Tampa Bay Lightning Coach Provides Update on Nikita Kucherov

The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without Nikita Kucherov for the foreseeable future as the winger has gone down with a lower-body injury. Lightning head coach Jon Copper shared while the team doesn't expect it to be season ending, don't expect Kucherov until roughly February.

#tblightning Jon Cooper didn’t have a definitive timeline on Nikita Kucherov, though he did say it won’t be as long as last year’s 56-game absence.
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) October 19, 2021

Mikhail Sergachev said Nikita Kucherov is one of the most mentally tough players he’s been around. Said Kucherov is doing fine, they’re staying positive. “He’s going to get some rest, get ready for the Olympics, for the playoffs. He’ll be fine.” @TBLightning
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) October 19, 2021

It did look like a groin issue based on how the injury occurred and Kucherov's immediate reaction. The Lightning winger was off to a fine start with four points in his first three games and now heads back to the IR where he's all too familiar.

The Nikita Kucherov injury. It looked like a groin issue but we’ll see. Jon Cooper said to not hit the panic button. @TBLightning pic.twitter.com/Gy0DM2U7LB
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) October 17, 2021

The $18 million over the cap jokes were getting old and now we may have some new material.

Photo credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports