Player Discussion: Nikita Kucherov - Part 2

[StaySalty]

What are the chances he goes off and owns the islander again this series? I loved this play, was absolutely stunned and so happy.

 

[DFC]

But he's only good in the regular season.

 

[These Are The Days]

But he's only good in the regular season.

Let's shoot the shit for just a minute. With the Avs out of the picture, Kucherov is probably gonna run away with the the playoff scoring race. Pretend a minute we repeat. Kucherov gets the Smythe. Think he's a lock for the HHOF after that?

If that happened he's got to be

 

[DFC]

Let's shoot the shit for just a minute. With the Avs out of the picture, Kucherov is probably gonna run away with the the playoff scoring race. Pretend a minute we repeat. Kucherov gets the Smythe. Think he's a lock for the HHOF after that?

If that happened he's got to be

I think he's a lock right now, even if he never has another major accomplishment. Not so much if he retired tomorrow, but if he phones in the next decade? HOF lock, because he swept the awards one year, put up the most points in a season of his era (so far), and is a known monster in the playoffs.

If he wins a Conn Smyth, we're talking next tier legend.

I think a lot of our players are reaching the age where HOF discussion becomes very realistic, and they're an odds-on favorite to get there. The entire star core is going in, IMO. Kuch, Stamkos, Hedman, Vasy. They all have hardware, and two of them are perennial nominees at their position.

Point is a little bit more iffy because he's unlikely to rack up the same kind of hardware, and he's a little younger so it's tough to tell, but his playoff resume is obviously trending in the right direction.

 

[These Are The Days]

I think he's a lock right now, even if he never has another major accomplishment. Not so much if he retired tomorrow, but if he phones in the next decade? HOF lock, because he swept the awards one year, put up the most points in a season of his era (so far), and is a known monster in the playoffs.

If he wins a Conn Smyth, we're talking next tier legend.

I'm pretty strict on HHOF standards and I would've argued Kucherov was in like "If he does one more big thing he's in" territory. But damn, next tier eh? Like Peter Forsberg level or are you talking higher?

Edit: Any higher we're talking Sakic/Yzerman/Brodeur/Lidstrom/Bourque/Hasek/Roy kind of stuff

 

[DFC]

I'm pretty strict on HHOF standards and I would've argued Kucherov was in like "If he does one more big thing he's in" territory. But damn, next tier eh? Like Peter Forsberg and Jagr level or are you talking higher?

Haha, Well, those two players get ranked all over the board, so I'm not sure. Jagr might be a top-10 player ever, or a top-50. I think a Conn Smyth breaks Kucherov into the top-100, and maybe the top-50. Probably makes him the best player in franchise history, except maybe Hedman, and puts him above guys like Fedorov and Bure all time. More on a tier with Yzerman and Sakic, IMO, assuming he has a decent finish to his career.

I mean, longevity is important for that kind of status, but I think we can already say it would take a catastrophic event to keep him out of the HHOF. I mean, I think very few people who watch him regularly would say he's not one of the best few players they've ever seen.

 

[These Are The Days]

Haha, Well, those two players get ranked all over the board, so I'm not sure. Jagr might be a top-10 player ever, or a top-50. I think a Conn Smyth breaks Kucherov into the top-100, and maybe the top-50. Probably makes him the best player in franchise history, except maybe Hedman, and puts him above guys like Fedorov and Bure all time. More on a tier with Yzerman and Sakic, IMO, assuming he has a decent finish to his career.

I mean, longevity is important for that kind of status, but I think we can already say it would take a catastrophic event to keep him out of the HHOF. I mean, I think very few people who watch him regularly would say he's not one of the best few players they've ever seen.

I'm with you on the longevity because the way Kucherov plays is like.... 90-something% mental. I don't see him not aging well. No mistake, his skillset is ungodly but I feel like his body could start to fail him and he'd still find a way to get (no pun intended) 86 points in a season at the age of 37. Dude's playing on a bum hip and can barely win a board battle to save his life and he's still got 18 points in 11 games. It's lunacy.


And the good news is he'll probably get that longevity too

 

[DFC]

I'm with you on the longevity because the way Kucherov plays is like.... 90-something% mental. I don't see him not aging well. No mistake, his skillset is ungodly but I feel like his body could start to fail him and he'd still find a way to get (no pun intended) 86 points in a season at the age of 37. Dude's playing on a bum hip and can barely win a board battle to save his life and he's still got 18 points in 11 games. It's lunacy.


