Contract or not, RFA Kucherov says he’ll play in World Cup

The future of Canada and the United States' hockey came together for the first time on Labour Day ahead of the World Cup of Hockey tournament, and it quickly became clear what their biggest advantage will be.

Don’t expect Nikita Kucherov to back out of the World Cup of Hockey.

The Tampa Bay Lightning forward is one of a small group of restricted free agents who have yet to sign a new deal (other names include Johnny Gaudreau, Jacob Trouba and Dmitry Orlov, to name a few).

Kucherov told NHL.com that while his contract situation remains up in the air, he won’t miss his chance to play for his country.

“I have a chance to play for Team Russia against the best players in the world and I’m not going to lose it,” Kucherov said on Monday.

Two of his Team Russia teammates who are also RFAs, Orlov and Nikita Nesterov, expressed similar sentiments.

“I think everybody wants to have a contract before the World Cup begins,” Orlov said. “Right now I’m trying not to think too much about that. We’ll see how it goes. Everybody wants to be signed quicker, but right now I’m getting ready for this tournament and we’ll see how it goes.”

Kucherov led the Lightning in points (66) in 2015-16. General manager Steve Yzerman said earlier this off-season that he expects to have the 23-year-old under contract to begin the 2016-17 campaign.

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