it will.”
Based on GM Julien BriseBois’ history of negotiating contracts, Vasilevskiy has no chance of getting a $25 million-per-season offer. That’s regardless of how much the salary cap increases. The Lightning just don’t give that kind of money to older players on the back nine of their career.
So what is Vasilevskiy worth? That might not matter. The way the Lightning operate is different than other teams. They put out a number, and they force the player to take it or leave it. Steven Stamkos left it. Kucherov is about to. It will be interesting to see if Vasilevskiy is prepared to put his money where his mouth is.
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