That would be a horrible trade for Tampa and there's no way, they would give up Kucherov, one of the best forwards in the NHL, for a good, but old winger in Oshie with a terrible contract and a late first round pick. WSH would have to give up a lot more. Something like Burakovsky, Wilson, Oshie and one or two firsts for Kucherov and let's say Callahan for some cap relief. Sounds like a lot, but Kucherov's trade value is sky high at the moment.

The first rounder doesn't mean that much. Kucherov is cheaper and more importantly better which is why Tampa wouldn't deal

No **** its a bad deal for Tampa, I'm not building a Tampa team.

Yeah. I think Kucherov, with his elite playoff scoring, would be a fantastic clutch addition to help the Caps contend. But so is Oshie. Why give one for the other. Why not Orpik, Wilson, and a 1st? Why not Carlson and Eller? What does Tampa need, besides a famously clutch goal scoring right wing, that might make them think about giving up a core piece they just traded Jonathan Drouin to protect from the expansion draft?

... I don't care about what Tamp needs... I am not building a Tampa team.

Okay... Well... In the last three years, Kucherov, 24 years old, has scored 29, 30, and 40 goals. Oshie, 30, posted 19, 26, and 33. Kucherov also led the lightning on a run to the cup finals, as their top scorer in the playoffs. So if we're ignoring the fact that Tampa doesn't make that trade, and just talking from a Washington Caps perspective, then, yes, even though you're giving up a bit of size, and Kucherov has usually played a second line role, playing against weaker opposition, I think that in order to keep getting younger while staying just as talented, the Caps have to make this trade. They'll miss Oshie, but having three of the top Russians together on one line would be sick.

Presumably, Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, and Orlov could sit down and watch tape together a few times a week, and discuss what they saw in Russian, helping them all learn more about the game, faster. They could also learn set plays and defensive strategies, and call them out to each other on the ice in Russian, which, the more the KHL pulls back homegrown talents, amounts to a bit of a secret code in this year's NHL; only half of the teams in the Eastern conference had a Russian born player skate more than four games last year. There's an opportunity cost to trading that first pick early, and not using it to load up on additional talent at the trade deadline (when they might well be looking for a veteran defenseman, but adding the top scoring Russian player in the NHL to play with the 5th, 6th, and 11th best could improve the other guys' performance, and increase Kucherov's learning curve. I'd love to see them add a Russian-speaking defenseman, and maybe an assistant coach, as well, to mentor a mini national team, but I won't hold my breath.