Nikita Kucherov can easily be called one of the main heroes of this season. While his team is not going through the best period and for the first time in several years is not considered among the main contenders for the Stanley Cup, the Russian striker is stubbornly dragging it to the top. And now he not only demonstrates the highest performance in his career, but also often performs things on the ice that make him considered one of the most intelligent hockey players in the history of the NHL. Excellent vision of the court, a subtle sense of passing and a devastating one-touch shot - this is what characterizes the game of the Tampa Bay leader in this regular season. And despite everything, he continues to be underestimated overseas.
Over the past couple of weeks, a number of North American publications have published their rankings of the top contenders for the NHL's Most Valuable Player of the Season award. The well-known portal Sportsnet and journalists from the league’s official website did this within a day, and a day earlier TSN put forward its version, which at the end of the month also presented a ranking of the best athletes. And at the top of them all was Nathan MacKinnon, who not only ranks second in the scoring race with 84 (31 + 53) points, but helps Colorado fight for the President's Cup. Now the Avalanche are in third position in the summary table, behind only Boston and Vancouver.
And in this regard, Kucherov really cannot compete with MacKinnon. In terms of team achievements, Tampa looks much less impressive and is only fifth in the East. But there are objective reasons for this. Among them are the poor form of Andrei Vasilevskiy, who only returned to the ice after an injury at the end of November, the gradual decline in the level of play of veteran Steven Stamkos, as well as the lack of both progress on the part of big-contract signees Mikhail Sergachev and Anthony Cirelli, and a lack of roster depth. If just a few years ago the Lightning were almost the strongest in selecting performers, now they cannot boast of this. Florida has been without Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Ryan McDonagh for a long time, and three more veterans left it in the summer - Patrick Maroon, Alex Killorn and Corey Perry.
And all this could not but affect the results. The Lightning were forced to spend the first months with goalkeeper Jonas Johansson, who had virtually no NHL experience, and lost 11 of 20 meetings. And if not for the omnipresent Kucherov, they could have conceded even more. But he immediately began to work wonders on the ice and during this period alone he scored 29 points, and at the end of the month, for the first time in his career, he scored six (2 + 4) points in the confrontation with Carolina, thanks to which he was recognized as the first star of the last week November, and the month as a whole.
And after that, Kucherov did not slow down. He earned three points each in matches with Seattle, Edmonton, Vegas, Boston, Anaheim, Minnesota and Arizona, and scored a hat-trick and an assist in a meeting with Philadelphia. He also received the award of the first star of the week twice more - first in December, and then in January. As a result, he was included in the list of honors four times - only Florida forward Sam Rinehart can boast of this. But if Nikita always topped the rating (once for a month, three for a week), then the Canadian impressed only in short periods. And even then he was at the top only twice, and finished in the top three the same number of times.
MacKinnon was named Player of the Month twice, in December and January, but it's hard to say he's generally superior. What can we say about McDavid, who has first and second places based on the results of two seven-day periods. It is all the more surprising that he is ranked higher than Kucherov in the list of the best hockey players according to TSN. Although the Canadian failed to start the regular season, and even now he clearly does not reach his cosmic level in terms of productivity.
The same cannot be said about Kucherov, who clearly exceeds the expectations of experts. Before the beginning of the year, the same Canadian portal put him only in eighth place in the list of the strongest, but now he is already ranked at the level of third number. At the same time, TSN gave him third position in the race for the Hart Trophy, placing him above not only MacKinnon, who was favored by the press, but also Quinn Hughes. And although it is impossible not to admire the speed of the Vancouver defender, he still remains, albeit the most important, part of a very bright team. The same JT Miller and Elias Pettersson are among the top eight scorers in the NHL. Nikita can only dream of such partners. For comparison, Brayden Point is 16th and Victor Hedman is 26th.
By the way, MacKinnon can also boast of a stronger environment. So, on the same line with him is Mikko Rantanen, who shares sixth position with Artemy Panarin in the table in terms of goals + passes, and the star Cale Makar, the second most productive defender in the league after Hughes, plays in defense. And Valery Nichushkin, who performed as a striker, could well have been in the top 30 if he had not been forced to turn to the player assistance program.
And this is, perhaps, the strongest side of Kucherov, who is not only able to create next to his star teammates, but also to make better obviously less high-class masters. You can remember how at one time Vladislav Namestnikov and the same Chamber flourished next to him. It was in one combination with Nikita that the Czech spent the best period of his career, and in the playoffs he generally turned into the Lightning’s lifesaver. Needless to say, after moving to New Jersey, Ondrej noticeably slowed down.
And over the years, Kucherov’s influence on the Tampa Bay game has only grown. This season, 61% (107 out of 174) of the team’s total goals were scored while the Russian was on the ice. While in the previous three years (missing the 2020/21 championship does not count), this figure did not rise above 52%. He had an even greater influence on the team’s success only once - in the record-breaking 2018/19 championship, when he scored 128 points and set a record for productivity among Russians in the NHL. But now he is quite capable of beating him. After all, if he doesn’t slow down, he might aim for 136.
Yes, in this regard, MacKinnon also looks quite impressive and takes part in the vast majority of Colorado’s goals. But although the Avalanche scored as many as 117 times under him, the Canadian himself is inferior to the Russian both in the number of accurate shots and points. Consequently, although a little, it participates less often in the final stages of the attack.
One way or another, it is impossible to deliberately name a favorite in the fight for the Hart Trophy, because Kucherov and MacKinnon really deserve each other. Both are having an impressive championship, but at the same time they are radically different from each other. While one is an intelligent and incredibly resourceful athlete, the other is a phenomenal athlete, impressing with both his physical ability and zeal. But if we go by the opinion of the Western media, in order to still take the trophy, Nikita will have to do something fantastic in the final part of the regular season. And although now the overwhelming number of experts are betting on his competitor, there is no point in writing the Russian off.