Ovechkin's chase, Kucherov's hope and a hundred Kaprizov: what to expect from Russian NHL stars in 2023

Alexander Ovechkin (Washington)

Without a doubt, in 2023 the entire hockey world will be watching how the leader of the “Washington” is trying to get closer to the “eternal” record for goals in the NHL regular season.

If before the start of 2022, Jaromir Jagr and Gordie Howe still loomed in front of Alexander Ovechkin, now only the legendary Wayne Gretzky remains.

True, a Russian is unlikely to be able to eliminate a handicap of 85 goals per year, but it is quite possible to overcome the bar of 850.

In this case, the Canadian risks being left behind as early as 2024.

Over the past ten seasons, the capital’s captain has only fallen below the mark of 40 accurate shots for the championship only three times, and twice he had weighty excuses: ten years ago the tournament was shortened due to a lockout, and in 2020 the coronavirus intervened.

In the foreseeable future, Ovechkin may formalize several other achievements.

Although he is far from the first line in terms of the total number of goals, he can become a leader in winning goals pretty soon.

To get past Jagr (135), he needs to bring success to his team in 12 more meetings.

A nice addition could be the second place in assists among Russians.

If it will be almost impossible to reach Evgeni Malkin, who continues to regularly assist partners, then it will be possible to get around Sergei Fedorov.

Now Ovechkin has 649 passes to his credit, and the former Detroit forward has 47 more.

And if the Capitals star manages to conquer this bar, he will once again prove that many people extremely mistakenly consider him a highly specialized hockey player.

Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay)

Unlike Ovechkin, who plays for the troubled Washington, Nikita Kucherov's main goals are related to winning the Stanley Cup.

Over the past three years, Tampa has consistently reached the finals and won twice, but in 2022 they suffered an insulting defeat from Colorado.

However, the chance to become a team-dynasty still remains.

The leaders of the Lightning are still in the ranks, and the lineup, although it has become less deep, is still strong.

And it is quite enough to get back to the decisive round and write your name in history.

And if Nikita turns on Superman mode and personally helps the team win in five meetings, he will set a club record for the number of winning goals in the NHL playoffs.

At the moment, only Tyler Johnson (nine) and Ondrej Palat (12) are ahead of him.

However, according to the results of the regular season, Kucherov is able to add a couple of lines to his resume.

Yes, it will be extremely difficult to compete for the Art Ross Trophy with the overclocked Connor McDavid, but for the second time in his career, shooting more than 120 points is quite within his power.

This season, Nikita is averaging 1.45 points per game and has no health problems.

And if he continues in the same spirit, he can cope with the goal.

In addition, by the end of 2023, Kucherov can break into the top 10 best assistants in the history of the league among Russians.

It's not easy to make almost 65 assists in a calendar year, but the Tampa striker is quite capable of it.

In this case, he will equal the legendary Igor Larionov (475).

Moreover, he can reach this mark without exchanging 700 matches.

Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota)

So far, everything is going to the fact that the leader of Minnesota will shoot more than 100 points for the regular season for the second year in a row.

In 39 meetings, he has already scored 23 goals and distributed 25 assists - if he avoids a serious decline, he will conquer the three-figure bar.

Let it be less than a year ago, still allow Kaprizov to enter the elite club.

Previously, only three Russians managed to break through a hundred twice during the first three seasons in the overseas league - Alexander Ovechkin, Evgeny Malkin and Pavel Bure.

As for individual awards, the chances of competing for them are slim.

The backlog from Connor McDavid is already almost 20 points, therefore, it will be extremely difficult to hope for the Art Ross Trophy.

As well as winning the Maurice Richard Prize, which is awarded annually to the best scorer in the league.

Nevertheless, for the second year in a row, hitting 45 goals is more than a worthy achievement.

In addition, in 2023, Kaprizov may come close to being the greatest hockey player in the history of the Wild.

By the end of December, the Russian is very likely to overtake Jason Zucker both in goals and points, which will allow him to rise to fourth position in the list of the club's best snipers and ninth among scorers.

At the moment, he is 35 goals and 36 points behind the American.

Artemiy Panarin (Rangers)

It will be much more difficult for a compatriot Kaprizov to become such an important hockey player for the Rangers.

Still, much greater players played for the team from New York than the conditional Zucker, Marian Gaborik and Mikko Koivu, and the club itself is 73 years older.

Nevertheless, by the end of 2023, Artemy Panarin may enter the top 12 in assists, as well as be in the top twenty in points.

The breakthrough can be truly impressive.

At the moment, Panarin is 30th in the assistant rating (212 assists) and only 46th in the scorer (294).

The lag behind Brad Park (283 passes) and Thomas Sandström (380 points) seems to be colossal, but Artemy has every chance to overtake both.

Last season, he assisted partners 74 times and is now on about the same schedule.

And while there are no prerequisites that he will slow down both in the current and next season.

If Panarin manages to push a little, then he will become the second Rangers hockey player in the 21st century to score more than 100 points in a championship.

So far, Jaromir Jagr remains the only one (123 points in the 2005/06 season).

In this case, it will be possible to talk about the club record for the number of assists in the regular season.

So far, the first two lines are occupied by American forward Brian Leach (80) and Russian defender Sergei Zubov, with the help of which the partners managed to score 77 times in the 1993/94 season.

Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh)

The Pittsburgh veteran will have to focus on strengthening his position in the list of the greatest Russian legionnaires in the NHL, because he is unlikely to be able to take a more significant place in the history of Pittsburgh.

Already now he is in the top three in all key indicators, but it is not possible to catch up with Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux.

Evgeni Malkin can only oust Jaromir Jagr from the first place in the club rating in terms of the number of winning goals in the playoffs.

The Russian has 13 such goals, and the legendary Czech has 14.

A much more ambitious goal seems to be the battle for the second line in the list of the best Russian snipers in the league.

It will obviously not be possible to catch up with Ovechkin, and it will not be easy to get around Alexander Mogilny with Sergey Fedorov, but with a successful scenario, Malkin can solve this problem by the end of 2023.

It is separated from the first by 17 goals, and from the second by 27.