Tampa Bay Lightning star right winger Nikita Kucherov is one of three finalists for the Hart Trophy, underscoring his excellent regular-season performance this year.
But after the Lightning were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Florida Panthers Wednesday night, Kucherov’s output does not compare well to his regular-season showings.
For years now, Kucherov has produced a tremendous amount of offense. In the past three regular seasons, he’s generated a combined 267 assists and 378 points. He won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s best point-producer in the past two years and he recorded at least 30 goals each time. This season alone, he had 1.55 points per game. You can’t deny him his due respect as a needle-mover.
However, the playoffs are a different story for Kucherov since winning the Stanley Cup back-to-back and losing in the final the year afterward.
In the past three playoffs, where the Lightning have won a combined four games in three playoff rounds, Kucherov has only one goal.
The 31-year-old Russian has put up 17 points in 16 playoff games in the past three years, which is still quite a drop from his regular-season rates, but posting just a single goal in that span is a problem.
Can you imagine the outcry that would be taking place if Kucherov were a Toronto Maple Leaf, and he only posted one goal in three playoff years when his team loses in the first round? Leafs fans and media would be tearing him apart.
Even if you give Kucherov a bit of a break for earning only $9.5 million per season, that’s still a lot of money you’re giving to a player who has put up a combined 111 goals in the past three regular seasons but can’t make it translate into playoff success.
It would be one thing if the Lightning scored bucket-loads of goals this spring, and Kucherov was responsible for creating that offense as a playmaker extraordinaire. But against the Panthers, Tampa Bay managed only seven goals in its four losses.
Now, Kucherov told reporters on Friday that he suffered a left hand extensor injury on Feb. 25, and that he did not want to miss any games.
“The trainers did a hell of a job getting me to games, and we go through some hard time,s but it is what it is,” Kucherov said. “Guys are playing with a bunch of bruises and something else, but I just wanted to play hockey and enjoy the moment and be with the guys.”
For an injured player, 11 goals and a league-leading 36 points in 24 games since Feb. 25 is very impressive. But he also proved he can still play and produce at an elite level, which means those expectations remain in the playoffs.
And to Kucherov’s credit, he has been a strong playoff performer throughout his career. He has 53 goals and 118 assists for 171 points in 152 career playoff games. He had 34 points in 25 games in 2019-20 en route to the Stanley Cup, 32 points in 23 games to defend the title and 27 points in 23 games when they just missed out on the three-peat. He had seven or eight goals in each of those years.
As one of the world’s best players, Kucherov deserves credit for what he’s been able to do in the regular season and in past post-seasons. But he shouldn’t be protected from criticism.
Athough he deserves to be in the mix for the Hart Trophy as one of the NHL’s most valuable regular-season performers, a fair estimation of his playoff production indicates that he’s been nowhere near as dynamic when the games matter most from 2022-23 to now.
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