Brayden Point Might Miss Time After Leaving the Lightning's Loss in Winnipeg: What It Means for Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel and Fantasy Rosters

Brayden Point left the Tampa Bay Lightning's 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday in the first period with an undisclosed injury and did not return. Afterward, coach Jon Cooper said afterward, per NHL.com, that he hoped the injury was not serious but that Point might miss some time. The team has not announced a diagnosis or a timeline, and it is unclear whether Point will be available for Wednesday's game at Buffalo.

Point played six shifts and 5:35 before exiting, registering two shots. The timing stings for Tampa Bay: one night earlier he had two assists in a 4-3 overtime comeback win at Minnesota to reach 700 career NHL points, tying Martin St. Louis as the third-fastest player in franchise history to the mark.

Where the Lightning stand

Tampa Bay is 11-4-2 and had not lost in regulation in seven games before Sunday. The Lightning were on the second night of a back-to-back in Winnipeg, fell behind 3-0, then tied the game on a Brandon Hagel goal and two Pontus Holmberg goals 26 seconds apart before Mark Scheifele won it on a 5-on-3 power play with 1.6 seconds left.

Point entered Sunday with 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 17 games, fourth on the team, per NHL.com's status report. The schedule ahead is busy: Wednesday at Buffalo, Thursday at Columbus, then a six-game homestand beginning Saturday against Detroit. Even a short absence could cost him three or four games.

Point's value to this team goes beyond his point total. He ranks second in franchise history with 12 overtime goals, behind only Stamkos, per NHL.com, and he has been part of the core that has carried the Lightning through the noise around Kucherov's request. Saturday's win in Minnesota, Tampa Bay's first multigoal third-period comeback victory since November 2024, came with Point setting up two goals.

There is one piece of good news on the depth chart. Yanni Gourde made his season debut Sunday after missing the first 16 games while recovering from offseason hip surgery, and he won 9 of 17 faceoffs. Tampa Bay now has another natural center available at exactly the moment it needs one.

The Kucherov layer

Any Point injury is also a Nikita Kucherov story. Kucherov has asked to be traded, and general manager Julien BriseBois responded with a statement saying the Lightning have no intention of trading him. Kucherov said publicly on Nov. 2 that the request was about communication and respect rather than money, and his agent, Dan Milstein, has since said it is time for Kucherov to move on. Kucherov is in the final season of an eight-year, $76 million contract and can become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

There has been no reported movement toward a deal in the past 72 hours. Kucherov, meanwhile, keeps producing: he scored the overtime winner on the power play Saturday in Minnesota and added an assist, his 10th career overtime goal, tying St. Louis for third in team history. He had 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in his first 13 games as of Nov. 2 and passed Steven Stamkos as the franchise's all-time leading scorer on Oct. 24.

Point's absence does not change the trade calculus directly, but it raises the stakes. Tampa Bay is less able to absorb losing a top forward right now, which makes a quick resolution less likely and keeps Kucherov firmly in place as the focal point of the attack in the short term.

Fantasy fallout

Point managers: Do not drop him. A player Cooper described as possibly missing some time is not the same as a long-term injured reserve placement, and Point's power-play role returns the moment he does. If your league has an IR slot and the Lightning place him on injured reserve, move him there. Until then, hold and bench him for Wednesday unless he is cleared.

Kucherov: His floor stays high, but his assist rate is the number to watch. Point has long been one of Kucherov's most frequent power-play partners, and a shorthanded top unit tends to trim secondary assists. Keep starting him every night; just temper expectations for multi-point games until Point returns.

Jake Guentzel: Guentzel had two goals and an assist in Saturday's comeback, and he is the forward most likely to absorb top-unit touches if Point sits. He is a confident start, with modest upside to his shot volume.

Hagel and Holmberg: Hagel scored again Sunday and remains a strong multi-category option. Holmberg's two-goal night makes him an interesting short-term pickup in deeper leagues, since a Point absence could push him up the lineup. Gourde is a watch, not an add, until we see where Cooper slots him.

Andrei Vasilevskiy: No change. He made 21 saves Sunday and remains a weekly must-start behind a team that has been finding ways to earn points.

What to do in your league

Hold Point. If you are in a deep league, put in a speculative claim on Holmberg before Wednesday, and keep an eye on Lightning morning-skate line rushes for who centers Kucherov and Guentzel. In daily formats, avoid paying a premium for Kucherov stacks on the road in Buffalo and Columbus until the Point picture clears. For the model's view on Tampa Bay's upcoming games, check the NHL predictions page at /nhl/predictions.

What's next

The Lightning should provide an update on Point before Wednesday's game at Buffalo, and the clearest signal will be whether he is placed on injured reserve, which would keep him out at least seven days from the date of injury. On the Kucherov front, nothing has changed since BriseBois' statement, so any reported trade conversation would be genuinely new. Until then, the takeaway for fantasy managers is simple: hold Point, keep starting Kucherov and Guentzel, and treat Holmberg as the speculative add.