Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) kisses the Stanley Cup after the Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5. Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports

Lightning star Nikita Kucherov trolls haters with '$18 million over the cap' t-shirt

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 7/11/21

Nikita Kucherov is having the time of his life after winning his second consecutive Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The 28-year-old recently landed an endorsement deal with Bud Light after a shirtless press conference in which he chugged a couple of beers, called out the Montreal Canadiens fan base and took a shot at Marc-Andre Fleury for winning the Vezina over teammate Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Kucherov is now adding more fuel to the fire by sporting an "$18 million over the cap" t-shirt.

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A post shared by Nikita Kucherov (@nikitakucherov86)

It appears many players will also be sporting the t-shirt during Monday's Stanley Cup parade, according to NHL player agent Dan Milstein.

Stay tuned: official Salary Cap t shirts will be worn during the Stanley Cup Parade on Monday. https://t.co/X0TxXT1SHO
— Dan Milstein-Hockey (@HockeyAgent1) July 10, 2021

The Bolts' decision to wear the t-shirts comes after a countless number of hockey fans blasted Tampa Bay for being $18 million over the salary cap in the playoffs. For the record, the salary cap doesn't count in the postseason, so it was entirely legal for the Lightning to be over the limit.

The franchise was $18 million over the cap because they placed Kucherov on long-term injured reserve after the forward underwent hip surgery. He missed the entire regular season, returning for the playoffs.

Placing Kucherov and his $9.5 million salary for the 2020-21 campaign on injured reserve allowed the Lightning to hold onto key players versus trading them or allowing them to walk in free agency.

While it's all fun and games for the Bolts right now, it'll be a difficult offseason for the franchise as it simply cannot keep its back-to-back Cup-winning team intact due to salary cap limitations.

Barclay Goodrow, Blake Coleman, Gemel Smith, Ross Colton, Alex Barre-Boulet, David Savard, Luke Schenn, Cal Foote and Curtis McElhinney are among the players who need new contracts.

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