Nikita Kucherov is the clear favorite for the Art Ross Trophy

[FiveFourteenSixOne]

Kucherov is just destined to win it..3 points today, all three very very simple assissts that any NHL player could have gotten.

and two secondary on the PP.

 

[EmptyNetAssassin]

Man more NHL players should do that then - weird that they don't.

It must be he is using the Tampa tax loop hole and ltir at the same time.

 

[Regal]

I like using point total plus the player’s +/-.
Kooch is at 141. Mackinnon is at 164. McDavid is at 162. So, even though Kooch is having a great offensive year his total contribution is not as much as the other two.

The problem with that is the teams are wildly different though. Too lazy to run the current numbers, but just a week or two ago, the Bolts had a 43% GF% with Kucherov off the ice and a 51% GF% with him on. The Avs and Oilers were at 61% with MacK and McDavid on the ice respectively, but were 49% and 51% with them off the ice. So all of them were greatly improving the team’s goal differential.

Plus minus also doesn’t include the PP (other than for minuses), and Kucherov is a big part of Tampa having the best PP in the league this year.

I do think the other two are slightly better overall this season with bigger defensive/possession impacts, but Kucherov is probably a bit more valuable relative to his team. It’s really super close imo.

 

[DFC]

and two secondary on the PP.

It's a good thing the rest of the league doesn't cheat like that or we would see 100 point wingers all over the place.

He now has the most assists in history by a winger by six. Not the cap era -- history. Including the 80s. Including all those wingers who played with Gretzky and Lemieux.

 

[Regal]

Rantanen and Draisaitl are also much better than Point so this isn’t exactly fair. Kucherov wouldn’t be outscoring either of them by 50 pts if they were on his team.

I don’t know if Rantanen is that much better than Point really. The biggest difference between them is that the puck runs through Rantanen on the PP more so he gets a lot more PP assists. Both haven’t been as strong as usual this year visually either and have been more reliant on Kuch and MacKinnon respectively

 

[wetcoast]

I don't view it as McDavid simply got better after a poor start. I view it as extenuating circumstances (his injury or whatever it was) fundamentally crippling both his personal and team's performance so severely that most would not recover at all. The weight from this is compounded by the fact that he is in Edmonton of all markets. They lost to the Sharks, the season should have been over by March.

From the lowest possible abyss that any athlete could find themselves in, McDavid was able to dig deeper than anyone else I've seen in recent memory and not only turn the season around, but do so in like 2 months. I wouldn't have been that surprised if they scratched their way in to the final WC spot in the last weeks of the season, but they were almost challenging for the division. They were in a Playoff spot in January. I view that as a monumental ascension rather than a simple turnaround. Remember how stacked the Pacific was with VAN, VGK and LAK at the start of the year? The team that lost to the Sharks cut through that in 2 months on the back of McDavid.

I might be giving McDavid more credit individually than others, but you can't cite them being a 1-2 man team as a flaw but then give the whole team credit when things go well. I understand that Skinner, the defense, the coaching and the team overall improved, but I attribute that to everything falling in place under the leader, driver and best player in the world regaining his fire more so than others it seems.

The Hockey Gods themselves put McDavid and the Oilers in the grave at the start of the year and McDavid found more. I think if he wins this would be a more remarkable Hart than his 100 point bubble year or last year.

We already know that McDavid is trending towards becoming an all time great but this perspective say with a SC this year is how legends are born historically.

The narrative matters but not for the Art Ross.

 

[Firsov99]

and two secondary on the PP.

Amen, brother. Take out those secondary assists and empty net points, and Kuch is just an average player

 

[Regal]

As of right now, the only players to ever hit 100 assists are literally the best three players in history (depending where you rank Howe). McDavid will almost certainly enter that group, and, honestly, I believe he's on that tier.

Kucherov isn't on that tier, but my God, what a season.

I asked on here whether he could get 100 this season a couple weeks ago and at this point I think he does it

 

[Nucker101]

3 more points


All-non empty net related too


This guy is incredible

 

[OurlordAndSaviorKuch]

Another three point game, Kuch is just a machine.

 

[DFC]

I think he's racing the number of pages in this thread.

 

[QJL]

I really thought McDavid would catch him but it’s looking like Kucherov will pull this off landing around 145. Unreal.

