The NHL has one problem already, and it's about to have a far bigger one.

Tampa Bay is about to lose NHL leading scorer Nikita Kucherov to a long (at least for playoff terms) suspension.

They are also about to be eliminated by the eighth-seeded Columbus Blue Jackets.

At 5-1 down in Game Two, Kucherov did this to Columbus' Martis Nutivaara.

Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov will have a hearing tomorrow for Boarding Columbus’ Markus Nutivaara.

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) April 13, 2019

Kucherov was already going to the box for tripping Nutivaara, and then deliberately boarded him on top of it for a game misconduct.

I'd actually have gone Match Penalty: Intent to Injure here.  I'm also trying to see if this is an in-person hearing, which would imply a significant suspension.

Given all the factors, including the state of the series, I'd think this a massive suspension if they could get away with it.

But the NHL has a bigger problem.

You see, the Tampa Bay Lightning were one of the most dominant teams in NHL regular season history this season.

They won the President's Trophy for the most points in the regular season with 128 points and 62 wins.  They had the best record in the league by a full 19 points -- 9 1/2 wins.

And they're probably getting their asses swept.

The NHL is going to run into the same two problems the NBA has -- tanking and "Who cares?" attendance...  And since the NHL is not as ingrained television-contract wise as the NBA, one has to wonder, going forward, what that's going to mean for the league.