Former Florida Panthers assistant GM Steve Werier joined The Overdrive to discuss offer sheets, revealing the process and the plan the Panthers had in place to offer sheet Nikita Kucherov in 2016.
Nikita Kucherov is a critical figure in the Florida rivalry between the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But what if he was on the opposite side?
Former Panthers assistant GM Steve Werier appeared on The Overdrive, a TSN radio show, to answer questions about Leo Carlsson’s offer sheet and how the process works.
To better explain his point, he reflected on real-life experiences, noting how the Panthers approached offer sheets in 2016.
Werier mentioned that the Panthers made sure to lock up key RFAs before they became offer-sheet eligible, including Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck, and Reilly Smith. With their own business handled, the Panthers planned to offer sheet Kucherov.
Werier spent just one season with the Panthers as the assistant GM, during the 2016-17 season, when Kucherov’s entry-level contract expired.
In the 2016 off-season, Kucherov wasn’t the player he is now, but he was beginning to show signs of it. He was coming off consecutive 60-point seasons and scored 29 and 30 goals. In the playoffs, Kucherov notched 10 goals and 22 points in 26 games during the Lightning’s run to the Stanley Cup final in 2015.
He may not have been the two-time Hart Trophy winner and three-time Art Ross Trophy winner, just yet, but the Panthers clearly noticed something in his development, and they were right to think that way.
In the end, the Panthers did not offer sheet Kucherov and he signed a three-year bridge deal with the Lightning. Kucherov is now considered the best winger in the NHL, and when he calls it a career, he’ll go straight to the Hockey Hall of Fame, owning all the records in Tampa Bay.
It’s fun to take a second to imagine how differently the NHL would have looked if the Panthers had successfully offer-sheeted Kucherov.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. See more of The Hockey News on Google and save us as a preferred source. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
