Its not a good argument. When the "weakest" member of a club is Kucherov (a top 3 Russian player all time/top 5 winger) its a VERY exclusive club. Whereas the 70 goal club has some less impressive members in Nicholls, Mogilny, Selanne, Kurri. All great players, but not on the level of 99, 66, 4, 97, or 86.
Good post. I’m glad McDavid got there first, but I don’t really get the arguments that revolve around Kucherov diluting it. He’s clearly a special player and as long as he finishes out the remainder of his career fairly healthy, I think it’s going to be clear just how fantastic of a career he has had.
A second Art Ross win, regardless of how the season played out for McDavid, makes him just the 15th player to win it at least that many times. Ties him with Malkin and Crosby, already more than Ovechkin. Again, regardless of the intricate details and how things could have been different, he won these Art Rosses over McDavid, one of the five greatest players to ever step onto the ice.
The back to back 30+ point playoff runs, something only done by Gretzky and Lemieux.
A key component of why the Lightning have won two Cups, played in three Finals, and have seen enormous success in general. Already 22nd all-time in playoff points
I don’t know if he wins the Hart or Lindsay this year, but he’s right there at minimum. He already has both trophies in his cabinet.
Has his signature career season at age 30, with zero signs of regression cropping up on the horizon. This is no lesser player who stopped competing in scoring races the moment his calendar told him he couldn’t win outside his 20s.
Has three of the top four seasons for assists by a winger all-time. Amongst all wingers, he has three of the top five.
Another strong season in 2024-2025 gets him to 1000 points by the end of it.
This guy is one of the greatest players ever. Pack another 7-8 seasons and pure counting stats will make that obvious, let alone more hardware.
If he also joins the 100 assists club, we’ll likely look back on it as making complete sense, if it already doesn’t.