And the good news is he'll probably get that longevity too

Yeah. He probably will. But I mean, if he adds a Conn Smyth, the hardware speaks for itself. NHL Awards aren't easy to get, and a lot of the guys we think of as legends didn't win as many as we think.

 

[DistantThunderRep]

Kucherov peels back the curtain on a difficult rehab process

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

Kucherov peels back the curtain on a difficult rehab process

After the Lightning defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in the Second Round in five games earlier in the week, the Hurricanes finishing first in the Central Division during the regular season but getting bounced by the third-seeded Bolts, Canes defenseman Dougie Hamilton said his team lost to a Lightning team "$18 million over the cap or whatever they are," clearly salty about Tampa Bay's ability to add a player the caliber of Kucherov for a postseason run.

Which one of you is Bryan?

 

[LightningStrikes]

 

[LightningStrikes]

 

[JoVel]

I remember the good old days when some people said Kucherov was a playoff choker.

 

[These Are The Days]

I remember the good old days when some people said Kucherov was a playoff choker.

Ahem!!








In my defense if he went scoreless in another game 6 and 7 last year and we lost another series it only would've fueled the narrative. Instead he embarrassed me

 

[Byrddog]

This guy is pretty good at hockey.

 

[The Gongshow]

A quiet 3 point night for Kuch

 

[Volodya Krutov]

A quiet 3 point night for Kuch

He's racking up points without being particularly dominant. That's how skilled he is, yes he's likely to age pretty well.

He'll have to bring something more substantial in the game (5v5) to surpass Vasy or even Point as our "playoffs MVP" tho. At least to me.

 

[The Gongshow]

He's racking up points without being particularly dominant. That's how skilled he is, yes he's likely to age pretty well.

He'll have to bring something more substantial in the game (5v5) to surpass Vasy or even Point as our "playoffs MVP" tho. At least to me.

I agree. People are saying Kuch might run away with it due to his points, but Point is scoring the clutch goals and Vasy is making the clutch saves... I know Kuch is helping produce a lot of these goals but idk, I still think its between Point and Vasy right now should we continue to roll on

 

[CupsOverCash]

I agree. People are saying Kuch might run away with it due to his points, but Point is scoring the clutch goals and Vasy is making the clutch saves... I know Kuch is helping produce a lot of these goals but idk, I still think its between Point and Vasy right now should we continue to roll on

I'd be fine with any of those 3.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

I'd be fine with any of those 3.

Sure, we're not even there yet. Far from it.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Sure, we're not even there yet. Far from it.

Yup long way to go before we can really talk about this.

 

[JoVel]

Ahem!!








In my defense if he went scoreless in another game 6 and 7 last year and we lost another series it only would've fueled the narrative. Instead he embarrassed me

I mean yeah, I won't say I didn't give my share of shit to him when he deserved it. Now it just looks dumb though.

 

[DFC]

I agree. People are saying Kuch might run away with it due to his points, but Point is scoring the clutch goals and Vasy is making the clutch saves... I know Kuch is helping produce a lot of these goals but idk, I still think its between Point and Vasy right now should we continue to roll on

The gap in points might be too big.

Both guys are starting to get into the hunt for some pretty historic numbers, which is amazing. I think Kucherov still has the edge by a bit, but both guys have been outstanding. But as great as Point has been this year, I think he might have been even better, overall, last year.

 

[BoltzManConstant]

The gap in points might be too big.

Both guys are starting to get into the hunt for some pretty historic numbers, which is amazing. I think Kucherov still has the edge by a bit, but both guys have been outstanding. But as great as Point has been this year, I think he might have been even better, overall, last year.

I think I agree on all counts.

What's been interesting is how lopsided the two are, Kuch with 22 assists and 5 goals, Point with 13 goals and 5 assists.

At a glance, it feels like Kuch's goal scoring ability is being underutilized. But I really shouldn't question a guy as good as he is who's producing as well as he is -- he's probably optimizing his results, taking into account his injury and what the D is giving him, even if the numbers look weird.

 

[The Gongshow]

You can def tell he's still not 100% but yet he's still lighting it up.

Still makes stupid passes that get my yelling at the TV too!
So happy to have him back