 

[Master P]

3 more points


All-non empty net related too


This guy is incredible

And I was so excited to post this today.

 

[wetcoast]

I don’t know if Rantanen is that much better than Point really. The biggest difference between them is that the puck runs through Rantanen on the PP more so he gets a lot more PP assists. Both haven’t been as strong as usual this year visually either and have been more reliant on Kuch and MacKinnon respectively

I haven't watched enough of either player that closely to say one way or another but my first thought was that Kuch supporters are going to point to Rantanen having his best statistical season but at the same time he often gets underrated in every mian board discussion except when used to bolster Mack in his comp to Kuch.

Rantanen is almost certainly going to be a HHOFer and Point probably not due more to injuries than anything else mind you.

 

[Acallabeth]

Kucherov is just destined to win it..3 points today, all three very very simple assissts that any NHL player could have gotten.

He surely makes it look easy and effortless. Lightning quick decision making, perfect execution. What a player.

 

[WalterLundy]

Whether he wins the scoring title or not at this point it doesn’t matter. This season by Kucherov is only clearly topped statistically by 96 Lemieux, 21 and 23 McDavid from the last 30 years. Two others that are virtually the same in terms of production are 96 and 99 Jagr. I would add 2011 Crosby but that would be worth 74 in 41 in 2024 (1.80) and Kucherov’s 136 in 76 (1.79) gets the edge for sample size. He’s peaked higher offensively than everyone from the last 30 other than Lemieux, McDavid and close to Jagr. Absolutely ridiculous and respect to Kucherov. Amazing stuff.

 

[DFC]

I haven't watched enough of either player that closely to say one way or another but my first thought was that Kuch supporters are going to point to Rantanen having his best statistical season but at the same time he often gets underrated in every mian board discussion except when used to bolster Mack in his comp to Kuch.

Rantanen is almost certainly going to be a HHOFer and Point probably not due more to injuries than anything else mind you.

Point's HHOF case is mainly based on his playoff resume, and that could go either way from here on out because it depends on how long TB's window stays open.

Point is an amazing player, and probably my current favorite player, but he didn't really get it going until the TDL. That's true of SO many of our players that I seriously believe there was a directive from management to take it easy (Kucherov is just a different beast where he plays at 1/2 speed most of the time anyway). It's a pretty big coincidence that every major player on the team, other than Kucherov, started looking more like themselves after the TDL. Point, Stamkos, Vasilevskiy, Hedman (in his own end; he's been very good offensively, but very, very "off" on defense until the TDL)

 

[Zalos]

What if Kucherov hits 150 points?!

 

[hamzarocks]

What if Kucherov hits 150 points?!

It would be a better year than 2023 Mcdavid

Unlikely he hits that though

 

[Three On Zero]

Art/Hart front runner by a good margin right now

 

[Mr Kot]

What if Kucherov hits 150 points?!

could be a good argument for 1b to mcdavid. no one comes close tbh.

 

[EmptyNetAssassin]

The problem with that is the teams are wildly different though. Too lazy to run the current numbers, but just a week or two ago, the Bolts had a 43% GF% with Kucherov off the ice and a 51% GF% with him on. The Avs and Oilers were at 61% with MacK and McDavid on the ice respectively, but were 49% and 51% with them off the ice. So all of them were greatly improving the team’s goal differential.

Plus minus also doesn’t include the PP (other than for minuses), and Kucherov is a big part of Tampa having the best PP in the league this year.

I do think the other two are slightly better overall this season with bigger defensive/possession impacts, but Kucherov is probably a bit more valuable relative to his team. It’s really super close imo.

They also play center where it is easier to rack up points. it is more rare for a winger to lead the league in points compared to a center . Kucherov is the only way to carry his team to.back to back cups. If it wasn't for some tea. injuries, an infamous offsides goals allowed by makar, and he wins 3 in a row. They are all great in their own way.

 

[crosbyshow]

He is so smooth and relax on the PP exactly like Mario Lemieux.

Actually he is the best pp player I have seen after Mario.

On the PP and on his zone entrances..he is relax like he was in his living room

 

[Stammertime91]

3 more points


All-non empty net related too


This guy is incredible

3x East Coast bias multiplier activated though

 

[Three On Zero]

could be a good argument for 1b to mcdavid. no one comes close tbh.

That’d make McDavid the 1b this season. Potentially 1c behind MacKinnon