Nikita Kucherov is the clear favorite for the Art Ross Trophy

[Montreal Shadow]

Kucherov probably running away with the Art Ross. McDavid only has two games in hand to make up for that 8pts difference.

 

[DFC]

Kucherov probably running away with the Art Ross. McDavid only has two games in hand to make up for that 8pts difference.

I don't think anything is a given with the caliber of players involved. I mean, anybody else in the league, and that 8 points feels like too much. But it's McDavid, and, if I'm not mistaken, he's playing Arizona in there somewhere.

A good center has an easy chance to get secondary assist or primary assist off a facebook that a winger doesn't have nearly the likelyhood to get a point off a face win turned into a goal. Good Centers also tend to be in the areas with the puck is more involed just because they are more involved in the defense, breaking out of the zone, and transition game in the neutral zone. I think it is a little of there are better skaters playing center and they are more guys that are better at scoring goals playing wing than center.

Everybody on our team has learned to find Kucherov when he's on the ice and let him handle the decisions. You can see them deferring to him, sometimes stupidly.

Point handles zone entries, and then they let Kucherov figure out the play like a puzzle. That's basically our PP.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Everybody on our team has learned to find Kucherov when he's on the ice and let him handle the decisions. You can see them deferring to him, sometimes stupidly.

Point handles zone entries, and then they let Kucherov figure out the play like a puzzle. That's basically our PP.

I envy your PP. The Pens would be comfortably in a playoff spot and maybe even battling for top two in the division right now if their PP was as efficient as the Lightning's.

 

[EmptyNetAssassin]

93 assists. I think he can hit 100 by season's end.

He is getting it.

 

[thethirdhockeyman91]

Crosby deserves it if the penguins make playoffs. Dude has carried that team in his back

 

[Sky04]

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

Points size is really starting to show given how much faster the league has gotten in recent years. If his speed dips even a little bit he'll be in trouble. Rantanen feels like he'll always be more consistent given his size. Point is very reliant on Kucherov opening up space for him.

 

[John Mandalorian]

If you don’t have Stamkos as a first-ballot Hall of Famer then you clearly know nothing about hockey. The guy was beating prime Ovi for Rockets before breaking his leg and is still the #2 goal scorer in the league over the course of his career - his first-ballot HoF credentials were in no doubt even before he captained the most dominant team of the cap era to back-to-back championships. He’s fallen off hard and is little more than a power play specialist at this point, but that certainly doesn’t take away from his career accomplishments - a nuance you obviously either didn’t consider or are trying to ignore in a futile effort to bolster your argument.

The same is true of Hedman and Vasy. Hedman isn’t the player he once was (especially defensively) and Vasy is only now returning to form following surgery, but I don’t think anyone with any hockey knowledge whatsoever would argue that those guys aren’t first-ballot Hall of Famers. Again, their abilities now and their career accomplishments are two completely different things, no matter how hard you try to conflate them.

Point realistically is on the outside looking in when it comes to the Hall. He’s an excellent regular season player (arguably the best two-way center in the league for much of his career) who transforms into an all-time great playoff performer, and had he not been injured the last two postseasons he might well have made the Hall on the strength of his playoff resume alone, but as it stands his historic performance in back-to-back Cup runs aren’t quite enough in my opinion to overcome a regular season resume that puts him in the Hall of Very Good. His career obviously isn’t over and there’s still a chance he gets there by the time he’s done, but I don’t think many would say he’s a Hall of Famer at this point, and I very much doubt anybody would argue that he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Nice attempt at a strawman argument though.

Not reading all of that. Also not reading the About The Author section in the back of the book.

Thanks for the post that, if it were a movie, would require an intermission.

Haven't read a literary work that long since I read The Prize by Daniel Yergin.

 

[DFC]

He is getting it.

we will pay the refs and THEN the other coaches to pull their goalies early. 25 EN points, here he comes.

 

[Sky04]

Scorers 2-5 on Tampa: 298 total points
Colorado: 292
Edmonton: 313

Not sure why everyone tries to focus on #2 only. You get 5 guys on the ice at a time.

Do you pretend like these guys play on thr same line all the time more something as opposed the the 2 top scorers usually? The logic kinda goes over your head.

