Player Discussion: Nikita Kucherov

[The Gongshow]

Wonder if Kuch can hit a 40 goal season with a healthy roster next season. He was really starting to get some awesome chemistry playing with Stamkos before the injury.

 

[Sky04]

Wonder if Kuch can hit a 40 goal season with a healthy roster next season. He was really starting to get some awesome chemistry playing with Stamkos before the injury.

If anything hes going to get less goals playing with Stamkos, he has a bad habit of defaulting to him. Prefer Kucherov staying the triplets considering how much theyve been ripping it these past 15 games. Drouin and Stamkos should be fine.

 

[Rschmitz]

I think splitting Stamkos and Kucherov would be the wisest thing we could do

1st unit I would have Drouin, Hedman, Kucherov, Callahan, Killorn so we can execute the one-timer from along the point or across the ice. The priority will be cycling along the point so PK will be forced to defend up high.

2nd unit would have Stamkos, Johnson, Dotchin, Palat and Point with the priority being cycling behind the net. It's too easy to defend Stamkos along the perimeter because everyone expects it. If you can utilize Palat's ability to score from in tight you'll open the whole thing up.

The Sharks in particular run this very effectively. They'll set a triangle formation with one man behind the net making passes out in front. Sometimes they'll rotate around the goaltender until he almost gets dizzy. That person behind the net channels his inner Wayne Gretzky and decides on who to pass to. That in turn gives that shooter a decision to attempt cross ice feed across the slot or he shoots it. Now this particular scheme is a real kick in the balls because we'd have a high handed shot in Dotchin along the blue line so that will always leave the 91-timer as a viable option. It's going to be impossible to defend both Palat AND Stamkos.

The most imperative thing to remember for this double whammy 1-3-1 scheme is to be mindful of handedness. Obviously you want lefty Hedman feeding lefty Kucherov and righty Dotchin feeding righty Stamkos up high. But if you've also got Palat and Drouin (on his off wing no less) put on separate units being fed their chances from behind the net you need someone who is comfortable enough to get a passing angle with a net in the way. Drouin in particular will not be bashful about making a pass into the slot so that pass has to be good. It's not that handedness of the player behind the net doesn't matter, but he's got to be comfortable with the responsibility of feeding a good pass that other player who is on Hedman/Dotchin's backhand. The point man really shouldn't be passing on the back hand to a guy who is gonna take that big shot.

I personally nominate Point for unit 2 to feed Palat because I like the way he passes and Killorn for unit 1 to feed Drouin because I like the way he can win the puck 1 on 1. And Lord knows as soon as Drouin see the puck coming his way he already knows what he's gonna do with it. He's so good at shooting from his off wing that teams aren't gonna know what to do with him.

Who wins faceoffs with your 1st pairing? I prefer keeping the first unit the same over this

 

[MattM92]

I have trouble imagining any combination involving Stamkos being as dangerous as what we have right now. I'm a little worried we're going to move one of those three our of their spot for the sake of Stamkos, and I think that'll be a huge mistake. We have to either find some other place for him or put him on the second unit.

We really do need a 2nd unit with Stamkos and a righty that can get him the puck. Hedman-Kucherov work so well because they're both lefties.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Who wins faceoffs with your 1st pairing? I prefer keeping the first unit the same over this

Yeah, have one unit with a high scoring chance. Look at it this way: If you have a very potent first unit, you'll score a lot in the first 45 seconds of the PP. Which is the goal of a PP (to get the goal).

 

[The Macho King]

Lol at Callahan on the PP. What year is it?

 

[Coopers Gum]

Dude is RED hot. Love it.

 

[Stormbreaker]

 

[LightningStrikes]

33G 38A 71P in 64GP... 40G are still possible (11 games left to score 7 goals).

Prorated to 82 games that's 42G 47A 89P! All that without Stammer... All that on a $4.7M cap hit contract for 2 more seasons...

 

[JoVel]

Definitely hits 40 if he plays full season. Still has a chance to do it though.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

We really do need a 2nd unit with Stamkos and a righty that can get him the puck. Hedman-Kucherov work so well because they're both lefties.

Drouin-Hedman-Kucherov-Killorn-Johnson
Stamkos-Stralman-Point-Erne-Palat

If I ran it.

 

[MattM92]

Always thought he had 40+40 potential, but he might eclipse that when he hits his peak seasons.

 

[Sky04]

Never thought he had the potential to produce 80+, skill is one thing but consistency is another, I've always seen him as a streaky player. Pretty amazing that he's gotten to this level.

 

[JoVel]

Needs 3 goals in 9 games to hit 40. What a year it has been for him.

 

[JoVel]

On a more serious note, I think we should be worried about Kucherov. He smiled for like 10 seconds after that empty net goal. I wonder if something is wrong with him.

 

[DFC]

On a more serious note, I think we should be worried about Kucherov. He smiled for like 10 seconds after that empty net goal. I wonder if something is wrong with him.

Remember that interview where he said he would smile when he was as good as Stamkos?

Stamkos scored 36 last year. So it happened.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Never thought he had the potential to produce 80+, skill is one thing but consistency is another, I've always seen him as a streaky player. Pretty amazing that he's gotten to this level.

Same here. I was predicting something along 30G 65P for this year - with a healthy Stamkos on his line. What a terrific season he's having!


Of course you could argue he's scoring the goals Stamkos would be scoring, at least on the PP.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Kucherov leaves Scott Greenspun of Eclipse Sports Management for a new agent/agency. Dan Milstein also reps fellow Russians Pavel Datsyuk, Artemi Panarin, Nikita Zaitsev, Alexey Marchenko, Nikita Nesterov, and potential top 2017 pick Klim Kostin.

 

[Todd1a]

Kucherov leaves Scott Greenspun of Eclipse Sports Management for a new agent/agency. Dan Milstein also reps fellow Russians Pavel Datsyuk, Artemi Panarin, Nikita Zaitsev, Alexey Marchenko, and Nikita Nesterov

Thank goodness it's not new port sports!!

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Thank goodness it's not new port sports!!

Yeah but in the end everything worked out fine with Stammer. Twice. And now we won't have to deal with them again. ...expect for Palat.

I'm just glad it's not Walsh. With Stephane Veilleux and then Drouin, it's tiring with him trying to smear the Bolts.

 

[The Macho King]

Kucherov leaves Scott Greenspun of Eclipse Sports Management for a new agent/agency. Dan Milstein also reps fellow Russians Pavel Datsyuk, Artemi Panarin, Nikita Zaitsev, Alexey Marchenko, Nikita Nesterov, and potential top 2017 pick Klim Kostin.

Lol he wants a raise.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

If anything hes going to get less goals playing with Stamkos, he has a bad habit of defaulting to him. Prefer Kucherov staying the triplets considering how much theyve been ripping it these past 15 games. Drouin and Stamkos should be fine.

That implies that Cooper would actually play Drouin with Stamkos and not bench him halfway through

 

[FDfranklin]

Kuch "joined" twitter:

https://twitter.com/86Kucherov

No chance that is actually Kuch. Pretty coincidental he joins twitter after signing with a new agent. My money is they have someone running it for him.

 

[JoVel]

I saw that yesterday and I wondered whether it's real or not as well. I don't think it is though.

 

[FDfranklin]

I saw that yesterday and I wondered whether it's real or not as well. I don't think it is though.

I would bet a lot of money that it's not really him.