Nikita Kucherov

BIOGRAPHY

Nikita Kucherov was born June 17, 1993, in Maykop, Russia. He is a forward in the NHL.

Regarded as one of the best players in the world, Kucherov won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player, Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer and the Ted Lindsay Award as the best player voted by fellow NHL players, for the 2018–19 season. Kucherov won the Stanley Cup twice with the Lightning, in 2020 and 2021, leading the playoffs in scoring both times. Kucherov holds the record for most points by a Russian-born player in a single season (128), as well as the Lightning franchise playoff record for most points; goals and assists. On 23 December 2020, it was announced that Kucherov would undergo hip surgery and would miss the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic shortened 2020–21 regular season. He returned for the playoffs, and led the league in playoff scoring with 32 points in all 23 games played as the Lightning repeated as Stanley Cup champions. Kucherov also led his team in playoff assists (24) and shots on goal (62). After Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals on 7 July 2021, in which the Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens to clinch the series 4–1, Kucherov appeared at the podium drunk and shirtless to answer reporters' questions, during which time he expressed his elation at the Lightning's defense of the Stanley Cup and praised the performance of the Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. During the conference, Kucherov also coined the term "number one bullshit" in reference to Vasilevskiy losing the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender that season to Marc-André Fleury. At the ensuing Stanley Cup parade, Kucherov and several Lightning players wore shirts depicting Kucherov during his interview next to his famous "number one bullshit" quote. On 15 June 2022, in game 1 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals against the Colorado Avalanche, Kucherov recorded his 100th playoff assist on a goal by Ondřej Palát. The Lightning would go on to lose the finals in six games. Kucherov finished the 2022–23 NHL season with 30 goals, 83 assists and 113 points in all 82 games played.