 

[AndreRoy]

Longevity will be key for Point. If he hits the usual markers (1000 points, for instance), he will probably get in, but not on the first ballot. If he gets to like 1200+, and continues to elevate his game in the playoffs for a few more years, he might turn into a first ballot guy.

He's an interesting case. While Kucherov is by far our best regular season player, in the playoffs it's pretty hard to choose between the two. Point starts playing defense again, and was just a monster of a goal-scorer in both cup runs. When comparing the two in the playoffs, it also probably depends how much you hold Point's injuries against him. His playoff style turns into one that is a lot more injury prone than we see in the regular season, which is part of "elevating his game."

Yeah, Point if he can stay healthy might accumulate the numbers to get in eventually. But unfortunately I think playing his career in Tampa will hurt him.

Had he done everything he’s done over the course of his career thus far for Toronto or Montreal they’d be naming streets after him, and even a high-profile non-Southern team like Pittsburgh, Boston, or Chicago would see him getting the recognition he deserves. But despite the monster playoff performances, the dominant two-way game, all the clutch game-winning goals, etc., he’s still overlooked in favor of McD/MacK/Matthews due to their playing on hockey establishment-approved teams and putting up bigger regular season offensive numbers. You have to actually watch Point play to realize how much he does on both ends of the ice that doesn’t end up on a stat sheet but changes the course of a game. And unfortunately having played his career in Tampa it’s doubtful that many HoF voters will have done so on a regular basis. Throw in the anti-Southern team bias and I don’t see him getting in unless he checks all the boxes with his regular season scoring numbers.

 

[AndreRoy]

Not reading all of that. Also not reading the About The Author section in the back of the book.

Thanks for the post that, if it were a movie, would require an intermission.

Haven't read a literary work that long since I read The Prize by Daniel Yergin.

I’m sorry I exceeded your mental capacity with three whole paragraphs. Next time I’ll write my post in crayon and be sure to use small words for your comfort.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I’m sorry I exceeded your mental capacity. Next time I’ll write my post in crayon and be sure to use small words for you.

Knew that was coming. Thats why I mentioned The Prize. Have you ever read this book? For someone linking refusing to read to mental capacity, you're certainly doing a good job of being bad at reading.

The post you're replying to was at least somewhat succinct. Yet you still struggled.

 

[DFC]

I envy your PP. The Pens would be comfortably in a playoff spot and maybe even battling for top two in the division right now if their PP was as efficient as the Lightning's.

Our special teams combined are the best in the league, if I'm not mistaken. Which we have needed, because ES we have been dismal. I think they mentioned -21 5v5 in today's broadcast.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Crosby deserves it if the penguins make playoffs. Dude has carried that team in his back

That will probably hurt.

 

[AndreRoy]

Knew that was coming. Thats why I mentioned The Prize. Have you ever read this book? For someone linking refusing to read to mental capacity, you're certainly doing a good job of being bad at reading.

The post you're replying to was at least somewhat succinct. Yet you still struggled.

So you’re saying you’re perfectly capable of reading, but that rather than either reading a simple three-paragraph post and replying to it, or simply ignoring the post and going on about your day, you chose to spend your time mocking its length and ignoring the argument within. And you think this behavior merits a serious response from me, rather than a laughing dismissal of the value of your posts and indeed, of you as a person entirely?

I’ve seen enough of you to know that there is no value in my seeing any more. Goodbye sir.

 

[bolobow]

Kucherov should have this locked up.

Oilers have 5 games in their last 7 days of the season with only 1 day off before playoffs, so I expect some load management for all the core Oilers.

 

[Phil Kessels Hot Dog]

Crosby deserves it if the penguins make playoffs. Dude has carried that team in his back

That's not really how the Art Ross works though

 

[Calderon]

Kucherov should have this locked up.

Oilers have 5 games in their last 7 days of the season with only 1 day off before playoffs, so I expect some load management for all the core Oilers.

With that packed of a schedule I think Kucherov is going to win AR with very high certainty. It won't make sense for McDavid to keep trying to get it and he's at a disadvantage due to the tie break anyway. MacKinnon is doing his best but Kuch has been a machine down the stretch and we don't know if Rantanen will be back next game which isn't good for Mack either. Kucherov has really put up a clinic, remarkable how he's answered after McDavid dug himself up for the lead for a hot minute.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Kucherov should have this locked up.

