Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic: Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov will have season-ending hip surgery to repair a torn labrum. The Lightning will put his $9.5 million cap hit on the LTIR.
Kucherov let the Lightning know on December 3rd about his hip issue. Teammates Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde had similar surgeries several years ago.
“Our hope, and it is a realistic hope based on the expected timeline of recovery for this type of surgery, is that he would be ready for the playoffs,” Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois told reporters during a Zoom press conference.