Andrei Vasilevskiy’s agent indicates intent to retire with Lightning

After the shocking news that all-world winger Nikita Kucherov has requested a trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning, some paranoid Lightning fans may have wondered it the team’s other Russian star, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, had a mind to follow Kucherov out the door.

Vasilevskiy’s agent, Dan Milstein, has now assuaged those concerns. Milstein appeared on Wednesday’s episode of DFO Insider with Jeff Marek and David Pagnotta, and made it clear that the 32-year-old goaltender is happy in Tampa Bay and wants to retire as a member of the Lightning.

“Andrei is extremely happy. He just, like Nikita Kucherov pre the summer, wishes to finish his career as a Tampa Bay Lightning player,” Milstein stated. “And the goal is to play 1,000 games for the Tampa Bay lightning. And I hope, and I can only hope because it’s obviously not (only) up to us, that Andrei Vasilevskiy finishes his Hall of Fame career with one team.”

Milstein’s comparision between Vasilevskiy’s current mood with Kucherov’s prior to this past offseason is certainly an uneasy one for Lightning fans, and a reminder circumstances can change quickly in the NHL. But for now, at least, Vasilevskiy is intent on remaining in Tampa Bay.

Milstein also clarified that the current friction between Kucherov, who is another of his clients, and the Lightning organization has no effect on the relationship between Vasilevskiy and the organization.

“Sometimes you fight with the person (GM) and then five seconds later, you pick up the phone and you talk about a different client,” Milstein said.

In 11 starts this season, Vasilevskiy has posted a 7-3-1 record with a .879 save percentage and a 2.91 goals-against average.

Selected 19th overall by Tampa Bay in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Vasilevskiy is in his 13th season with the Lightning, having won two Stanley Cups, two Vezina Trophies, and the 2021 Conn Smythe Trophy.

He is in the seventh season of an eight-year, $76 million contract with Tampa Bay.

You can watch the full episode below: