The Tampa Bay Lightning are working their way through the Nikita Kucherov trade situation. Kucherov has requested a trade away from Tampa Bay amid a breakdown in contract negotiations. The Lightning insist they don't want to trade him, but things are still fluid.

On Monday, Tampa forward Brandon Hagel reacted to this situation. He didn't badmouth Kucherov, and in fact, showed a lot of understanding for his situation. But he did throw in a bit of a jab toward a division rival who also requested a trade from his team.

“(Kucherov) loves the city. He's done everything he possibly could for the city. It's not like he committed here for eight years and asked out, two years into it. This is a different situation,” Hagel said, via Eduardo A. Encina of The Tampa Bay Times.

This is a not-so-subtle jab at former Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin. Larkin signed an eight-year contract with Detroit back in March 2023. He requested a trade over the summer, but remains under contract with Detroit. The Red Wings recently suspended Larkin after he refused to play another game with the team.

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As Hagel alluded to, the Kucherov situation is much different. The veteran winger is a free agent next summer. He wanted to negotiate a new contract with the Lightning. However, things did not go the way he wanted, and it appears his days in Tampa Bay are coming to an end.

Hagel, Kucherov, and the Lightning will take the ice again on Tuesday night against the Larkin-less Red Wings in Tampa Bay.