Nikita Kucherov for MVP? 5 numbers that cement his case for Hart Trophy
TAMPA — Now that Nikita Kucherov’s record-setting regular season is complete, his Hart Trophy candidacy can be best put into perspective.
Kucherov captured his second career Art Ross Trophy as he led the league in scoring with 144 points, four more than Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and 12 more than Edmonton’s Connor McDavid. Aside from McDavid’s 153 points last season, no player has scored more points in a season since 1995-96.
There have been some remarkable individual performances this year by some amazing players, adding 69-goal scorer Auston Matthews to the three above. But in considering a player for the Hart Memorial Trophy, one must consider the exact criteria for the award, which goes to the player “adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.”
“All year he has been the straw that stirs the drink for us,” said Lightning center Brayden Point after the Lightning’s 6-4, regular season-ending win over the Maple Leafs in which Kucherov became the fifth player in league history to reach 100 assists. “He drove our team on nights when we didn’t have it. He had it. He carried us to a lot of wins and, again, a remarkable season.”
It will certainly be a close race for the Hart, which is voted on by select members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Here are five more numbers that make the case for “Kuch for MVP.”
49.5
Percentage of team’s goals with a point
Kucherov factored into nearly half of the Lightning’s goals. Among the other Hart candidates, MacKinnon factored into 46.1% of his team’s goals, McDavid 44.9% and Matthews 35.3%. Of those four teams, the Lightning averaged the fewest goals per game, ranking fifth in the league (3.51 goals per game). Colorado, Toronto and Edmonton ranked first, second and fourth, respectively.
106
Primary points
Combining a player’s goal and primary assist totals gives a better glimpse into his role in his team’s scoring. Kucherov either found the back of the net himself, or set up a teammate with his own pass or a rebound or deflection off his shot attempt. Only MacKinnon was close to Kucherov’s 106 primary points, with 101. McDavid matched Kucherov with the most primary assists at 62.
Kucherov is one of just four players this century to record 60 primary assists in a single season. In 2005-06, Joe Thornton had 70 primary assists and 125 points, both league highs, on his way to winning the Hart Trophy. Both McDavid and Leon Draisaitl had 60 primary assists last season.
54
Biggest point disparity between team’s top two scorers
What is dominance? Kucherov’s season point total was 54 points more than the Lightning’s next-highest scorer; Point finished with 90. That’s the largest disparity between any team’s top two scorers in the salary-cap era and the largest in 23 years. Many of the greatest gaps weren’t on great teams. In 2000-01, Pavel Bure’s 92 points were 55 more than Viktor Kozlov’s 37 on a Panthers team that didn’t make the postseason. So, the fact Kucherov has that many more points on a Cup-contending roster that includes four other players with 75 or more points speaks volumes to his value.
23
Three-point games
Kucherov not only had more three-point nights than any other player, his biggest games resulted in Lightning wins. Tampa Bay was 19-2-2 during games in which Kucherov recorded three or more points (.870 point percentage), and he totaled 81 points (56.3% of his season point total) in those 23 games.
Kucherov had more than half of his three-point games (12) during a 35-game stretch from Jan. 9 to April 4 in which the Lightning got their season back on track by going 24-9-2. Kucherov had six more three-point games than MacKinnon and McDavid, and 11 more than Matthews.
3
Players with 40-goal, 100-assist seasons in NHL history
Now for some historical perspective. Kucherov joins two legends, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, as members of the 40/100 club. Gretzky accomplished it 11 times and Lemieux once, with both players reaching the mark in 1988-89, when Gretzky won the Hart.
Gretzky missed out on the Hart just twice when he had a 40/100 season: in 1989-90, when Mark Messier had a career-high 129 points on a dominant Edmonton team; and in 1990-91, when Brett Hull scored 86 goals, the third-highest total in NHL history, trailing only Gretzky in two Hart-winning seasons.
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