Oilers have 5 games in their last 7 days of the season with only 1 day off before playoffs, so I expect some load management for all the core Oilers.

I'd be shocked if the Oilers sit McDavid if he's anywhere close to the Art Ross race.

 

[Regal]

Points size is really starting to show given how much faster the league has gotten in recent years. If his speed dips even a little bit he'll be in trouble. Rantanen feels like he'll always be more consistent given his size. Point is very reliant on Kucherov opening up space for him.

Fair enough. I would say Rantanen is the more naturally/physically talented player which tends to lend itself to a longer/more consistent prime.

 

[tucker3434]

Do you pretend like these guys play on thr same line all the time more something as opposed the the 2 top scorers usually? The logic kinda goes over your head.

I was responding to the dude that made a big deal about the Lightning’s #2 being so far behind #1 before the threads got merged. It’s a disingenuous argument for the exact reason I posted.

 

[mkatcherin00]

Kucherov probably running away with the Art Ross. McDavid only has two games in hand to make up for that 8pts difference.

The PP time doesn't help McDavid and he was injured for weeks. He looked like a 3rd liner for the first 15sh games or so. He was terrible.

Kuch has about an hour more Pp time and Mack has about 100 min more PP time. EDM doesn't get many PP's, but Tampa doesn't either. Knob really doesn't keep 97 out there for 2 min like Woodcroft used to

Props to Kucherov. He also has like 93 assists. Something that is never talked about. That's only 4 less than McDavid

 

[DFC]

The PP time doesn't help McDavid and he was injured for weeks. He looked like a 3rd liner for the first 15sh games or so. He was terrible.

Kuch has about an hour more Pp time and Mack has about 100 min more PP time. EDM doesn't get many PP's, but Tampa doesn't either. Knob really doesn't keep 97 out there for 2 min like Woodcroft used to

Props to Kucherov. He also has like 93 assists. Something that is never talked about. That's only 4 less than McDavid

The assists have gained attention in the past week because it's an all time record for wingers. He's broken it by 6, and still has 5 games to add more.

100 is within reach. Might be unlikely, but could also happen in two games the way Kucherov has been going. All three of them have been amazing.

I mean, Matthews might score 70 goals and not be nominated for the Hart, because 3 guys have 140 points.

 

[hamzarocks]

Yeah, Point if he can stay healthy might accumulate the numbers to get in eventually. But unfortunately I think playing his career in Tampa will hurt him.

Had he done everything he’s done over the course of his career thus far for Toronto or Montreal they’d be naming streets after him, and even a high-profile non-Southern team like Pittsburgh, Boston, or Chicago would see him getting the recognition he deserves. But despite the monster playoff performances, the dominant two-way game, all the clutch game-winning goals, etc., he’s still overlooked in favor of McD/MacK/Matthews due to their playing on hockey establishment-approved teams and putting up bigger regular season offensive numbers. You have to actually watch Point play to realize how much he does on both ends of the ice that doesn’t end up on a stat sheet but changes the course of a game. And unfortunately having played his career in Tampa it’s doubtful that many HoF voters will have done so on a regular basis. Throw in the anti-Southern team bias and I don’t see him getting in unless he checks all the boxes with his regular season scoring numbers.

Mackinnon shits on Point at every facet of the game besides back checking lol

You want to create a false narrative that Point is comparable to all time great players than Matthews would be the only guy you can make a shitty argument for due to Playoffs holding matthews back for now

Mcdavid is trending to be the 3rd best player so a guy like Point doesnt stack up to Mcdavids ELC years let alone his peak + prime where hes much much more valuable

Mackinnon is also miles ahead of Point and has dominated the playoffs as well with a higher career ppg and a cup.

Point is rated fairly. He is not a top 5C and offensively needs kucherov to be a 90-100 pt player (look at 2021 point without kucherov in the reg season)

 

[Despote]

Have to think nobody is catching Kucherov at this point. Kudos to him for one of the best offensive seasons by a winger in NHL history. Just an incredible talent and should win the MVP too for carrying that Tampa team to the playoffs. One of the best forwards of all time.