Is Nikita Kucherov a Generational Talent? (Based on his NHL Career)

[BB88]

Pretty sure Kucherov has the highest point per game stats since 2015-2016 behind only McDavid

And?

 

[jigglysquishy]

Maybe I shouldn't have phrased it as generational talent.

What I meant to say is that it seems Kucherov is the closest thing to McDavid's Ovechkin.

I think the better response is that no one besides McDavid compares to the quality of Ovechkin 2007-2010.

Crosby and Ovechkin debuting in the same rookie year does not have a historical comparable.

 

[ToDavid]

IMO a generational talent is a guy who has it from day 1. These guys should be competing for league awards as rookies or sophomores at the latest. Guys Like Ovi, Sid, and McDavid were among the best in the league as rookies. McDavid's production as a rookie doesn't look quite as good as those two but you could see he had it and it wasn't surprising that he blew the doors off the next year.

There are other players who will become as good as these types of guys later in their careers, and maybe even challenge them as best in the league over a short stretch, but I don't give them the generational label.

 

[filinski77]

Pretty sure Kucherov has the highest point per game stats since 2015-2016 behind only McDavid

I don't think that being 2nd in points/gp for a ~7 year stretch (where you don't even play close to all the games) classifies someone as generational.

Kucherov is in the clear next tier of players with Kane, Malkin, and soon to be Draisaitl, Matthews etc.

7 year period post-lockout	Point/gp	Goal/gp
Kucherov	2nd To McDavid	5th
Kane	2nd To McDavid	8th
Malkin	2nd to Crosby	3rd

 

[RustyCat]

And this is why we can't have nice things on HF Boards

 

[Master P]

Nope.

Asterick pandemic Cups dont elevate him extra in my mind.

Cringe

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Well, he's only half-way through his career, maybe. Which is to say, if he plays 10 more years and keeps this kind of production up, especially his impressive playoff production, more than doubles all his current career accomplishments to date...

He's still going to represent a "generational" Cap circumvention case anyhow, right?

 

[RussianGuyovich]

stratifying players always ends up subjective, no matter how you try to quantify it, but i do love to come into the kucherov threads and see the whining from fans of teams he hung mad dong on.

 

[pantherbot]

I think the easy answer is, if you have the ask, the answer is no.

 

[jfhabs]

I wouldn't say clearly but you can argue he's second best.

All three of Kucherov, Draisailt, and Matthews can be argued for second best forward in past 5 years. Either all three are generational or none are.

There are not four generational forwards in their prime in the NHL right now.

None are, generational talent means the best out of his generation. McDavid occupies this spot alone so far. Makar might be closer then the other 3 forwards tbh.

 

[OddManRush]

Future HOF’er but falls shorts of generational status.

 

[jfhabs]

IMO a generational talent is a guy who has it from day 1. These guys should be competing for league awards as rookies or sophomores at the latest. Guys Like Ovi, Sid, and McDavid were among the best in the league as rookies. McDavid's production as a rookie doesn't look quite as good as those two but you could see he had it and it wasn't surprising that he blew the doors off the next year.

There are other players who will become as good as these types of guys later in their careers, and maybe even challenge them as best in the league over a short stretch, but I don't give them the generational label.

I think it helped Crosby and Ovechkin that the league was in transition when they entered the league. Going from strong players with a lot of hooking/interference to a lot more speed and skill. But yeah, 48 pts in 45 games is very very good for a first year anyway!

 

[beowulf]

Pretty sure Kucherov has the highest point per game stats since 2015-2016 behind only McDavid

He is barely ahead of Draisaitl, 1.1443 to 1.136 and he has played 80-90 games less than most others on the list so it is hard to make a fulsome comparison. In actual total points during that time period he is 15th.

 

[izzy]

Crosby, Ovechkin and McDavid

those are the generational talents in the nhl

 

[Jumptheshark]

He wasn't a generational talent in the draft (Even though he scored 3 points per game at U18), but I think in regards to how good he has been NHL, I'd say he has basically been a generational talent.

Kucherov since 2017-18: 144G 259A 403P 290GP. 3 All Star Teams, 2 Stanley Cups, 1 MVP.

In this regard, would you say Nikita Kucherov has been a generational talent?
Let's Discuss.

I really truly believe people do not understand the definition of generational talent?!

we have 2 guys in the league that can lay claim to generation talent--both guys hit the league and the rest is history

Kuch has 637 pts in 575
McDavid 726 in 501
Crosby in his first 550 games? 769 pts


Also--for generation talent remove all team accolades

according to some people there are around 6 generational talents playing in the nhl right now

We are getting great talent confused with generation talents

 

[TropicOfNoReturn]

Best pure offensive player in the leage for a ~3 year period.
So, depends how you define a generation.

The term "generational" is so vague, arbitrary, and subjective that this question doesn't actually matter

 

[kevsh]

My own view: I think there's been maybe 8-10 generational players in the league's history.
Orr, Gretzky, Bossy, Hasek, Lemieux, Howe, Crosby, McDavid are at the top of my list. After some debate maybe I'd add one or two.

If you suggest Kucherov belongs in that list I'd argue you'd have to broaden the criteria so that players like Jagr, Yzerman, Messier, Lindros, Coffey, Brett Hull, Brodeur, Robinson, Denis Potvin (among others) get consideration.

I'd rather keep it to the elite of the elite. No doubt Kucherov is great - I picked him in two consecutive playoff pools and he almost single-handedly won me both, so I have some love for the guy - but not in the air of Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Generational gets thrown around too loose like most buzz words now days. He's one of best players in the league and people will remember him that way.

 

[J T Money]

He has generational hockey IQ.

 

[ESH]

What do people think a generation is?

 

[bobholly39]

IMO a generational talent is a guy who has it from day 1. These guys should be competing for league awards as rookies or sophomores at the latest. Guys Like Ovi, Sid, and McDavid were among the best in the league as rookies. McDavid's production as a rookie doesn't look quite as good as those two but you could see he had it and it wasn't surprising that he blew the doors off the next year.

There are other players who will become as good as these types of guys later in their careers, and maybe even challenge them as best in the league over a short stretch, but I don't give them the generational label.

I think thats the most usual route, but not exclusive.

Jagr is a generational talent to me - but it took him ~3-4 years to really hit his stride.

Hasek is a generational goalie/player, and it took him much longer.

True that most generational players are known even ahead of nhl debut (Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, Ovi, McDavid, etc) but i dont think its mandatory.

Kucherov could still end up winning another couple ross/harts over prime mcdavid. If he does - maybe looking back we'll think him as such

Very high bar, but not impossible

 

[Deno]

No.
Great player but not generational.

 

[TheNeutralPresident]

He's whatever the rank below generational is given your preferred name for it.

 

[These Are The Days]

His playoff stats are at least. There aren't many players that you can say that when he has the puck on his stick on the PP that everyone just backs off him like he's Mario Lemieux.

 

[DearDiary]

Generational talent? Let's look at some of his seasons...

18 points in 52 games
65 points in 82 games
66 points in 77 games

Reminder that Ovechkin got thrashed for putting up a 65 point season by this forum and the media, yet we're just supposed to overlook these awful seasons from Kucherov?

No one here actually thinks Kucherov is a generational talent, because they're holding him to far lower standards than the other players they consider to be generational