Two4Fighting
Registered User
- Oct 17, 2007
- 1,187
- 636
Pending the results of the rest of the playoffs, Kucherov is at least in the conversation of the best player not named McDavid. His level of play and tangible accomplishments over the last handful of seasons up to this point in time speaks to this.
Over the last 5 seasons, he ranks 6th in total points and 2nd in PPG. He missed an entire season (2021) and still ranks that high in points. He has a sizable lead over #3 in PPG (the always underappreciated Marchand).
He won a Hart, Lindsay, and Art Ross. His 128 points in 2018-2019 is the most over the course of a full season since Mario and Jagr of 1995-1996.
Only 6 players in NHL history have more than the 34 points he had in the playoffs last season. Gretzky and Lemieux are the only players ever with more than the 27 assists he dished out.
With 22 points in 13 games so far, he is well on his way to hitting 30 points again. In NHL history, only Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, and Lemieux have reached that mark more than once in the playoffs.
If he leads this team to another Cup, nabs the Conn Smythe, and collects 30+ points again, that's a wrap in my opinion. When someone is doing things that have "only Gretzky, Lemieux, etc" attached to it, it's time to put respect on that name.
The time will have come for him to be universally ranked #2 in the game. What say you?
So, he does not play this whole regular season, then he is ready to play on game number one of the Playoffs, fully rested with no injuries and no bruises from the regular season, and now people should think he is doing fantastic in the playoffs, go figure. if you cheat, you shouldn't get any rewards for bad behavior.