[News] Kucherov out for the regular season

[sureLoss]

News Update

Joe Smith
@JoeSmithTB
BREAKING: #tblightning GM Julien BriseBois said Nikita Kucherov will have hip surgery and he will not play during regular season

Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC
TB's cap issues may be solved by LTIR. There is word Nikita Kucherov is battling an injury that may keep him out awhile. No comment from team/agent, so details are sketchy -- but clarity expected this week. If unable to play (unfortunately), it will clear room for the Lightning.


Pierre LeBrun @PierreVLeBrun
Told that Kucherov got a hip shot last week. Now apparently it's about seeing how he reacts to it and feels. If he's fine, then it's all good. But if he feels discomfort? Could be LTIR. We shall see.

[MrMike]

What a coincidence. Probably be just fine in time for the playoffs or as soon as they make a trade.

[CaptainCrunch]

Unrelated, I was watching Sportsnet this morning and was wondering if Elliotte was sick, he looked really thin and drawn.

[Mitch]

Originally Posted by MrMike

What a coincidence. Probably be just fine in time for the playoffs or as soon as they make a trade.

I truly doubt that if TB was trying to circumvent the cap, they would sacrifice their best player.

[Matata]

What's a "hip shot"?

[Burning Beard]

Originally Posted by Matata

What's a "hip shot"?

Cortisone I'd wager.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by Matata

What's a "hip shot"?

A shot into one's hip.
Often Cortisone. Used to reduce inflammation.

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by IamNotKenKing

A shot into one's hip.
Often Cortisone. Used to reduce inflammation.

Pretty much. Can be in the knee, hip, elbow. others, for joint and tendon injuries.

[Scroopy Noopers]

I feel like there is a sea between ‘possibly out long term’ and ‘a shot of cortisone took care of it’.

[VilleN]

Originally Posted by MrMike

What a coincidence. Probably be just fine in time for the playoffs or as soon as they make a trade.

I was going to post something like that sarcastically. Do you honestly believe TB wants Kucherov out?? Do you think Kucherov wants to take a year off during his prime?

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by VilleN

I was going to post something like that sarcastically. Do you honestly believe TB wants Kucherov out?? Do you think Kucherov wants to take a year off during his prime?

“In time for playoffs” like he’s 40 year old Justin Williams. He’s 27.

[Ruttiger]

Originally Posted by MrMike

What a coincidence. Probably be just fine in time for the playoffs or as soon as they make a trade.

Of course. Tampa is playing chess while everyone else plays checkers - sidelining a top 10 player in the world is truly inspired thinking.

[neo45]

Originally Posted by Ruttiger

Of course. Tampa is playing chess while everyone else plays checkers - sidelining a top 10 player in the world is truly inspired thinking.

Tampa is good enough that they’ll be in the same spot standings wise with or without Kucherov

Then he comes back for playoffs well rested. The player may not be all that interested in dealing with a grueling COVID season if he is banged up and just won a cup

Better to lose a great player short term than a different core piece forever. The timing on this announcement is a suspect to say the least.

One of the best players in the league is out long term and we hear about it just before teams have to become cap compliant? Maybe I’m missing something there but that’s a red flag

[neo45]

I’m also no doctor but it’s fishy to me that the options seem to be “he’s fine” or “he’s on the Long Term Injured reserve” depending on what happens with a hip injection

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by neo45

Tampa is good enough that they’ll be in the same spot standings wise with or without Kucherov

Then he comes back for playoffs well rested. The player may not be all that interested in dealing with a grueling COVID season if he is banged up and just won a cup

Better to lose a great player short term than a different core piece forever. The timing on this announcement is a suspect to say the least.

One of the best players in the league is out long term and we hear about it just before teams have to become cap compliant? Maybe I’m missing something there but that’s a red flag

I think he had a nagging hip injury for a while. Right now is just a good time to take care of it(because of the cap). It's hard to judge the pain level a person is in, and how much he can endure due to his competitive nature. I think that most likely the issue was well known for a while... The lightning could've waited for another injury to sideline Kucherov in order to explore surgery as an option.

It can also simply be a negotiation tactic, as I am sure a lot of the GM's with cap space would love to take advantage of the Lightning's cap situation.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by neo45

I’m also no doctor but it’s fishy to me that the options seem to be “he’s fine” or “he’s on the Long Term Injured reserve” depending on what happens with a hip injection

I would guess that, regardless, he will need some type of surgery to repair his hip. That means long recovery and rehabilitation. A cortisone shot can do wonders, and can be the difference between unrelenting pain/disability and keeping on trucking. It's a shorter term band-aid measure as it does wear off, but for a shortened season it's worth the shot (pardon the pun). Take care of the surgery in the off-season and maybe miss a month or two of next season.

If it doesn't take and make a difference it's probably straight to the surgery route and out long-term.

[jlh2640]

Wow. How convenient. Maybe Tyler Johnson needs to see a skin specialist also or something eh

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Ruttiger

Of course. Tampa is playing chess while everyone else plays checkers - sidelining a top 10 player in the world is truly inspired thinking.

You see why conspiracy theories catch on so easily.

"Sure the costs of this severely outweigh the benefits, BUT ISN'T IT A COINCIDENCE THERE ARE BENEFITS?"

[Locke]

Originally Posted by neo45

I’m also no doctor but it’s fishy to me that the options seem to be “he’s fine” or “he’s on the Long Term Injured reserve” depending on what happens with a hip injection

Well, yeah but it depends.

I had to get an injection in my shoulder, for some people and conditions its basically magic and for others it does nothing and then you have to proceed to more serious options, surgery, etc.

So I kind of get it. He might get the injection and be totally fine in a couple of weeks. Or not.

Either way, they're not in our division. The real travesty here is that we wont get a healing Documentary out of it like we got with McDavid. Maybe if he has to go and rehab in Russia the Kremlin can help us out with some first-rate Propaganda?

[Ped]

I mean, it's right in the article that IF the shot doesn't work, he will consider surgery.