When most teams lose a player the caliber of Steven Stamkos to injury, it’s a devastating blow and major setback to the season. He had nine goals and 20 points in 17 games before being lost for up to three months with a knee injury, but the Lightning are perhaps better prepared than any team to deal with a loss of this magnitude.
A major reason why: Nikita Kucherov.
The 23-year-old is coming off a 30-goal season and has had back-to-back seasons in the 64-66 point range. So far this year, Kucherov is indicating he hasn’t yet hit his ceiling as he’s been better than a point per game player through 26 games. In 10 games since the Stamkos injury, Kucherov has five goal and eight points.
And he’s getting tremendous praise from the best Russian player currently in the game.
“He’s a tremendously skilled player,” Alex Ovechkin said when the Capitals were in Tampa over the weekend. “He’s got great shot, great vision. He’s going to be one of the greatest players in the history of Russia.”
While Kucherov is off to a great start in his career, if he’s to end up among the best-ever Russians he’s got a long way to go. Although Ovechkin holds the Russian record for goals in the NHL with 537, Sergei Fedorov still holds the points record at 1,179. Only three Russians (Fedorov, Alexander Mogilny and Alex Kovalev) have finished with more than 1,000 points in their careers. Ovechkin is 16 points away from becoming the fourth.
Currently second in league scoring, Kucherov is still not generally thought of among the top 10-15 players in the game by your average fan. But perhaps by the time this season is over, he’ll be front of mind. Heading into the season, Andrew Berkshire placed Kucherov as the sixth-best right winger in the NHL in a ranking that will be updated early in the new year. Would it surprise anyone to see Kucherov enter the top 3?
Who knows, with the pace Kucherov is on, maybe he’ll even take a shot at the Art Ross or Hart Trophy by the end of this season. There’s a long way to go in this season still, but Kucherov’s play is getting noticed by the best in the game.
